Malone began his music career in 2011 and gained recognition with his 2015 debut single "White Iverson", which peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Malone signed a recording contract with Republic Records and released his debut album Stoney; it contained the diamond single "Congratulations" (featuring Quavo) and set the record for most weeks (77) on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. His second album, beerbongs & bentleys, debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and set several streaming records. It also contained the US number-one singles "Rockstar" (featuring 21 Savage) and "Psycho" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign) and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 61st Grammy Awards.
His third number one, "Sunflower" (with Swae Lee), was the promotional and lead single to the soundtrack for the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and was included on Malone's third album, Hollywood's Bleeding; the album was his second number one. Its second single, "Circles", reached number one and set the record for most weeks (39) in the top ten on the Hot 100. His fourth album, Twelve Carat Toothache, was released in June 2022, spearheaded by the US top-ten singles "I Like You (A Happier Song)" (featuring Doja Cat) and "One Right Now" (with The Weeknd).
Among the best-selling music artists with over 80 million records sold, Malone has won 10 Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and one MTV Video Music Award, and received nine Grammy Award nominations. He holds several Billboard chart records: he is the first solo artist to top the Rap Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts, while "Circles" set the record for the longest climb to number one (41 weeks) on the Adult Contemporary chart by a solo artist.
Austin Richard Post was born on July 4, 1995, in Syracuse, New York. He was raised by his father, Richard Post, and his stepmother, Jodie. His father had been a DJ in his youth and introduced Malone to many different genres of music including hip-hop, country, and rock. When Malone was nine years old, he and his family moved to Grapevine, Texas, after his father became the manager of concessions for the Dallas Cowboys. Malone began to play the guitar and auditioned for the American band Crown the Empire in 2010, but was rejected after his guitar strings broke during the audition. He credited his initial interest in learning guitar to the video game Guitar Hero.
Malone has always had a love for alternative rock music, and appeared for a DJ set at Emo Nite in Los Angeles, California, in June 2017, playing songs by American alt-rock band My Chemical Romance at the event. According to Malone, his first foray into professional music began when he was in a heavy metal band. He says soon afterward he transitioned to softer rock as well as hip-hop, before beginning to experiment on FL Studio.
According to Malone, he chose "Post Malone" as his stage name when he was 14 or 15. The name was rumored to be a reference to the professional basketball player Karl Malone, but Malone later explained that "Post" is his last name, and he used a "rap name generator" to get "Malone". At 16, using the audio editor Audacity, Malone created his first mixtape, Young and After Them Riches. He showed it to some of his classmates at Grapevine High School. He was voted "Most Likely to Become Famous" by his classmates as a senior in high school. He worked at a Chicken Express as a teenager.
Malone later enrolled in Tarrant County College but dropped out. After leaving college, Malone moved to Los Angeles, California, with his longtime friend Jason Probst, a professional game streamer.
After moving to Los Angeles, Malone, Probst, and several other producers and artists formed the music group BLCKVRD and recorded music together. Several members of the group, including Malone, moved into a house in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley together. While living in the San Fernando Valley, Malone met record producers FKi 1st and Sauce Lord Rich, who formed the production team FKi, as well as Rex Kudo, who produced several of Malone's tracks, including "White Iverson". Malone recorded the song two days after writing it. The lyrics of "White Iverson" allude to Basketball Hall of Fame player Allen Iverson. In February 2015, upon completion, it was uploaded to Malone's SoundCloud account. On July 19, 2015, Malone released a music video for "White Iverson".
After hitting one million views within a month of releasing "White Iverson", Malone quickly garnered attention from record labels. In August 2015, he signed a recording contract with Republic Records. Malone went on to work with a number of prominent rappers including 50 Cent, Young Thug, Kanye West, and others. In August 2015, he performed at Kylie Jenner's 18th birthday party, where he met Kanye West, who enjoyed his music, leading to him collaborating with Malone on his single "Fade" from his album The Life of Pablo. Malone later began a friendship with Canadian singer Justin Bieber leading to Malone being an opening act for Bieber's Purpose World Tour (2016–17). On April 20, 2016, Malone premiered his new single, "Go Flex" on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show.
On May 12, 2016, he released his first full-length project, a mixtape, titled August 26th, the title of which was a reference to the release date of his debut album. On June 9, 2016, Malone made his national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing "Go Flex".
In June 2016, XXL editor-in-chief Vanessa Satten revealed Malone was considered for XXL's "2016 Freshman Class" magazine cover, but she was "told by his camp that he wasn't paying attention to hip hop so much. He was going in more of a rock/pop/country direction." However, Malone denied these claims, explaining that his latest mixtape, as well as his album, were both hip-hop. In August 2016, Malone issued an apology for his album, Stoney, being late. It was available for pre-order on November 4 and was finally released on December 9. Malone later went on to call the album "mediocre", despite the success of the single "Congratulations" featuring Quavo, Malone's first top-ten song on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eight. Stoney also featured the top 100 hits "I Fall Apart", and "Deja Vu", featuring Bieber, with the album later being certified double platinum by the RIAA in October 2017.
In February 2017, Malone revealed the title of his next project, beerbongs & bentleys, and was set to be released in December, before eventually being pushed back to 2018. In September, Malone released the first single from the album, "Rockstar", featuring 21 Savage. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the spot for eight consecutive weeks prompting Rolling Stone in 2017 to say he is "one of the most popular musicians in the country". In November of the same year, Malone released the official music video for "Rockstar", directed by Emil Nava.
On February 20, 2018, Malone previewed his new song with Ty Dolla Sign titled "Psycho". "Psycho" was released on February 23, 2018, and a tour with 21 Savage was announced. The song debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Malone's third entry in the top 10; it would later top the charts in June of that year, becoming Malone's second number one. On April 5, 2018, Malone stated that Beerbongs & Bentleys will be released on April 27, 2018. The same day, he also premiered the song "Stay" during the Bud Lite Dive Bar show in Nashville. Upon release, Beerbongs & Bentleys broke the first-day streaming records on Spotify, with 78.7 million streams worldwide. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 moving 461,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, with 153,000 coming from pure sales. The album was also certified platinum by the RIAA after four days and spawned three top 10 songs and six top 20 songs.
In an interview with Billboard in May 2018, Malone's manager announced that Malone was planning to start his own record label and film production company and Malone later won Top Rap Song at the Billboard Music Awards for "Rockstar" featuring 21 Savage. Malone confirmed in June 2018 that he was writing his third album, and confirmed that a festival would be taking place, organized by him, titled "Posty Fest", in Dallas, Texas on October 28. Malone promised a "blockbuster" lineup with headliners like rapper Travis Scott.
In August, Malone broke Michael Jackson's 34-year-old record for most weeks on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, with Stoney reaching its 77th week on the ranking compared to the 76 weeks that Thriller spent. A collaboration album with rapper Mac Miller was also teased in August 2018. During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he previewed his song "Sunflower", a collaboration with Swae Lee, from the soundtrack to the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. In November 2018, it was confirmed Malone was recording his third album in his Utah home.
Malone was nominated for 4 awards at the 61st Grammy Awards for his album beerbongs & bentleys. Among the nominations was Album of the Year and Record of the Year. He performed with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the awards show on February 10, 2019.
In July 2019, Malone released the single "Goodbyes" featuring Young Thug and also announced the Runaway Tour with Swae Lee as the opener. On August 5, Malone shared a snippet of an unreleased track "Circles" on YouTube. He then performed the song at his second annual Bud Light: Dive Bar concert and confirmed that the official song would be released the following week. That same day and on July 25, 2019, at Cheyenne Frontier Days he announced the album was finished. He released the song on August 30, 2019. He confirmed that his third studio album would be released on September 6, 2019. On August 26, 2019, Malone announced on Twitter that his third album was called Hollywood's Bleeding and would be released on September 6, 2019. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 489,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. Hollywood's Bleeding would also go on to be nominated for Album of the Year at the 63rd Grammys.
On March 12, 2020, Malone's concert at Denver's Pepsi Center proceeded as scheduled, drawing a sellout crowd of 20,000, likely the last large-scale enclosed gathering in the U.S. before COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Malone received backlash for not canceling his sold-out arena show amid rising concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. Reportedly, future U.S. tour dates in March were postponed by Live Nation on March 12, 2020.
On April 24, 2020, Malone announced that a new album was in progress during a live stream performance. In late April 2020, Malone performed a live-streamed set consisting entirely of Nirvana covers from his home. Malone sang lead vocals and provided rhythm guitar for the set. He was accompanied by drummer Travis Barker, bassist Brian Lee and lead guitarist Nick Mac. The performance raised over $5 million for the World Health Organization's COVID-19 relief fund. The performance also received praise from Nirvana's surviving members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, as well as Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love.
In June 2020, Malone was featured on Tyla Yaweh's single, "Tommy Lee". The single was followed up with a remix, released July 10, 2020, featuring drums from Tommy Lee himself, as well as a re-recorded guitar instrumental. A second remix to the song, featuring rapper Saint Jhn, was released subsequently. On April 30, 2021, Malone was featured on DJ Khaled's twelfth studio album Khaled Khaled on the song "I Did It" also featuring DaBaby, Megan Thee Stallion, and Lil Baby.
On July 9, 2021, Malone released the single "Motley Crew" with an accompanying music video, featuring several guest stars, past collaborators, and friends including Tommy Lee, Tyga, Tyla Yaweh, and his manager Dre London. The music video was directed by Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade. On November 5, Malone released "One Right Now" with the Weeknd, as the lead single from his fourth studio album. On January 26, 2022, during his cover story will Billboard, Malone revealed that his fourth studio album would be titled Twelve Carat Toothache. In April 2022, Republic Records relaunched Mercury Records with a new roster that includes Post Malone. On April 27, 2022, Post revealed that Twelve Carat Toothache would be released on June 3, 2022. Malone released the album's second single, "Cooped Up" with Roddy Ricch, on May 12, 2022.
On May 14, 2022, he appeared as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live and performed "Cooped Up" with Ricch, as well as an unreleased song titled "Love/Hate Letter to Alcohol", in which he was joined by Fleet Foxes. Malone had previously confirmed that he had worked with Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold on a song for the album.
For the 2022 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers film, Malone covered the theme song from the 1989 television series of the same name, originally performed by Jeff Pescetto in the series and by The Jets in album releases.
On August 12, 2022, the documentary film Runaway premiered on the Amazon Prime Video channel Freevee. It showed behind-the-scenes moments from the first leg of the Runaway Tour in 2019, as well as performances from some of the highlighted dates, such as New York City, Chicago, and the 2019 Posty Fest in Arlington.
In April 2023, Malone announced that he was working on a new album. On April 14, 2023, Malone released "Chemical", as the lead single from his fifth studio album AUSTIN. On April 21, 2023, Malone released The Diamond Collection, a nine-song compilation of his record-breaking eight RIAA Diamond-certified singles, along with the single "Chemical".
Malone cites Bob Dylan, in whom he became interested around the age of 15, as an influence on his music, calling him "a genius" and "a god" though his music has been called "about as far away from Rock n' Roll as you can get". He called "Subterranean Homesick Blues" the "first rap song". He has a tattoo of Dylan as well. Malone has cited Kurt Cobain and Johnny Cash as key influences too. Malone has also cited 50 Cent, whom he called a legend, Kanye West and Key! as influences.
Enemies
Post Malone Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Used to keep 'em close, now they dead to me (damn)
Used to have friends now I got enemies (ooh)
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
They said I would never get this far, ah, ah
Think that we don't see who you are, are, are?
Laughin' to the bank like ha, ha, ha
So, where did y'all go?
When I was shit broke couldn't even buy smokes
Now your mama needs tickets to my stadium show (stadium show)
She love it when she hear me on the radio, oh
I know it's hard
To swallow your pride
Sorry that you can't get over me
Now you're out my life, I'm so relieved, I
Used to have friends now I got enemies (damn)
Used to keep 'em close now they dead to me (ooh)
Money tend to show all they tendencies (damn)
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Used to have friends now I got enemies
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
Close to my enemies (let's go)
I need better energy (huh?)
When I told you fuck you, you thought I was playin', huh? (Yeah, yeah)
But I meant the shit literally
She wanted to vibe, but I told her fuck that (nope)
She look at me like she surprised
The pack in the post and I'm home alone
When the box hit the door, they go for 35
I try to put on for my partners
They turn into enemies right before a nigga eye
If you reach for a shake, I'ma hold out a fist
Give a nigga a quarter pound without the fries
I just went double platinum with no features
Just to show a nigga, I don't really need him
Pass a man a plate and he can make it shake
It's guaranteed he fold, and bite the hand that feed him
And I know you think that I ain't see it
And I know your bitch ain't got a car
Don't make me go and buy your bitch a lil' Prius
Fuck her on the camera, we can call it even
Friends are like the autumn, every year they leavin'
And I'ma rake 'em in a pile, throw 'em in a bag
Tie them bitches up and leave 'em
'Cause most of these niggas are deceiving
And I
Used to have friends now I got enemies (damn)
Used to keep 'em close now they dead to me (ooh)
Money tend to show all they tendencies (damn)
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Used to have friends now I got enemies
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
It's too late to turn this shit around (it's too late)
Only held me down when you wanted me to drown
It's too late to turn this shit around (it's too late)
So don't try and tell me that you're happy for me now
Used to have friends now I got enemies
Used to keep 'em close now they dead to me (dead to me)
Money tend to show all they tendencies (tendencies)
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Used to have friends now I got enemies
Enemies, yeah it's so sad
Ooh, it's too late
It's too late
The song "Enemies" by Post Malone is a track about how the singer has had to deal with changes in his inner circle. Once, he had friends that were close to him but now he has to deal with enemies. The track starts with a powerful chorus that highlights the precarious state of Post Malone's friendships. He is lamenting that his once-close friends are now no longer a part of his life. The track is a personal reflection and highlights the difficulties of trusting people and keeping friendships in the music industry.
Throughout the verses, Post explains how his friends turned to enemies when he became successful. He talks about his struggles with remaining grounded despite the fame, and how his friends could not do the same. They turned against him and tried to bring him down. Though he's aware of their intentions, he's still unable to move on and forget about their betrayal.
Overall, the song is about Post Malone's internal conflict and about how he's gained a lot of enemies in his life. He has been able to work through his struggles and is now at a point where he can recognize people's intentions and make decisions that are in his best interest.
Line by Line Meaning
Used to have friends now I got enemies (ooh)
I used to have friends who were close to me, but now they have become my enemies.
Used to keep 'em close, now they dead to me (damn)
I used to maintain close relationships with them, but now they are no longer important in my life.
They said I would never get this far, ah, ah
People said I wouldn't be successful.
Think that we don't see who you are, are, are?
Do you think I don't see through your facade?
Laughin' to the bank like ha, ha, ha
I am making a lot of money and find it amusing.
Guess that I'm just talkin' too much blah, blah, blah (shut the fuck up)
You are talking too much and boring me. Shut up.
So, where did y'all go?
Where were you when I needed you the most?
When I was shit broke couldn't even buy smokes
Back when I was broke and couldn't even afford cigarettes.
Now your mama needs tickets to my stadium show (stadium show)
Now your mother wants tickets to my sold-out stadium show.
She love it when she hear me on the radio, oh
She enjoys hearing my music on the radio.
I know it's hard
I understand that it is difficult.
To swallow your pride
It can be challenging to admit you were wrong.
Sorry that you can't get over me
I'm sorry that you can't move on from our past relationship.
Now you're out my life, I'm so relieved, I
Now that you are not a part of my life, I feel much better.
Money tend to show all they tendencies (damn)
Money can reveal people's true nature.
Sometimes, every time, they let me down
Occasionally, or even regularly, they disappoint me.
Close to my enemies (let's go)
I am still in proximity to my enemies.
I need better energy (huh?)
I require more positive and supportive people in my life.
When I told you fuck you, you thought I was playin', huh? (Yeah, yeah)
You didn't believe me when I told you to fuck off.
But I meant the shit literally
I was serious about telling you to fuck off.
She wanted to vibe, but I told her fuck that (nope)
She wanted to hang out or hook up, but I declined.
She look at me like she surprised
She appeared shocked by my rejection.
The pack in the post and I'm home alone
I received a delivery while I was at home by myself.
When the box hit the door, they go for 35
The contents of the package are worth $35 to whoever wants to purchase them.
I try to put on for my partners
I attempt to make my friends look good and be successful.
They turn into enemies right before a nigga eye
My friends became my enemies right in front of me.
If you reach for a shake, I'ma hold out a fist
If you offer to shake hands, I will refuse it and give a fist bump instead.
Give a nigga a quarter pound without the fries
I am offering a quarter pound of marijuana without any extras.
I just went double platinum with no features
I achieved double platinum status as a solo artist without any collaborations.
Just to show a nigga, I don't really need him
I reached this level of success to prove that I don't need anyone else to do it.
Pass a man a plate and he can make it shake
If you give a man food, he can turn it into money.
It's guaranteed he fold, and bite the hand that feed him
He is certain to fail and turn on the very people who helped him.
And I know you think that I ain't see it
I am aware that you believe I am unaware of what is happening.
And I know your bitch ain't got a car
I am aware that your girlfriend does not own a car.
Don't make me go and buy your bitch a lil' Prius
Don't make me go and purchase a small Prius for your girlfriend.
Fuck her on the camera, we can call it even
If I have sex with her on camera, it will be compensation for any perceived wrongdoings.
Friends are like the autumn, every year they leavin'
Friends are like the fall season; they don't stick around forever.
And I'ma rake 'em in a pile, throw 'em in a bag
Like leaves in the fall, I will gather up my former friends and dispose of them.
Tie them bitches up and leave 'em
I will restrain and abandon them.
'Cause most of these niggas are deceiving
I cannot trust most of these people because they are not honest.
It's too late to turn this shit around (it's too late)
It is too late to fix our relationship.
Only held me down when you wanted me to drown
You only supported me when you wanted me to fail.
So don't try and tell me that you're happy for me now
Do not attempt to act like you are happy for me now that I am successful.
Ooh, it's too late
It is too late to change the past.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Austin Richard Post, Billy Walsh, Jonathan Lyndale Kirk, Louis Russell Bell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sarah
on Otherside
Repeat song?