Texan Mosaic

by DOMINICK PUENTE//Editorial Assistant

With Post Malone releasing his debut album, he has incorporated a variety of vocalizations to climb the music charts.

After releasing singles throughout 2016, Post Malone has put out his first complete album with Republic in December.

Coming into 2017, Malone’s album, “Stoney,” has taken the rap culture by storm, due to his various sounds and rhyming styles in his new songs.

This is my favorite album going into 2017 so far, as I can listen to all 18 songs no matter what mood I am in.

Malone’s previous singles have always been slow raps that have relaxing and mellow beats. But he really embraced those characteristics in “Stoney.”

Also, in his previous songs, he has sung in bits. However, it surprised me when he sings in almost every song, including “No Option,” “Broken Whiskey Glass,” “Up There” and “I Fall Apart.”

Granted, he does not have the voice of Whitney Houston, but it is not bad singing at all.

In “I Fall Apart,” Malone keeps a nice, mellow beat throughout the song and mixes regular rapping with a melodic style to compliment the song.

Another thing I enjoy about this album is that there is not a frequent use of clubbing, money, and ego.

In “I Fall Apart,” his message is conveyed as being another victim of heart break, but the woman meant a great deal to him.

Songs can tell a story or send a message, but it becomes habit that rappers talk about the same thing, such as drugs, money, clubbing, ego and blowing money.

Two of Malone’s major singles before “Stoney” are also included, “White Iverson” and “Too Young.” These two tracks established Malone as a more melodic and mellower rapper.

For some rappers, you can mix upbeat and slower songs into an album. However, I feel that is not the case for “Stoney.”

“No Option,” “Congratulations” and “Money Made Me do It” are the songs I would put into the category of partially being upbeat and could be played in a club, but I highly doubt it.

All three songs have strong beats, but they don’t make you want to jump around and throw a giant party.

That is what appeals to me about Malone. He is a great melodic and slow rapper. Some rappers that sound slow usually send a depressing vibe for the listener. But he can create a party anthem with a slow beat.

As for features, there are only four artists featured in four songs on the album. Although that may not be a lot, I think the fewer features, the better on an artist’s first album in order to put out his or her own sound and make it their own.

The first featured song of the album is “Déjà Vu,” with Justin Bieber. It is not bad, even though Bieber is in it.

Both artists use melodic styles within the song, but Malone does incorporate a variation between rapping and singing to give the song some character.

The second song featured is “Feel,” with Kehlani, a song geared to an independent relationship with two people. The song carries a very slow beat, but Malone does add a faster rapping pace with minimal singing.

With a slower beat than most, I thought the song would carry a lot more singing, but even with Kehlani, the song incorporates more rapping than singing.

For “Congratulations,” the rapper Quavo does the majority of the rapping for the song.

Even though it is one of the more upbeat songs, Malone does more of a singing and rapping mix in the song. The point of the song is to express how Malone worked to get where he is now and thank the people who helped him along his journey. It does add a touch of ego and money, but I guess it is unavoidable in rap.

The last feature is for the song “Money Made Me Do It,” featuring 2 Chainz.

I like the song because of its well-produced beats and Malone’s singing. It does have rapping mixed into the song, but Malone does the majority of it as well.

The rapper 2 Chainz has a small part toward the end of the song, but I am fine with that. He is nowhere near my favorite rapper, by any means.

Malone would have been better off just doing the entire song on his own.

There is not a song on this album that I hate. But my least favorite of all the songs is “Patient.” The lyrics and overall production of the beats is what gets me in the end.

The lyrics seem very repetitive throughout the entire song, or there are a few words rearranged.

As for the beat, it just has that sound of someone not putting enough time and effort into the production of the beats and lyrics.

Although that song is not great, the overall album sounds amazing. I have no problem listening to it all day and night.

I give the album four out of five stars.