Post Malone Might’ve Hacked His Way To The Top Of The Charts, Off The Record Is Opening A Fort Worth Home And So Much More.

Last week, it was all smiles for Post Malone, who scored his first No. 1 song on the Billboard charts with his 21 Savage-featuring “rockstar” single.

But, shortly after that news broke, so too did some controversy as The Fader reported on a “hack” that Posty’s label allegedly used to boost the song’s YouTube streams and consequently send viewers to streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. The video was posted in September by Republic Records and only features a loop of the song’s chorus. Since the video is nearly as long as the real song, it allegedly tricked people into clicking on what they thought was the song before moving them onto the paid services to hear the real song. At the time of The Fader’s post, that video had 41 million views — a big boost for Post on the Billboard charts, no doubt.

But, just a few days later, Genius offered a rebuttal on their site that went to show that both Cardi B and Taylor Swift significantly outperformed the Grapevine native on YouTube, supporting Apple Music’s claim that Post Malone set a record for the most streams in a week on “Rockstar’s” debut on the streaming site.

As for the artist himself? He hasn’t commented directly on the alleged hack by his label, but he did have this to tweet during the week:

But, hey, Posty is still out here living his best life. In preparation for his quasi-homecoming on Tuesday night at The Bomb Factory, he joined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban court side for Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

Before that game tipped-off, though, trumpet player Tim Ervin performed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” accomplishing one of his lifelong dreams. Why is that especially interesting? Well, as the Dallas Morning News reported before the game, Ervin used donated lungs to perform the song after a double-long transplant in 2014 that saved his life.

Maybe Ervin’s story will make Texas Monthly’s “30 Things You Need To Know About Texas Music” feature next year? This year, the magazine featured a few North Texas goings-on, including a look into the exaggerated death of the Dallas underground, an update on the efforts to bring a heavy metal museum to Arlington and some great shout-outs for Leon Bridges, Sam Lao, Alsace Carcione, Boy Epic, “The Local Ticket” and more.

Left off that Texas Monthly feature was 52 Savage, who is has been making a case of late for being Dallas’ most well-known rap entertainer. “The Breakfast Club” had him on their morning show recently and provided him with a platform to prove that he truly is an entertaining figure while making strong points on respecting OGs in the game. Listen to the rest of the entertaining interview below.

Back on the home front, November’s Dallas Music Conference is shaping up to deliver a wealth of knowledge from a gang of Dallas’ most established music entrepreneurs, including the minds behind your favorite music festivals, venues, labels and more. Checkout the lineup, speakers and dates here.

Speaking of music business: Off The Record has announced that it will be following in the footprints of its Deep Ellum neighbor Twilite Lounge and setting up a new location out west in Fort Worth’s Magnolia District. Fort Worthians can expect the spot’s same combination of vinyl records and craft beer, along with a mix of DJ nights and even some live performances. Keep an eye out for news of an official opening party dropping soon.

Staying on the anticipation tip, Rikki Blu has been dropping loosies from the vault over the last month to promote his upcoming album. Check out his latest, called “Float,” below.

Want more new music? The Lash Outs have a new video for “She La La,” a track off their new State of Excess album.

Ronnie Fauss, meanwhile, continues to tease new songs from his upcoming Last of the True album. Peep “Twenty-Two Years” below.

Then there’s newcomer Tugaloo Blue. He just released a video for “Feel Bad Interlude” that you can scope below.

And, lastly, The Speedlights released a new album last week titled Night Driver. Stream it in full here, too.

Finally, to close out this week’s column, here’s another neat clip to watch. It features Dallas ex-pat emcee -topic living out a dream and performing on stage alongside one of his heroes, Flying Lotus, a couple days ago.

Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!

No more articles