8 Post Malone songs that defined a generation

Since emerging in 2015, Post Malone has occupied a space in modern music held by very few others, not through being tied to a specific sound, but through appearing to drift between genres. Stealing bits from hip-hop, pop, rock, and even country, he creates songs that are both laid-back and emotionally affecting, perfect for late-night drives or stadium choruses.

His ability to speak to his listeners in moods and tastes has transformed him into a streaming giant, consistently leading world charts. Moving beyond viral fame and celebrity collaborations, Post Malone's songs resonate because they define the contradiction of a generation: vulnerability behind the guise of bravado and heartbreak accompanied by hedonism.

Post Malone's achievement is not only in the numbers or in the awards; it's in how he's successfully mixed genre versatility so seamlessly into the genetic constitution of popular music.

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Post Malone has built a niche within the music sphere, not only through chart-topping dominance but through reconfiguring the sonic landscape itself. His blend of hip-hop, rock, and pop doesn't follow trends; it creates them.

Beyond viral hooks and airplay hits, there's emotional rawness within his music that cuts deep, so his songs sound both behemoth and close-up.

Through Post Malone's unique look and vulnerability, he is not only an artist who has navigated the success of commercial mainstream appeal while expressing himself authentically, but he's also contributing to shaping it.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. Reader discretion is advised!

Here are the top 8 Post Malone songs of all time

When it comes to selecting the best 8 Post Malone songs of all time, the issue isn't so much finding the hits but filtering them. Ever since emerging into the music scene, Post Malone has continued to give us songs that break genres and appeal to millions globally.

His own music occupies that perfect place at the nexus of hip-hop, rock, and pop, reliably laced with a down-to-earth sadness that gives even his most commercial frat-rockers texture.

When he's singing of heartbreak, success, or just hanging out amidst the bedlam of superstardom, Post somehow lets listeners know that they're as much along for the ride. The tracks on this list are not only chart hits; they're cultural reference points, fan anthems, and career-defining moments that keep evolving with each new release.

These eight songs represent the best of who Post Malone is as an artist: exposed, genre-bending, and infinitely replayable.

1) Sunflower

Released as one of the tracks on the 2018 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soundtrack, Post Malone and Swae Lee's Sunflower was an international musical sensation in and of itself, separate from its cinematic roots. Instead of a mere movie tie-in, however, the song stood on its own merits, its gritty production and laid-back melodic vocals beautifully capturing a young person's nostalgic feeling.

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The sweet voice of Swae Lee and the well-known voice of Post Malone mix to create a phenomenal song so universal in nature. Its silky beat and sincerity in the lyrics captured people's hearts, taking it to record-breaking levels and topping charts globally.

Since its release, Sunflower has matured from a soundtrack favorite to a contemporary cultural anthem, double diamond certified in 2024 and Post Malone's biggest streamed track to date with over 3.76 billion streams on Spotify.

It's a hit, pure and simple, but a cultural reference point as well, distorted cartoon, hip-hop, and pop with effortless hip-hop cool.

2) Broken Whiskey Glass

Unlike most of Post Malone's more radio-friendly songs, Broken Whiskey Glass is a slow-burning plunge into emotional darkness in exchange for raw vulnerability. Beginning the Stoney album without energy but with a haunting sense of loneliness, the song immediately sets a foggy, almost dreamlike mood.

Rather than catchy melodies or refined choruses, it presents minimalist instrumentation and haunting production that reflect the psychological haze of addiction and emotional disconnection. Post doesn't stage or glamorize the hurt; he subtly reveals it, uncovering the kind of upheaval that bubbles below the surface.

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Lyrics such as "I done drank codeine from a broken whiskey glass" are not only vivid images; they're metaphors for the anarchy that ensues when dulling the pain is a habit. The tension between the refined production and the heavy lyrics only deepens the perception of quiet despair.

Post Malone's voice, tattered and ghostlike, floats across the song, more like he's confessing something he's attempted to conceal than singing.

The reason why Broken Whiskey Glass is so effective is not because of some dramatic declaration, but because of the sincerity with which it documents emotional decay. It's not a song; it's the voice of someone evaporating gradually, one drink and one guilty pause at a time.

3) Takin' Shots

Takin' Shots captures the ethos of a no-holds-barred night out, with an electric energy, and is designed for the sort of abandon that drives party culture. In place of seeking emotional resonance or lyrical sophistication, Post Malone is content to ride the adrenaline of the moment, producing a song that feeds on spontaneity and excess. The beat, a smooth blend of trap drums and EDM-sounding synths, is the precursor to a night where boundaries don't apply.

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Post Malone's singing, with a mix of carelessness and playfulness, reflects the fuzzy edges of a late-night buzz, where time dissolves and the only concern is maintaining the vibe. Lines such as "Drinkin' all night, I ain't tryna stop" don't so much glorify excess as much as relish it, thus making the song a frank hymn of fleeting evasion.

Takin' Shots isn't attempting to be deep; rather, it gets the feeling of living in the moment amid turmoil, of opting for fun at the expense of self-control. It's this uncut, feel-good vibe that renders the song a go-to party jam and a crowd-pleaser in Post Malone's repertoire of sure-fire hits.

4) Saint-Tropez

Post Malone's Saint-Tropez is a sun-kissed take on the life of excess, combining silky production and a danceable beat to get at the essence of money, fame, and romance. Instead of admiring introspection, the song leans out toward decadence and reward in a strung-up life filled with achievement. Filled with sparkling synths and a cutting beat, the track is a meditation on the decadence of the seaside town that shares its title.

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Post Malone's words glide smoothly over the beat as he sings of costly purchases and hedonistic peaks, painting a picture in color and loud affirmations like "I’ll take ’em all don’t matter what the price is…" to assert how far he has come. But under the stress of the outside, there's an escape, a feeling that this bling universe is playground and armor both.

Saint-Tropez is not a brag song; it's about taking pleasure and shedding tension. and not apologizing for being you. And thus, doing so, Post Malone continues to put out music that is both the absurdity and glamour of fame at a level that attracts and is uniquely his own.

5) Enemies feat. DaBaby

Enemies is a fitting team effort by Post Malone and DaBaby, blending opposites in tackling the angst of trust, betrayal, and altered levels of celebrity. The song borrows a page from the emotional contradictions of success, each act forthcoming regarding how things stay in flux. Post Malone's chorus melody gives a smooth, reflective counterpoint to DaBaby's urgent, rapid-fire verses, a nice push and pull for the track.

The production is smooth, with a hard, pushing beat that propels the track forward, and the otherworldly, atmospheric undertones that serve to maximize the reflective ambiance. Chorus hooks like "Used to have friends, now I got enemies" grab the sour, painful reality of what happens to relationships with the takeover of fame, in grabbing the sense of emotional isolation that would otherwise ensue.

DaBaby's aggressive, near-angry delivery combined with Post Malone's real, vulnerable delivery creates an undeniable chemistry, propelling Enemies to a position of being a hooky, multi-faceted anthem. They harmonize perfectly personal experience with hook-grabs, and this renders the song introspective as well as irresistibly listenable.

6) Circles

Daring a step away from his typical hip-hop ground, Circles was a bold move into indie-pop for Post Malone, with catchy choruses alongside a tinge of melancholy. The success of the track in finding the ideal balance of high-energy, bouncy beats and contemplative verse over the stabs of a love that was expiring is a sign of Post Malone's steadily widened musical horizons.

As he travels the round cycle of sorrow and love, Circles touches on a raw, unadorned feeling but, with its peppy, close-to-fizzy rhythm, adds an extra contrast, thereby rendering the song bittersweet and catchy at the same time. It was that combination of reflection and grittiness that saw the song go to the people and earned it the widespread attention and award that it received.

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With its transcendental theme of the highs and lows of love, the song itself was one of Post Malone's biggest crossover hits, appealing to audiences beyond his normal market. It also earned him Grammy nods for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, cementing Circles as an all-time career benchmark.

In the making of this album, Post Malone proved he's capable of being diversified and reaching others on a more intimate, personal level, yet continuing to produce songs that are impossible to sing along with.

7) Better Now

Better Now blurs Post Malone's hip-hop heritage and pop sensibilities in making a track that is both vintage and modern. In the track, Post laments the psychological weight of an ending relationship, using classic emotions of guilt and the struggle to leave behind someone. What this leads to is a song that is enormously intimate but enormously universal, in which lyrics speak to the exposure of love and heartbreak.

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The greatness of Better Now is not necessarily the uncooked emotional realism of it so much as the seemingly effortless blended styles that attest to Malone being a reliable performer. The earworm chorus hook sticks in your head for so long after the song has slipped your mind, and the production process itself is a lesson in how to write earworm melodies.

The introspective verses in the song and the song hook put it in the limelight for global attention, even a Grammy nomination, making Post Malone one of the most experimental artists of the day on the album. Better Now is not, however, a break-up song, but a statement of individual transformation and sheer survival on a song that will not be categorized.

8) Wow

Wow is a blunt demonstration of Post Malone's weird knack for producing a hit on the most minimal of production and a sense of impenetrable swagger. Served as a surprise single, the song made its impact immediately with its memorable bass line that pounds through the song, making it a funky, unstoppable song. Post Malone's drawling vocal performance is the perfect complement to the beat, and combined, they craft a laid-back but undeniably catchy ambiance that invites fans to relax and seize the moment.

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The funny, carefree lyrics of the song are added icing on the cake, with Malone's combo of humor and charm coming across in spades. The hit wasn't an overnight phenomenon; it became a cultural touchstone by staying at the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 for an unprecedented 24 straight weeks.

The achievement milestone not only marks its cross-referential commercial success but also attests to the song's lasting influence in popular music as well as the ability to represent the soundscape of its period. With Wow, Post Malone captured a carefree, party atmosphere that appealed to a wide audience and solidified itself as a party anthem forever.

Post Malone's songs have unapologetic sincerity combined with genre-bending experimentation that has made him one of the most innovative and best-selling artists of his generation. With Circles' dreamy textures and Wow's laid-back demeanor, his tracks have an inimitable quality to appeal to a wide range of listeners through introspective wordplay or hook-laden hooks. Malone's pop, country, rock, and hip-hop genre-bending voice provides him with a skill for making music that is of the moment yet timeless in its approach.

He does this by remaining authentic to who he is, raw but confident, and analyzing the complexity of fame, love, and finding happiness. With his discography in a perpetual state of flux, Post Malone is now a cultural icon whose music resists classification, leaving an irreplaceable contribution to the landscape of contemporary pop music.