There comes a time in every artist’s life where they feel creatively burnt out. After his wildly successful 2019 album Hollywood’s Bleeding and a string of successful performances, Post Malone was feeling his creative juices depleting — especially when the pandemic hit. In fact, he thought he had completely lost his inspiration for making music until his upcoming LP Twelve Carat Toothache changed his mind.
Malone recently sat down with Billboard for a lengthy cover interview unveiling details about his upcoming album, which his manager recently noted had been delayed. During their conversation, the musician revealed he thought he lost his inspiration to write new music before launching into his new era.
Reflecting on his success, Malone said he had felt anxious about starting a new era of music. “You think about everything at the same time, and it’s f*cking overload,” he said. “There’s a lot riding on the music. There’s a lot riding on just being able to keep making songs. And that’s hard to do because you’re like, ‘F*ck — I already talked about everything.’ And you kind of run out of ideas, and that’s scary sh*t.”
He continued that he used to love playing guitar and creating beats, but he lost that inspirational spark before his collaborator Louis Bell visited his home studio: “I used to love playing the guitar — I hardly play the guitar anymore. I used to love making beats. There was a switch that flipped, and it felt like I was making Stoney. I lost that, and the hardest part is getting it back. It ebbs and flows. It’s figuring out: ‘Just because I’m not inspired to do it at the moment doesn’t mean I’m giving up.”
The Billboard feature mentions Twelve Carat Toothache is relatively brief compared to his previous releases, clocking in around 45 minutes. His aim is to avoid “filler” songs and give an honest portrayal of the “the ups and downs and the disarray and the bipolar aspect of being an artist in the mainstream.”
Check out Malone’s full interview with Billboard here.
