Beerbongs & Bentleys — Post Malone’s second studio album, released April 27, 2018, the biggest debut of 2018 (431K first week), a 64-minute trap-pop-rock hybrid about excess, heartbreak, and nihilism that spawned three #1 hits.
The Album
Posty’s melodic Auto-Tuned croons over trap beats, guitar riffs, and emo lyrics. Features Swae Lee, 21 Savage, Ty Dolla $ign, Nicki Minaj, G-Eazy, and YG. Production by Louis Bell, Frank Dukes, and others.
Key tracks: “Rockstar” ft. 21 Savage (8 weeks #1, 14x Platinum), “Psycho” ft. Ty Dolla $ign (3 weeks #1, 11x Platinum), “Better Now” (#3, 12x Platinum), “Candy Paint,” “Paranoid,” “Stay,” “Over Now,” “Ball For Me” ft. Nicki Minaj.
Chart performance: Debuted #1 with 461,000 units (biggest debut of 2018, later surpassed by Drake’s Scorpion). Spent 2 weeks at #1. All 18 tracks charted on Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. Certified 4x Platinum.
Streaming Dominance
B&B broke Spotify’s single-day streaming record with 78.7M streams (later broken by Drake’s Scorpion). Post Malone became Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2018 with 3.9 billion streams.
“Rockstar” and “Psycho” dominated radio for months—Post’s sad-boy aesthetic (face tattoos, beer-stained grills, Bud Light addiction) made him Gen Z’s everyman rockstar despite hip-hop purists dismissing him as culture vulture.
Cultural Impact
The album’s title became a meme for contradictions (partying vs. luxury, ratchet vs. classy). Post’s authenticity debates (white rapper controversy, rock vs. hip-hop identity) raged, but his chart success was undeniable.
#BeerbongsAndBentleys trended during release week. Post’s Bud Light partnership (official sponsor) and cigarette-smoking persona made him relatable to college kids.
Grammy nomination for Album of the Year (lost to Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour).
B&B cemented Post as a superstar before Hollywood’s Bleeding (2019) and Twelve Carat Toothache (2022).
Sources:
https://pitchfork.com/
https://www.billboard.com/music/post-malone/chart-history/