Stoney (album)


Stoney is the debut studio album by American rapper Post Malone. It was released on December 9, 2016, by Republic Records. The album features guest appearances from Justin Bieber, Kehlani, Quavo, and 2 Chainz. The production on the album was handled by DJ Mustard, Metro Boomin, Vinylz, Frank Dukes, Illangelo, Charlie Handsome, Rex Kudo, Foreign Teck, and Pharrell Williams, among others.
Stoney debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 and later peaked at number four. "Congratulations" was first released as the album's first promotional single on November 4, 2016. The single was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and was Post's biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit at the time. Stoney was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

Background

On August 14, 2015, Post Malone released his debut single, "White Iverson". The single became his breakthrough song. Due to his success with that single, Malone collaborated with a number of prominent rappers such as Petal Aggression, Young Thug and Kanye West, among others. Malone and Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Bieber verged into this friendship, when Bieber made Malone as one of the opening acts for his Purpose World Tour to support the release of his fourth studio album, Purpose.
On June 9, 2016, Malone made his national television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing the song, "Go Flex". In June 2016, XXL editor-in chief Vanessa Satten, revealed that Malone was considered to be on XXLs "2016's Freshmen Class" magazine cover, however, she was "told by his camp that he wasn't paying attention to hip hop so much. He was going into more of a rock / pop / country direction." Malone denied these claims, saying: "My love of music should never be questioned... I shouldn't be chastised for expressing myself in whichever way I see fit." He went on to explain that his latest mixtape, as well as his upcoming album are both hip hop: "I have a hip-hop album coming out in August... I made a HIP HOP mixtape promoting my HIP HOP album."
In May 2016, in preparation for the release of Stoney, Malone released his debut mixtape, titled August 26th. The name was a reference to the original release date for Stoney, however, the album suffered numerous delays.

Singles

The album's lead single, "White Iverson", was released on August 14, 2015. The song was produced by Post Malone himself, alongside Rex Kudo. The song peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified five-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The album's second single, "Too Young", was released on October 9, 2015. The song was produced by Foreign Teck and Justin Mosely. The song was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2017.
The album's third single, "Go Flex", was released on April 21, 2016. The song was produced by Charlie Handsome and Rex Kudo. The song was certified three-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The album's fourth single, "Deja Vu", was released on September 9, 2016. The song features a guest appearance from Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Bieber, while the production was handled by Frank Dukes and Vinylz. The song is certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"Congratulations" was first released as the album's first promotional single on November 4, 2016. It was later sent to rhythmic radio as the album's fifth official single. The song features a guest appearance from Southern hip hop rapper Quavo, while the production was handled by Metro Boomin and Frank Dukes, with additional production by Louis Bell. The song was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and became his biggest and first international hit.
A live performance of "I Fall Apart" received significant attention on social media and sales for the song sent it into the top 20 on iTunes. Republic promptly sent the song to rhythmic radio as the album's sixth and final single, on October 17, 2017, despite "Rockstar" having recently been released as a single from his then-upcoming second studio album. As a single, "I Fall Apart" went on to peak at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Promotional singles

The album's first promotional single, "Patient", was released on November 18, 2016. The song was produced by Louis Bell.
The album's second promotional single, "Leave", was released on December 2, 2016. The song was produced by Rex Kudo, Cashio and Charlie Handsome.

Critical reception

Comparing the album to Malone's debut single, "White Iverson", Glenn Gamboa of Newsday wrote that he "follows through with that style on Stoney, but it generally pales in comparison to the inventiveness and the surprise of that track." Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic commented that Stoney is "competent and listenable, but many others have tread this same path already. Post Malone has a way to go before standing out with his own unique voice, but there are signs on Stoney that it could happen."

Accolades

Commercial performance

Stoney debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 with 58,000 album-equivalent units, of which 19,000 were pure album sales. In its second week, the album dropped to number 23 on the chart, selling an additional 30,000 units. On June 6, 2018, the album was certified three-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over three million units. On the week of October 28, 2017, the album peaked at number four on the US Billboard 200.
By the end of 2017, Stoney had sold 1,564,000 album-equivalent units with 128,000 being pure sales. By September 2018, Stoney had sold 1,044,000 album-equivalent units that year.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes, Tidal and BMI.
Notes
Sample credits
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes and Tidal.
Musicians
Technical
Additional personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australian Albums 13
Canadian Albums 6
Danish Albums 7
Estonian Albums 6
Irish Albums 23
New Zealand Albums 8
Swedish Albums 13
UK Albums 42
US Billboard 2008
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 5

Chart Position
Australian Albums 25
Belgian Albums 77
Canadian Albums 23
Danish Albums 28
Irish Albums 37
New Zealand Albums 21
Swedish Albums 41
UK Albums 61
US Billboard 20024
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 15

Decade-end charts

Certifications