Post Malone has been one of the big break-out hip-hop and R&B artists. Combining elements of new school hip-hop with country has caused quite an industry crossover. Since he released his first song, “White Iverson“, two years ago he has worked with prominent rappers, released a single with Justin Bieber and dropped his first album Stoney in August of 2016.
The show itself had a great atmosphere although the set noticeably declined in energy through the middle. Post himself commented, “I’m too fat to be doing this shit”. However he was a gracious performer thanking the crowd after every song. In many ways you could tell that there was a degree of sincerity since he is still young at 22 years old and his career has blown up so quickly that he’s probably very much still in surprise from all the success he’s had.
________________________________________________________________________________
Also read: CityFolk Preview – One of the Most Intriguing Lineups of 2017
________________________________________________________________________________
The imagery from the show was reminiscent of his roots in Texas- old motels, saloons, big cigars, grills, cheap beer and the American Flag. The visuals also set the tone for the light show which was immersive and smokey, probably done somewhat intentionally since the majority of his songs make strong references to pot smoking. Mid-set he encouraged the crowd to partake as well since the song he was about to perform didn’t have too many lyrics so he could actually manage to smoke a joint.
The highest point of the set was when he played his top two songs from Stoney, “I Fall Apart” and “White Iverson”. The whole crowd bounced and grooved through “White Iverson” and sang at the top of their lungs for “I Fall Apart”.
It was a cool opportunity to catch an up and coming artist like Post Malone at a festival mainly dedicated to grassroots folk music but it was a great high energy kickoff to the week. Excited to see the rest of what CityFolk has in store.
By Dylan Lenton
