F-1 Trillion

Although this album loses some of his distinctive sound – and has none of the cool experiments of Beyoncé’s record – it also showcases his undeniable song-crafting chops.

There’s enough proof here that Post has the voice, demeanor, and goodwill to easily ingratiate himself into the Nashville scene.

This exercise works surprisingly well and, if one is a fan of this genre, F-1 Trillion knocks it out of the park.

While the case can be made that F-1 Trillion is just Malone wanting to have twangy fun and sing the kind of country music that fits in today, it’d have benefitted from more dusty detours and less paved roads, more gravitas and less flash, and certainly more Malone and less guests.

At times struggling beneath its own weight, ‘F-1 Trillion’ is a love letter to the genre.

At 18 tracks F-1 Trillion felt overlong. The addition of nine more tracks since its release makes it excessive; it’s also overly polished and missing the instrumental virtuosity central to the genre. And yet it’s surprisingly enjoyable. Malone’s country sojourn seems here to stay.

There’s a lot to enjoy about F-1 Trillion, and it feels tailor-made for chart domination, but as much as Malone felt hip-hop was limiting his oeuvre, it at least gifted him moments to really let loose, as on the ludicrous epic Take What You Want featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Travis Scott. On F-1 Trillion, trussed up in full country cosplay, he’s shooting a little too straight.