Submit Malone has had a blockbuster yr. First, there was the irresistibly catchy Beyoncé collab “Levii’s Denims.” Then, there was the moody and wistful Taylor Swift function “Fortnight.” And most just lately, there was the upbeat nation bop alongside Morgan Wallen within the type of “I Had Some Assist.”
Whereas Malone was already identified for his collabs, his more and more ubiquitous presence — together with on two of 2024’s largest albums — raises the query: Why did Submit Malone change into the go-to artist for thus many distinguished options?
Sometimes, with such partnerships, there are enterprise issues, together with artistic ones. Artists usually work with individuals who share a music label as a method to collectively enhance their albums. They could wish to staff up with sudden singers, too, to increase their viewers and attain new listeners. And so they may merely benefit from the music of one other performer and be desperate to duet with them in consequence. (Wallen’s representatives declined to remark, and Swift, Beyoncé, and Malone’s didn’t instantly reply.)
In Malone’s case, these collabs occur to test a few these containers. Swift, as an illustration, is signed to Republic Information, as is Malone. Swift and Malone have additionally beforehand expressed admiration for one another’s work, with Swift saying she was “so jealous” of the “hook” on the track “Higher Now” and Malone saying he was floored by her “coronary heart and …thoughts.” Each might have seen different advantages of their partnership, too: Whereas Malone lends Swift some edge, she, in flip, unlocks a complete new fanbase for him that’s far bigger than his current one.
Rising his listener base may also be behind his work with Beyoncé, in addition to his newest hit, with Wallen, who can be affiliated with Republic, and who has established himself as one among nation music’s largest stars. Malone has a rustic album launch of his personal coming quickly, and each these partnerships have helped him generate buzz and lay the groundwork for that debut.
“There’s strategic placement of Submit Malone as featured artist on albums which are conversant with nation and pop,” says College of Oregon music theorist Drew Nobile. In impact, by working with these artists — which have additionally included Blake Shelton and Noah Kahan — Malone is getting their “stamp of approval,” says Nobile.
In that approach, various these Malone duets are paying homage to how he first established himself in hip-hop, when he adopted lots of the trappings related to the style and leveraged collabs to achieve credibility.
And there are causes for artists like Beyoncé and Wallen to accomplice with Malone, too. From each a musical and strategic standpoint, Malone makes for an attention-grabbing team-up, consultants say. His voice and sound are fairly malleable, so he usually enhances — and even emulates — the artist he’s working with. Seen positively, this has been framed as his capability to transcend genres. Seen extra critically, he’s been lambasted for cultural appropriation, notably borrowing from Black tradition when it fits him. Due to the rebellious persona he’s established, and his observe file of manufacturing hits, his picture and songwriting prowess have made him a draw as effectively.
Malone, 28, first rose to fame as a hip-hop artist, making it huge on the Billboard charts with songs like “White Iverson” and “Congratulations.” On his first album, Malone utilized options strategically himself, working with main hip-hop artists like Quavo and Kehlani, and beefing up his personal musical bona fides within the course of.
“He is been related fairly firmly with hip-hop, regardless that he is probably not a rapper. You realize, he is extra … a singer,” says Jack Hamilton, a cultural historian on the College of Virginia.
Along with being identified for his catchy choruses, Malone has additionally constructed a extra defiant model. He’s solid himself within the picture of rappers reminiscent of Lil Wayne, Birdman, and Gucci Mane, amongst others, together with his distinguished face tattoos, grills, and basic party-boy aesthetic. Malone’s identified for repping Bud Gentle, for instance, a lot in order that he has his personal customized can.
“I consider him as a really vibes-based musician,” says Hamilton. “He had this extremely laid-back … stoner persona. He is kind of a way of life model for a sure kind of younger viewers.”
Malone’s been scrutinized for not bringing far more than vibes to the desk, nonetheless. Or because the New York Occasions’s music critics as soon as put it: “His songs sound like every part and nothing.” A few of Malone’s logos embody his signature vibrato crooning and moody environment, although few singles are complete standouts. Whereas sure consultants I spoke with for this piece lauded Malone’s capability to work throughout musical kinds, others mentioned they didn’t discover his work particularly outstanding.
This identical critique has been prolonged to the persona he’s embodied, which has additionally been known as out for cultural appropriation. Throughout his preliminary debut, Malone sported braids along with grills, and spoke in a way paying homage to African American vernacular English, a behavior he now appears to have distanced himself from.
Malone’s critics argued he was taking from Black tradition and hip-hop tradition with out giving again or giving acknowledgment. Statements he made the place he cautioned followers in opposition to listening to hip hop in the event that they needed to consider deeper feelings, and how he didn’t determine as a rapper, furthered these considerations.
Now, as he strikes into the nation area, his picture has modified: Whereas he nonetheless has the face tattoos, he now has quick hair, scraggly beard, and a brand new wardrobe. Very like Ariana Grande, he’s seemingly altered the cadence of his voice, too. That has led to criticism that Malone adopted each seems and lyrics related to Black tradition when it benefited him and shed them as soon as they helped him receive a platform.
“It is a widespread development seen from artists traditionally,” Jeremy McCool, a West Chester College media professor, who has a forthcoming e book about socially acutely aware hip-hop, tells Vox. “White artists reminiscent of Child Rock, Machine Gun Kelly, and Yelawolf are prime examples of different artists who rose to prominence by making hip-hop-centered music and later switching to a unique sound and aesthetic, usually leaning into both the rockstar or rural nation persona.”
Lately, nonetheless, “social media has made it lots simpler to see these rebrands happen in actual time,” he provides. “You may have a look at artists’ photographs and posts change and see how they fully pivot out of their ‘hip-hop’ persona.”
Followers of Malone have praised his adaptability and argue that he’s merely being true to himself by avoiding getting boxed in. Much less flattering opinions peg him extra as a tradition vulture who lacks authenticity and who’s capable of transfer on this approach due to his whiteness. That fluidity is what some consultants describe as key to his enchantment.
“He’s a stylistic chameleon,” says Adam Bradley, a UCLA English professor who has studied pop music and hip-hop. “He’s simply as snug in nation as he’s in rap or R&B or rock or straight-up pop.”
What Submit Malone is bringing to those options – and what they provide him
Musically, Malone “meets the music the place it’s moderately than dragging it the place he desires it to go,” notes Bradley. In doing so, he’s seen as including sufficient to a track to make his presence felt, however not a lot as to outshine the principle artist. Typically, he seems to tackle that artist’s power and sound, says Slate’s Chris Molanphy.
That may make him a compelling accomplice for different singers, who’ve praised his songwriting skills and the earworms he’s labored on. “I’ve been such an enormous fan of Submit due to the author he’s, his musical experimentation and people melodies he creates that simply stick in your head without end,” Swift has mentioned.
His picture, too, is seen as increasing how some artists are perceived — by giving them an air of edge they is perhaps missing. “I feel lots of artists are drawn as a lot or extra to Submit Malone’s picture as they’re to his artistry,” Bradley provides. “He inhabits a spot in tradition proper now that’s nearly solely his personal: a great unhealthy boy.”
That provides to the enterprise case for working with Malone: Lots of the artists he’s collaborated with have giant and established audiences, however teaming up with him helps them attain followers of his that they may not have already got. Moreover — given how he, Swift, and Wallen are all affiliated with the identical label — the duets in all probability give Republic a lift, too.
One more reason we’re in all probability seeing a lot of Malone can be as a result of it’s a part of the rollout for his new nation flip. Simply as he as soon as labored with hip-hop artists to enter that area, he seems to be doing the identical as soon as once more as he makes a foray into this new style.
Beyoncé’s collaboration with Malone coincides with the discharge of her nation album, Cowboy Carter, as an illustration. The selection to incorporate him may effectively be her approach of being inclusive, says Nobile, and an effort to ship a message about how artists shouldn’t be confined to only one style.
Malone’s newest maneuver additionally places a recent highlight on his privilege as a white male artist — and the way that’s enabled him to make this transition. His choice to work with Wallen, who’s beforehand been condemned for his use of the N-word (which he apologized for), has solely underscored this level.
“Submit Malone is a white artist who got here to prominence within the Black style of hip-hop, and lots of of his earlier collaborations had been with Black artists,” says Bradley. “By making this transfer to nation and people he’s exercising a privilege not even afforded to one of many largest Black artists in historical past, Beyoncé, who’s caught a lot backlash for her personal latest flip to nation music.”
This privilege, along with his expertise, is central to Malone’s success. And due to it, he’s been capable of tackle each a spectrum of collabs and evade getting pigeonholed within the course of.
