Back in 2021, Post Malone turned the heads of country-music fans when he covered two songs on the opposite ends of the country spectrum during an online telethon: Brad Paisley’s radio hit “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” and Sturgill Simpson’s underground favorite “You Can Have the Crown.” Malone, a pop superstar who has been teasing his country fandom as far back as 2015, delivered the tunes with traditional twang and rough-edged vibes, suggesting a genuine affinity for and deep knowledge of the genre. Bluegrass picker Billy Strings told Rolling Stone as much a year later, raving that Malone could play more Hank Williams songs than he could.
In other words, Posty knows his shit. Which is what helped make F-1 Trillion, Malone’s first country album, such an anticipated release. Fans and journalists alike speculated if the “Rockstar” rapper would go the outlaw route (earlier this spring, Rolling Stone spotted him having dinner in Nashville with Simpson), chase the bluegrass dragon with his pal Strings, or resurrect Nineties country like he did during his Stagecoach set with Paisley in April.
Malone ended up weaving a little bit of each into F-1 Trillion, an irresistibly catchy album of collaborations (of the 18 tracks, 15 feature guests) that, while highlighting Malone’s rebel spirit, has more in common with the safe country-radio fare of today than albums made by disruptors like Simpson or the Waylons and Willies who came before.
Which isn’t to say that F-1 Trillion isn’t a wildly fun ride. On the contrary, it can often be exhilarating, beginning with the opening track, “Wrong Ones,” a collab with Tim McGraw that dispels any notion that Malone checked his swag at Nashville’s front door. “I got fuck-you money, girl, come and get you some,” he dares in the chorus, before passing the buck for his wanton ways in the same manner he did in “I Had Some Help,” the album’s hit single with Morgan Wallen: “I’m just looking for the right one/But them wrong ones keep lookin’ at me.”
“Finer Things” further elevates Malone’s baller game. A duet with Hank Williams Jr., the song allows both men to boast about their redneck opulence. “Platinum on my teeth and wagyu on my grill,” Malone sings; “I’m in the deer blind with the diamond ring,” Bocephus counters. It’s a hoot of a pissing contest, and also gives the album its title: “I got an F-1 trillion limousine,” they claim, with a “10-point blond in the shotgun seat.”
But if there’s one thing that Malone has taken pains to prove to Nashville over the past few months, it’s how grateful he is to be in the country sphere. On multiple tracks, he humbles himself to the genre and his guests, and even makes himself the butt of the joke.
He’s fully reverential to Dolly Parton on their collab, “Have a Heart,” a rollicking hookup song spirited along by barroom piano and Dolly’s coquettish charisma. “Want to hear somethin’ sexy?” she coos before her verse. On the Nineties-country ballad “Goes Without Saying,” featuring vocals and guitar from Paisley, Malone mourns the loss of a girl who split without saying goodbye. And he fully vows to change his bad-boy behavior on one of the album’s standouts, “Devil I’ve Been,” a collaboration featuring Ernest, who co-wrote 10 of the LP’s songs. (Luke Combs, the only guest to sing on two tracks, co-wrote five.)
Perhaps reassured by the safety net of having A-listers on the other 15 songs, Malone goes it alone for three on F-1 Trillion (at least on the original edition; shortly after his new album came out, he dropped the Long Bed extended version, featuring nine additional solo songs). “What Don’t Belong to Me” is a harmless slice of pop country that has more in common with Brett Young than Steve Young, while “Yours,” which Malone debuted onstage in Nashville this summer, is a sweet-tea ballad about the day his young daughter will get married. “Right About You” is the best of the bunch, a back-porch acoustic number highlighting some of Malone’s most natural vocals.
Malone has never hidden his use of Auto-Tune. Created and perfected by Louis Bell, who produced F-1 Trillion with Charlie Handsome, the computerized voice is Posty’s signature. But while it works wonders on pop hits like “Sunflower” or “Circles,” it can veer toward billy-goat vibrato on a country song.
He’s at his best on F-1 Trillion when he’s the most stripped-down: On “Never Love You Again,” a sweet waltz with Sierra Ferrell and gorgeous fiddle from Larry Franklin; on “Missin’ You Like This,” a cheater’s ballad of regret with Combs; and on “M-E-X-I-C-O,” a bluegrassy rave-up about getting into trouble down Mexico way. Strings sings harmony vocals, while guitarist Bryan Sutton, one of Strings’ heroes, adds some ripping acoustic runs.
Aside from the Parton cameo, the curious will likely gravitate toward Chris Stapleton’s appearance on “California Sober.” He doesn’t let them down. Sturdy as ever in his vocals, the “Traveller” joins Malone for a pitfall-prone road trip, picking up a sweet hitchhiker who is anything but. By song’s end, she’s taken them for their whiskey, their weed, and their wallets.
Listening to F-1 Trillion won’t rob you of anything. But it may make you wish it added more to the conversation and challenged some long-held conventions, similar to the country-themed album released by another major pop star earlier this year. While the case can be made that F-1 Trillion is just Malone wanting to have twangy fun and sing the kind of country music that fits in today, it would have benefited from more dusty detours and less paved roads, more gravitas and less flash, and certainly more Malone and less guests. For his next Nashville sojourn, a little pure Posty might actually go a long way.
From Rolling Stone US
