Is it country or is it not? That's the debate that's been swirling since
Post Malone dropped his latest album
F-1 Trillion. The superstar's first entry into country music featured collaborations with legends of the genre, including Dolly Parton and Hank Williams Jr., as well as some of country's hottest names like Morgan Wallen, Chris Stapleton, Jelly Roll, Tim McGraw, Lainey Wilson and many others. But immediately after the release, obviously there was plenty of conversation over just how "country" the album really was. Many were quick to dismiss it as just another pop artist trying to jump into country music (which
I think was unfair ), while many defended the album as keeping it true to the sound of today's country. Now as far as how "country" it really is, obviously there are plenty of pop moments on the 18-track album. In fact I think the songs that are the most country are his solo songs, including the 9 additional songs on his deluxe edition
F-1 Trillion: Long Bed. Ultimately though, it seems like everybody has an opinion on the album. And comedian
Dusty Slay recently ruffled some feathers with his remarks during an episode of his
Nateland podcast, which he hosts alongside fellow comedians Nate Bargatze, Brian Bates and Aaron Weber:
"This guy's sweeping country music. He's taking country music by storm and not even doing country... I can't stand it. I don't have anything against Post Malone, but he's not doing country. None of his songs are country, none of the new ones. And then every country singer that I ever loved is posting pictures with him on social media and it just makes me sadder every day." When his co-hosts argued that Posty is just pushing the genre forward, Dusty argued that a "genre" should at least have some boundaries if you're going to call it country:
"All I'm saying, what is the point of a genre if there's no boundaries?" Well apparently his comments upset some folks, who took to social media to stand up for Post Malone. But Dusty wasn't backing down:
"This is hard for people to understand, this album is full of country musicians but it ain’t country music." https://twitter.com/dustyslay/status/1833989148308348937 (He then posted the Whitey Morgan song "If It Ain't Broke," so respect to Dusty for that one). And while Dusty acknowledged that the debate over what is "country" and what's not isn't a new one, in the past there have still been elements of country in songs that are missing from the Post Malone album: https://twitter.com/dustyslay/status/1834011700736962775 But he was willing to concede that the album had its "country" moments, including his duets with Sierra Ferrell and Billy Strings, as well as the solo songs on the deluxe album. https://twitter.com/dustyslay/status/1834015268713934900 https://twitter.com/dustyslay/status/1834056073424048379 Overall, it seems that Dusty is firmly in the camp that country has gone too far away from its roots, and at this point shouldn't be considered "country" at all. https://twitter.com/dustyslay/status/1834018580049822181 And hey, if you listen to the radio these days, it's hard to argue with him there. Of course Dusty knows a thing or two about country music: During his most recent
Netflix special, he spent a considerable amount of time
breaking down some of the genre's most popular songs . So he's clearly done his research on the subject. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnImVRNTYA8
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