According to their respective Instagram accounts, Post Malone and Nelly have been collaborating in the studio. And although the news might seem somewhat unexpected—especially when you consider the two-decade age gap—the musical partnership actually makes a lot of sense. Yes, both men come from completely different eras, but they continue to share on major similarity when it comes to their work, which is refusing to be confined to one genre.
Most of us can recall when Nelly, who was known for his catchy rap anthems, decided to give country a shot with "Over and Over,” the slow-burning ballad with Tim McGraw. Over a decade since his initial foray into country, the St. Louis artist continues to work in the genre as he’s also been featured in the remix of Florida Georgia Line’s hit song “Cruise,” as well as covering Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man” earlier this year. There were even rumors that Nelly’s next project, Heartland, would be a full-fledged country album; however, he later denied these claims during a 2015 interview.
“It's not actually country, so to speak,” Nelly toldRolling Stone. “I love country music. I respect country music so much that I would never think that I can sit down and just as easy do a country album. That's not it. That's just like some country artist saying, 'Hell, I'm just gonna do a rap album.' What I will say is that, I'm trying to come up with an idea of doing an EP that crosses all boundaries, all genres and it may feature different country artists."
Post Malone seems to be taking a similar route, as demonstrated in his 2016 mixtape August 26th. In the 10-track project, Malone occasionally strays from the hazy hip-hop sound that made him famous in “White Iverson,” and dabbles in everything from folk to rock to country. He has said August 26th is an intro to his upcoming debut album, Stoney, so it’s likely we’ll hear the 21-year-old deliver more than straight-up hip-hop—even though he insists it will be a hip-hop project.
Back in June, many rallied in support of Malone after he was left out of XXL’s 2016 Freshmen issue. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Vanessa Satten, and its assistant editor, Miranda J., said the reason they chose to leave Malone out was because they received word he was ditching hip-hop for country. Malone later shot down these claims in a lengthy message posted on Instagram.
“I have never once said, 'I'm not going to make hip-hop anymore.' I have a HIP-HOP album coming out in August, I made a HIP-Hop mixtape promoting my HIP-HOP album....I want to continue making hip-hop,” he wrote.
Malone went on to echo Nelly's previous statements by explaining his intention to cross and mix various genres. The statements are just move proof that the two are riding the same wave—one that involves doing what you want, rather than doing what's expected. With that in mind, we can bet that whatever Malone and Nelly have in store is going to be something surprising. Will it be more hip-hop? More country? More acid polka? There's really no telling with these two. Stay tuned.
