If you’ve only heard songs like “Rockstar,” you might be caught off guard when people mention Post Malone and guitar. So can the rapper/singer/songwriter play guitar too?
Yes, not only can Post Malone play the guitar but it’s actually what really got him into music in the first place. He was a big music fan for his whole life but it was playing guitar that introduced him to the world of performing.
Post Malone grew up with a lot of different preferences for music. He liked pretty much any music under the sun, Bob Dylan, Steppenwolf, Jay-Z—you name it. While he’s a big name in the current hip-hop scene, many fans are more than impressed with his guitar skills, too.
Introduction to Music
It might surprise you to know how Post Malone picked up his music skills—with the Guitar Hero video game! He taught himself and at just 12 years old, the young Post Malone was rocking out to music like Metallica.
When Post (born Austin Richard Post) was 10 he moved from his birthplace of Syracuse, New York to Grapevine, Texas. While he had a love for various types of music while growing up, his new guitar skills led him to trying out for a heavy metal band.
He didn’t end up getting a spot in the band (his guitar strings broke), but he did make his official entrance into music. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that his E string failed him on that day. How would we all know and love Post if he ended up in that small Dallas-based hardcore band?
Incorporating Guitar
Post Malone’s guitar career may have ended after he tried out for that band in high school, but his singing and rapping career had just started. Post produced his first mixtape during his senior year and was very appropriately voted the “most likely to become famous” by his high school class.
After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to live with a friend and ended up meeting all the right people. The rest of his career is kind of history—he’s either been nominated for or won several awards during his multi-year career.
Described as a “melting pot of country, grunge, hip-hop and R&B,” Post’s radio songs tend to focus on the latter, but that doesn’t mean that his guitar skills are totally absent.
Post released his first album Stoney in 2016 and continued his laid back hip-hop style into his second album Beerbongs & Bentleys. While fans have loved his sick flow for years, many have been surprised (pleasantly surprised) to find that he’s also got awesome singing and guitar playing skills in his musical toolbox.
His love for guitar has made it into his career in several different ways. He’s sampled the classic song “Dreams” from Fleetwood Mac and has covered Bob Dylan and Nirvana.
Some other guitar-playing artists have been understandably surprised by this discovery, like John Mayer.
A Modern Day Renaissance Man
It’s clear that Post Malone can pretty much do it all. It’s not only crazy that he hopped into the rap game practically out of nowhere, but that he’s been so successful in doing so. He taught himself how to play guitar with a video game—so there’s that, too.
His upbringing truly makes him the special artist he is today. Growing up he loved everyone. From Biggie to John Lennon to Kurt Cobain to Hank Senior, Post has his parents to thank for his eclectic music tastes that mean he can not only rap with the finest, but can also strum the six-string with them too.
You can love him or not, but one thing is for sure—Post Malone has many different musical talents under his belt. Classic rock and acoustic guitar is definitely one of those talents.