Whenever you work with Kanye West, there’s a certain level of intimidation involved. It doesn’t matter what calibre of artist you are, how much success you have in your own right, or even how nice the rapper/producer is to you: it’s still a Kanye session, and that comes with pressure.
For somebody as critically acclaimed and commercially successful as Post Malone, the American singer/rapper isn’t immune to those same pressures. When discussing their collaboration, ‘Fade’, on the radio show Capital Xtra in 2015, Malone discussed the experience in-depth, and it was a shock to the system.
“It’s very, very surreal,” Malone explained. “I met him at Kylie Jenner’s birthday party. He said, ‘I like your stuff.’ Then we got in the studio and made this crazy song.” Malone calls the experience with West “so cool” but also “so scary.” Also scary is to see an older pasty white British man, like the interviewer in this clip, use phrases like “‘Ye joint” and “swag level”. Oh, 2015, it’s been too long.
Despite only happening six years ago, the clip is such a bizarre time capsule for both artists. Malone looks almost clean-cut, with few of the tattoos and wild hairstyles that would come to define his signature look in the subsequent years. Interestingly, this is also before Malone focused more heavily on blending hip hop with pop. Furthermore, this interview is with the rapper promoting his then-recent release, ‘White Iverson’, which will make you feel old.
When it comes to Kanye, 2015 was pre-The Life of Pablo, meaning that he was undoubtedly the biggest artist alive and still in the throes of making all-time classics (no disrespect to Donda).
Sure, he was seen as mercurial, egomaniacal, and perhaps even a little loopy, but this was pre his Trump endorsement, pre-psychotic episodes, pre-saying Jay-Z was sending assassins to kill him. There was still a certain amount of self-awareness involved with Kanye, even as he was clearly on another level, artistically and mentally.
Check out the interview clip down below.
