On Post Malone’s Country Song with Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help”
In 2020, Post Malone was posing with Billy Strings and sporting Tyler Childers and Colter Wall T-shirts. Then in 2021, he was covering Sturgill Simpson backed by Dwight Yoakam’s band. This sure had us all salivating at the prospects of a Post Malone country record. Even if it never came about, with Posty’s popularity at the time and touting such cool country artists, it definitely couldn’t hurt the cause for real country music.
But the narrative has shifted in a major way as “Post Malone goes country” goes from a hypothetical to a reality. Instead of something coming together involving folks like Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, or Dwight Yoakam, Post Malone has instead fallen in with the Morgan Wallen, Hardy, and Ernest crowd. Though fans of these guys might be excited by the idea, it’s not exactly what many true country music fans had in mind.
We first saw Post Malone, Morgan Wallen, and Hardy in action together at the 2023 CMA Awards to decidedly subpar results. It was touted as a “classic country medley,” but turned out to be the silly selections from Joe Diffie’s catalog, a.k.a. “John Deere Green” and “Pickup Man.” Morgan Wallen and Hardy were braying horrifically out-of-tune, and it exposed just how poorly country music’s “top” talent measures up to a hip-hop/pop star like Post Malone.
Post Malone did the best with a bad situation, but the question at the time was why he put himself in a bad situation to begin with? Post Malone has a bastard sword tattooed on his face, and he’s still made better life decisions than the peanut-brained Wallen who’s currently facing three felonies for hurling a chair off a building on Lower Broadway.
Perhaps if a Post Malone country album materializes in full, the personnel he chooses will be much more country and cool. He’s already been affiliated with Luke Combs as well. But what we get with “I Had Some Help” is decidedly commercial radio pop country product. Sure, there is some steel guitar in the mix. But it’s a typical major label single distilled down by six writers (yes, six), and three producers.
That said, “I Had Some Help” is devilishly catchy, and the early proponents touting this as the “song of the summer” are probably right. The video portrays Morgan and Posty whipping shitties in a jacked up classic canary yellow Ford beneath a massive American flag draped from a construction crane as fireworks go off. It doesn’t get more “Team America” than that. It makes you want to crash your jet ski drunk into the side of a pontoon on the 5th of July.
Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em”? That feels like an eternity ago. The folks that say it’s unfair they Bey and other Black performers face more scrutiny when they try to move into country while white rappers like Post Malone and Jelly Roll just waltz right in definitely have a point. But it does feel like “I Had Some Help” will have the staying power the Beyoncé experiment didn’t.
You add Shaboozy’s big blockbuster “A Bar (Tipsy)” currently at the top of the charts, and all of a sudden it’s interlopers into the genre topping counry as opposed to its home grown talent. Take it as a sign that country is so popular at the moment, everybody wants a piece. But it should be the people who’ve spent their careers in the genre who should get a slice of pie before we start divvying it up amid millionaire and billionaire superstars from other places.
But as has been the theme in country music for a while, even the “bad” songs are not nearly as bad as the were a few years ago. “I Had Some Help” isn’t as bad as it is just a bit unfortunate that this is how Post Malone has chosen to enter the country space. We can only hope that in the future, Post can use his powers and popularity for good in country instead of this.
But in truth, country music doesn’t need Post Malone to be cool like it did back in 2020. Post Malone, Shaboozy, Jelly Roll, and Beyoncé, it’s these artists who need country to be considered cool as we head into the summer of 2024, not vice versa.
May 10, 2024 @ 11:38 am
My guess is he digged the alt/indie scene. Realized that it would tank in comparison to the sales of his previous albums, and decided to work on this within Nashville who are anti everything he dug about the genre in the first place. Say what you will about the Beyoncé project. At least she didn’t cave to the whims of the generic Nashville sound.
May 10, 2024 @ 5:58 pm
Nah. He tweeted that he was going to be a country singer when he turned 30 in 2015 before be blew up
https://x.com/postmalone/status/598344462226554880?s=46
May 10, 2024 @ 11:43 am
Man, as much as I want to not like this song for all the “pop” added, this song has been stuck in my head all morning. The first single HAD to be radio friendly I think. I am more interested in what’s to follow and have the feeling the rest the record will lean a bit more “country”. I could be wrong but we’ll see.
May 10, 2024 @ 12:08 pm
Debut singles from major label releases are often the most commercially viable songs of the set, and sometimes can give a false impression. We still need to hear more now that Post Malone has officially confirmed he has a whole “country” album on the way.
May 10, 2024 @ 12:30 pm
https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2024/05/10/post-malone-confirms-first-full-length-country-album-is-coming-this-year/
It’s been confirmed.
May 12, 2024 @ 5:35 am
As versatile as Post Malone is, musically speaking, I’m thinking he’s genuine enough to pull of an album that sounds more country than Jelly Roll and Beyoncé. He seems to put his heart and soul into whatever genre he’s writing and recording so I’d like to see him have success.
May 10, 2024 @ 11:45 am
I’m a big fan of Post. This isn’t what I was hoping for his country album but we’ll see how the rest shakes out.
May 10, 2024 @ 11:47 am
Country didnt need post malone in 2020.
May 13, 2024 @ 9:33 am
It needs him now?
May 10, 2024 @ 11:58 am
It’s just another bad “country” song with a bad video with all of the typical cliches. Also bad for me I guess that I just can’t take this goofball seriously for anything he does because of how ridiculous he looks.
May 10, 2024 @ 11:59 am
But I wonder if he will ever do something in the country music realm. That would be cool
May 10, 2024 @ 12:37 pm
Learning to fly
But I ain’t got wings
Coming down
Is the harrrdest thing
May 10, 2024 @ 4:00 pm
Pretty much my first thought.
May 10, 2024 @ 12:48 pm
Why is “Dallas” upside down on his hat? Is this a thing now?
May 10, 2024 @ 12:53 pm
“Take it as a sign that country is so popular at the moment, everybody wants a piece. But it should be the people who’ve spent their careers in the genre who should get a slice of pie before we start divvying it up amid millionaire and billionaire superstars from other places.”
Read that statement again and again. It’s 120% correct. I stated in another post that the rising popularity of country music is what concerns me as an authentic country music fan.
Don’t give me that bull about needing to reach a wider audience to bring people in. We don’t need ’em. I am not inclusive at all. I prefer exclusivity. Stand at the door and say proudly, “You are not welcomed in.” We don’t need a “bigger tent” for the sole purpose of allowing more animals in. We have enough circus the way it is.
Pretty soon one won’t be considered a country singer unless they have tattoos all over their face and butt and/or open another bar in Nashcrap.
May 11, 2024 @ 1:54 pm
Seeking bigger and bigger popularity in the 90s generated Shania Twain and eventually Bro-Country and Metro-Bro.
Country music’s biggest issue has been self-loathing and a desire for acceptance in the cool kids club.
We don’t need Post Malone or Beyonce.
May 15, 2024 @ 11:12 am
crazy that the SCM crowd becomes a bunch of socialists when it comes to matters of authenticity
May 10, 2024 @ 1:30 pm
That is not good. Much prefer Shaboozey.
May 10, 2024 @ 2:32 pm
I listened to this song a few times, not my thing.
May 10, 2024 @ 2:41 pm
I dont realky get the jist of this article. You made a point about how some people were excited about him teaming up with childers and yoakam but now that hes teaming up with wallen and earnest, its less so. Makes no difference who he teams up with unless you are just a hater. Obviously hes going to go with who makes the most sense for him. Those other guys arent losing out on anything. I dont really care, havent ever really paid attention to him but just seems like an odd complaint.
May 10, 2024 @ 4:08 pm
There was hope Post would collaborate with e SCM crowd, not the saving Bro crowd. This observation appears to be the gist of the article.
May 10, 2024 @ 5:17 pm
Yea i guess . He was going to go with what he liked most so really no need to agonize over it. Also yoakam is about as far from the saving country music crowd as bro country is so kind of ironic.
May 10, 2024 @ 5:27 pm
Strongly disagree that Yoakam is far from the Saving Country Music crowd. I’d say he’s probably one of the most revered artists around here of the previous generation.
Look, I appreciate that you’re a Morgan Wallen fan and may have not liked the tone of this article. But there is a massive difference between Billy Strings and Colter Wall, and Morgan Wallen and Hardy. If you’re a fan of the previous artists, chances are you’re going to be disappointed in this song. That’s all I’m pointing out, and I think that’s pretty intuitive and obvious.
May 10, 2024 @ 6:04 pm
He may be revered here and i love yoakam, one of my favorites. However when he started, he was very far from traditional and it was noted then. Funny how opnions and views change over time. So thats my point about him. Maybe if its those other guys, msybe its a different sound maybe not. Either way its still him.
May 11, 2024 @ 6:05 am
However when he started, he was very far from traditional and it was noted then.
What I remember at that time was that there was a “coolness” about Dwight Yoakam that people on the outside typically didn’t associate with country. Back then, I would include myself in that group. In the NYC area where I grew up, it was one of the types of music that your parents might like. But being someone who liked a lot of country influenced rock music (e.g., CDB, MTB, The Outlaws, early Poco, early Eagles, some CCR and Neil Young), I tried to get into him and couldn’t. Too country for me at the time, especially his voice. Now, I absolutely love his music, have all his albums, and consider him my favorite country music artist of all time. But I wasn’t ready for him back then. Lyle Lovett (who I still love) was an easier lift for me.
May 12, 2024 @ 8:49 am
Yoakams second hit was a cover of Johnny Hortons Honky- Tonk Man. He and Pete Anderson, from the beginning incorporated the rockabilly of Johnny Horton and Elvis, the Bakersfield twang of Buck Owen’s, and as time went on drew inspiration from the songwriting of Haggard. Add in a dash of Ralph Stanley and he was the guy who took all the traditional stuff and introduced it to a younger generation. I’m a 10 year plus SCM guy and I’ve always been into Yoakam. I remember when he and Randy Travis first hit the airwaves, it was a one- two punch to the gut of the pop country folks. He and Travis took country music by storm around 86. Changed everything.
May 10, 2024 @ 5:19 pm
“Makes no difference who he teams up with unless you are just a hater.”
Something tells me a collaboration with Dwight Yoakam or Tyler Childers wouldn’t sound anything even remotely close to this. That is why it was brought up.
May 11, 2024 @ 12:07 pm
My point is that yoakam wasnt considered country at the time he came out. Fell into the same crowd as steve earle who many considered an outsider at the time. Yoakam was a devout fan of buck owens who a lot of people during his time didnt consider country. Now personally im not as rigid as you and others and i dont separate a lot of the stuff because ive heard all this, this aint country music talk before, many times though my almost 60 years of listening to it. Maybe with yoakam it might sound different, but maybe not. My guess is that yoakam might be more persuaded to go malones way just because of his own beginnings.
May 12, 2024 @ 3:03 pm
“My point is that yoakam wasnt considered country at the time he came out.”
Bullshit. I was there, and he was most definitely considered country at the time. He was promoted as a country artist, he was in the country racks in the stores, he was played on country radio, he was billed as a country artist. I remember when he was set to do an in-store in a small record shop outside of Houston, how happy my dad, an old school country fan, was. Yoakam was and is more country than the clowns staining the genre these days.
May 12, 2024 @ 7:10 pm
Jimmy you are 100% correct on every point.
May 13, 2024 @ 8:00 am
The hell you talking about?!?!
Dude covered Johnny Horton and Johnny Cash on his debut album, used fiddle and steel all over every song, and talked nonstop in interviews about how much he loved Buck Owens.
Was he outside of the mainstream when he broke? Sure. Was he ever considered not country? Absolutely not.
For that matter, Buck Owens was never not considered country. That’s even crazier to say. He just didn’t win CMA awards, but again, that’s because he operated independently from the Nashville establishment. Nashville not understanding or liking someone doesn’t make them not country. Half the time, it’s because they ARE country that Nashville doesn’t get it.
Might as well say Tyler Childers isn’t country or Willie Nelson quit being country when he moved back to Texas.
May 14, 2024 @ 8:45 am
I also remember when Dwight Yoakam first appeared on the scene and yes there was a skepticism that he was an outsider and more of a “country act”. He did go on the make several movies which could verify the “country act” argument but I think he ended up proven himself and staying true to country and is now well respected by most country fans.
May 14, 2024 @ 7:00 pm
“the same crowd as steve earle”
I was in high school, and it wasn’t the Earle crowd. It was girls, guitarists, and guys in their twenties who were sick of 80s pop country bro pap. The Earle crowd was all guys who were looking for punk country for drunks and got it.
I liked both.
May 13, 2024 @ 12:20 pm
“Makes no difference who he teams up with unless you are just a hater.”
What?…
May 10, 2024 @ 2:51 pm
I really dont expect that there will be much in the way of traditional country on this record. I do think there will be some really good country adjacent songs that aren’t deliberate chart toppers – like this one – in there.
Malone is a huge fan of all different genres of music, and he can cover most any style with the best of them.
But, buddy has a creatively genius brain that’s wired for pop music, and he’s really, really good at it.
The second they teased that hook and said the single was going to drop 5/10, no bookmaker on the planet would have given you -1000 odds that this song will be #1 by Memorial Day (Lake season opening day). The bar is so low for country radio that this is lobbing a pitch to prime Barry Bonds. He’s going to crush it.
May 10, 2024 @ 4:42 pm
Early predictions are that it will premier in the Top 20 at country radio. It might be a record breaker.
May 10, 2024 @ 10:53 pm
Charlie Handsome is becoming a real problem.
May 11, 2024 @ 1:11 am
Didn’t Garth Brooks’ “More Than A Memory” debut at #1 previously?
May 11, 2024 @ 5:14 am
Trigger, I believe that this is an important topic because it likely will have far more impact on the future of country than Beyonce. What happens today when legitimate artists dabble in country?
I think he is going to make a country album that is exactly what he wants to sing. I have seen him singing take Tommy Thompson, I’m Gonna Miss Her, etc. and he seems to really like it. He is a pop dude that just so happens to also like legit stuff as well. His version of Don’t Think Twice, for example, was really cool.
I do think there are 1000 miles between 90’s Tim McGraw and this nonsense that is on the radio today. These guys are so affected it is embarrassing to hear when I am by myself.
I have to consider what Shooter told me Waylon’s thoughts were about the 90’s country guys and how it changed over the years. He was disgusted with it when that wave first hit and then some years later he had changed his tune drastically. Tim McGraw is Porter Wagoner today when you compare him to the guys today that annunciate like thugs. I only hope that there is a minimum of the Harty type guys that are on this new album. They simply are NOT country.
May 10, 2024 @ 4:13 pm
This song is obnoxious to me in ways that ‘She Had Me At Heads Carolina’ was a couple years ago. I don’t understand what is so catchy about these types of songs. All I hear is an AI mess.
May 10, 2024 @ 5:55 pm
Post Malone tweeted in 2015 before he blew up that when he turns 30 he’s becoming a country singer right. It’s not some desperate ploy to be relevant. He’s always made different genres of music
https://x.com/postmalone/status/598344462226554880?s=46
May 11, 2024 @ 1:10 am
He actually initially played country and hard rock before putting that on the back burner to pursue his rap career.
I may not be crazy about this single, but Post’s appreciation of country music is genuine. I don’t doubt he has monetary motivations especially given rap had its worst year commercially since 1993 last year, but his love of the genre is authentic unlike, say, Steven Tyler or AJ McLean.
May 12, 2024 @ 6:27 am
His love of money is greater considering the timing. He is striking when country music is hot and rap has cooled down.
May 10, 2024 @ 9:05 pm
Who is Morgan Wallen?
May 11, 2024 @ 12:24 am
No better or worse than Beyonce? Not more country than Beyonce? For those that are fans of Hardy or Jelly Roll? It is no the way I want country music to go.
May 11, 2024 @ 1:06 am
I think Post Malone’s foray into country music will be kind of like Aaron Lewis’ arc: where he starts off at his most brazenly commercial but………….as he gains more clout…………..will get incrementally more in the vein of the kind of artists he has covered in livestreams before much like Aaron Lewis steadily moved in era to era.
I know Post Malone has been best of buddies with Morgan Waller (and HARDY) for a little while now, so part of me is hoping that this winds up being a stand-alone single that the two decided to just release for the fun of it………….and it winds up being a bonus track on his forthcoming debut country project while its official lead single follows later this summer and is decidedly more neotraditional-influenced.
This may be wishful thinking, but either way it’s already pretty clear Post Malone has a genuine understanding of what country music sounds like as evidenced by him covering Sturgill Simpson’s “You Can Have The Crown”, Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonk Man”, early Brad Paisley and others. Usually when stars from other genres make forays into country, you can instantaneously tell they have either a elementary knowledge of the genre in that they cite the most obvious songs of the genre (Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire”, Glen Campbell’s “Gentle On My Mind”, Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”, Garth Brooks’ “Friends In Low Places”, etc.)…………….or, worse, can’t even do that and instead make up a narrative in their bid for country airplay pandering to that respective audience. With Post, however: while I don’t doubt there are monetary motivations at play, his appreciation for country music strikes me as rather authentic.
May 11, 2024 @ 5:57 am
Don’t know why everyone is surprised Post Malone country would sound like this. It’s more likely Malone would have guys like Hardy or Wallen in his circle than traditional country stars. It’s also likely traditionalists would be more protective of their sound in a collaboration with someone like Malone. Traditional artists have more to lose than he has to gain.
Also, just because Malone wears t-shirts of artists he likes, doesn’t mean he is interested in sounding like them. I see country artists wearing AC/DC, Guns N Roses, or Metallica shirts. Doesn’t mean they are going to cross over and record a hard rock album. Well, Jinks did, and we all see how that went.
I think fans and country media kinda set themselves up for disappointment when it comes to Malone. Even if he makes a “country” album, I would expect something more along the lines of Wallen or Hardy with rock/hip-hop infused country with the occasional traditional sounding pop songs. Pretty much what I expected all along.
May 11, 2024 @ 8:48 am
I don’t see how this is a country song at all. Guess I’m way out of touch.
May 11, 2024 @ 9:00 am
This song sounds awful to my ears but what do I know? 90 percent of it is Wallen’s voice – I just do not like it at all. If this song is going to be everywhere very soon and at the top of the charts then Koe Wetzel should be king of mainstream radio. I actually like Koe in small doses and his stuff sounds way better than this dreck.
May 11, 2024 @ 12:16 pm
Well i finally listened to the song. I personally dont care for it myself. Im not going to ramble on that its not country. Its just too popish for me and not that original. But if others like it, thats fine. It does def lean into wallens more popish stuff which i dont usually care for much either.
May 11, 2024 @ 12:41 pm
Post Malone is what comes in the mail when you order Cody Jinks from Wish.(om
May 11, 2024 @ 1:46 pm
Country music never needed Post Malone.
Carpetbagging is the genre’s kryptonite.
Wallen is a bipolar artist.
May 14, 2024 @ 4:08 pm
Agreed. The further Post Malone stays from musicians I actually like, the better. I don’t like his music or his image. He’s the antithesis of everything I like about country music.
May 12, 2024 @ 4:09 am
Waylon Jennings would love all of this. The AI generated pop song, the autotune manipulated voices, the face tattoos, the heart hand gesture, all of it.
May 12, 2024 @ 4:19 am
Perhaps Malone’s collaboration with Wallen might get Wallen back in the studio and cutting albums ,which may keep him from more self-destructive behaviour. Happy Mothers’ Day to all moms !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 12, 2024 @ 3:15 pm
This is pablum for the masses. It sounds like bro country nonsense to me. That being said, the people who enjoy this kind of contrived stuff will absolutely love it. The hipster beard is a nice touch.
Vince Gill summed it up perfectly in “Young Man’s Town”:
Sometimes you gotta stand back
And watch ’em burn it to the ground
Even though you built it – it’s a young man’s town
Traditional country is a very small genre now. Burn baby burn.
May 12, 2024 @ 7:08 pm
I’m sure the 33 other songs on his album will be countrier.
May 13, 2024 @ 6:31 am
Post Malone is an industry Insider, plain and simple. He is clearly cozy with all the right people and has no intention to stop being their Golden Goose. In return, the industry makes sure this goose is fed well too.
May 13, 2024 @ 7:19 am
I’d choose this over anything off “Whitsitt Chapel” or “Cowboy Carter.”
May 13, 2024 @ 8:26 pm
Same.
May 14, 2024 @ 2:49 pm
*eight songwriters
May 15, 2024 @ 1:32 am
With country music being so popular hopefully it leads to more experimentation
May 15, 2024 @ 6:28 pm
This is bog standard professional Southern Pop.