Inside the unconventional friendship between Taylor Swift and Post Malone after ... trends now
Taylor Swift's lead single from her much-anticipated new album The Tortured Poets Department is her first ever collaboration with Post Malone.
The 28-year-old rapper landed appearances on both Taylor's new album and Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter on the back of his fifth studio album, Austin, last year.
Fortnight kicks off the album as the first of two features with Florence + The Machine appearing on the eighth track, Florida!!!
Post, real name Austin Richard Post, has built an unlikely friendship with the Anti-Hero hitmaker on shared anxieties and mutual admiration.
Dive into their unconventional friendship below...
Taylor Swift 's lead single from her much-anticipated new album The Tortured Poets Department is a first ever collaboration with Post Malone on Fortnight
Fortnight kicks off the album as the first of two features with Florence + The Machine appearing on the eighth track, Florida !!!
Taylor and Post met in 2018 at the Billboard Music Awards, where both scooped prizes - the former for Top Female Artist and Top Selling Album and the latter for Top Rap Song (both pictured on the night)
The pair met backstage at the Billboard Music Awards in 2018, following Post's breakthrough album Beerbongs & Bentleys.
Their admiration for one another was immediately apparent.
The Better Now singer recounted the moment in an October 2023 interview on The Howard Stern Show.
He said: 'We were just passing by and she was like, "Oh my god! Nice to see you. Better Now is f***ing amazing."
'I was like, "What?' That's f***ing crazy, you're a great f***ing songwriter! Thank you so very much.
'There’s so many beautiful artists in the world and for another artist to acknowledge that is a really, really special thing.
'That was a really cool moment and it was very inspiring.'
Their paths crossed again when both were up for Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards - which Taylor won on the back of her seventh studio album, Lover.
After Taylor announced the tracklist for the album, and with it the Post Malone feature, the rapper reposted the 'manuscript' (above) with heart emojis
Posty performed live at the Super Bowl (pictured) as Taylor saw boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs win the title. She was caught arm-in-arm with Blake Lively swaying to America The Beatiful during her friend's performance
She was also honoured as Artist of the Decade, after which she made sure to grab a hug from Malone.
In the following years, Post's creative path mirrored that trodden by Swift a few years earlier.
His 2022 album Twelve Carat Toothache tells the story of a superstar wishing to confront his fame.
He told Billboard: 'I’ve made a lot of compromises, especially musically, but now I don’t feel like I want to anymore. I don’t need a No. 1; that doesn’t matter to me no more, and at a point, it did.'
This bears resemblance to Taylors 2017 LP, Reputation - coincidentally the title of the opening track on Twelve Carat Toothache, with the lyrics: 'I got a reputation that I can’t deny / You’re the superstar, entertain us.'
The same year, rumours began to swirl about a potential collaboration between Taylor and Post, with the latter following the megastar on TikTok, making her one of just 31 accounts he followed at the time.
Shortly after Post's next album - released July 2023 - the pair hung out with Taylor's boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
He recalled the star-studded encounter telling Howard Stern they had a game of beer pong.
'She is genuinely one of the most kind and considerate and a f***ing hell of a songwriter.'
In the new year, on February 4, as Taylor collected her 13th Grammy Award, she dropped the news that she was releasing a new album.
A day later, she released the 16-strong tracklist, revealing the Post Malone feature.
He reposted the 'manuscript' to Instagram and captioned the post with heart emojis.
Ahead of the Super Bowl a few days later, Posty interviewed with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe and said that Taylor is 'so sweet and so kind and talented'.
He added that his involvement in The Tortured Poets Department was a no-brainer.
'She hit me up and said, "Let’s do it" and I'm like, "Hell yeah",' he explained.
On the day of the Chiefs' win over the San Francisco 49ers, Posty performed on the pitch and Taylor was caught
