During a 2017 interview with NewOnce, Post Malone spoke about a perceived downturn in hip hop's lyricism. "If you're looking for lyrics, if you're looking to cry, if you're looking to think about life, don't listen to hip-hop," he said. "Whenever I want to cry, whenever I want to sit down and have a nice cry, I'll listen to some, like, Bob Dylan."
Backlash ensued, and Malone addressed the controversy in a social media video. "Who am I to tell you you should feel a certain way when listening to something?" he asks rhetorically. "No matter how hard you are, no matter where you're from, you're going to have a time where you sit back and reflect on your life and listen to what you wanna listen to. For me, that's Bob Dylan."
Perhaps we should let those comments slide, but this wasn't the first time Malone essentially criticized the genre that made him a household name. Though he pulls inspiration from various styles, and he may not flow like a typical hip-hop artist, he's commonly classified as a rapper — much to his discontent.
While speaking with GQ about the plight of being white in a predominantly black music sector, Malone said, "I definitely feel like there's a struggle being a white rapper. But I don't want to be a rapper. I just want to be a person that makes music."
You do you, boo.
