"Rockstar" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American rapper and singer

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

featuring

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

-based rapper

21 Savage Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...

. It was released on September 15, 2017, by Republic Records as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from Malone's second studio album ''

Beerbongs & Bentleys ''Beerbongs & Bentleys'' (stylized in lowercase) is the second studio album by American rapper and singer Post Malone, released by Republic Records on April 27, 2018. The album features guest appearances from Swae Lee, 21 Savage, Ty Dolla Sign, N ...

'' (2018). The artists wrote the song with producers

Louis Bell Louis Russell Bell (born May 27, 1982) is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. Bell's work includes production for Post Malone, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, 5 Seconds of Summer, ...

and Tank God. Despite receiving mixed reviews by music critics, the track became Malone's most successful hit single to date, reaching number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and reached the top spot in several other countries, including Australia, Canada, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. It became both Post Malone and 21 Savage's first number-one single in all the countries mentioned. The song was nominated for

Record of the Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...

and

Best Rap/Sung Performance The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...

at the

61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and ...

Background

Post Malone posted a snippet of himself playing the track in the studio via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

on December 24, 2016.

Music videos

The unofficial YouTube video for the track's audio, released by Republic Records, is a three-minute-and-38-second loop of solely the song's chorus. Therefore, the song was able to receive equivalent downloads without featuring the entirety of the song, which some attributed to its number-one spot on the Hot 100. Some called it a "clever marketing scheme", while others believed it was a trick or a loophole. The official music video, directed by

Emil Nava Emil William Capper Nava (born 29 March 1985) is a British music video director. After leaving school at 16, Emil started his career as a chef. He shot to fame after directing Jessie J's song " Do It Like A Dude". He has since directed over 1 ...

, was released on Post Malone's

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

YouTube channel on November 21, 2017. The video features Post Malone in a room fighting against a gang of men with samurai swords, and ends with Post Malone and 21 Savage covered in blood. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' noted that the video references the Japanese action film '' Lady Snowblood''. On June 23, 2022 after nearly 5 years on YouTube, the video hit 1 billion views.

Commercial performance

The song reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Post Malone and 21 Savage's first number-one song. It debuted at number two behind Cardi B's "

Bodak Yellow "Bodak Yellow" (alternatively titled "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)") is the major-label debut single by American rapper Cardi B. It was written by Cardi B, Jordan Thorpe, Klenord Raphael, and produced by J. White Did It and Laquan Green. It was r ...

", breaking the single week streaming record on Apple Music with over 25 million streams becoming Post Malone's third top 20 hit, following his debut single, "

White Iverson "White Iverson" is the debut single by American rapper and singer Post Malone. It was released through Republic Records on August 14, 2015, as the lead single from his debut studio album, ''Stoney'' (2016). It was originally released on Februar ...

" and his top 10 hit "

Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary Music Albums * ''Congratulations'' (album), an album by ...

". It stayed behind "

" for three consecutive weeks before reaching the top spot in its fourth week. "Rockstar" topped the Hot 100 for eight weeks, the longest run at number one for a hip hop song in 2017. After its eighth week at number one, it was knocked off by " Perfect" by

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

and Beyoncé. The single has sold over 10,000,000 copies, being certified Diamond in the US. In New Zealand, it debuted at number 4, then moved to the top spot the following week, staying at the summit for 8 weeks. It prevented "

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

", from

Camila Cabello Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is a Cuban-born American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Fifth Harmony, which became one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. While in ...

reaching number 1, peaking at number 2 for 5 consecutive weeks. In Australia, it topped the ARIA Singles Chart for seven weeks In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number five on September 22, 2017. The following week, it rose three places to number two, behind

Sam Smith Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single " Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...

's " Too Good at Goodbyes", before reaching the top on October 6. In September 2020, "Rockstar" became the second song ever, after Ed Sheeran's "

Shape of You "Shape of You" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the double lead singles from his third studio album '' ÷'' (2017), along with "Castle on the Hill". The dancehall and R&B-infused ...

", to surpass 2 billion streams on the audio platform

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

Critical reception

"Rockstar" received mixed reviews from music critics. ''

Spin.com ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. History ...

'' reviewed the song's unofficial video by stating: "The chorus loop may be a weirdly hypnotic, post-Vine marketing gimmick, but it seems like it worked. "rockstar" is both Post Malone's and 21 Savage's first-ever No. 1 single, meaning this probably won't be the last time an artist attempts to boost a track by distilling its catchiest section into a standalone product. Maybe, in the future, we'll all listen to seconds-long hooks on endless extended loops." ''Spin'' and ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' both named the song one of the worst of 2017.

Remixes

On November 29, 2017, an unofficial

Crankdat Christian Smith (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Crankdat, is an American DJ and electronic dance music producer. Early life Smith grew up desiring to be an athlete, but ultimately turned down a full-ride track-and-field schola ...

remix of the song was released on the Trap Nation channel on YouTube. On December 13, 2017, a Latin remix of the song featuring Dominican-Puerto Rican

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

artists

Nicky Jam Nick Rivera Caminero (born March 17, 1981), known professionally as Nicky Jam, is an American singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as " X", "Travesuras", "En la Cama", "Te Busco", " El Perdón", " Hasta el Amanecer", and " El Amante ...

and

Ozuna Juan Carlos Ozuna Rosado (; born March 13, 1992), known simply by his surname Ozuna, is a Puerto Rican singer. Five of his studio albums have topped the ''Billboard'' Top Latin Albums chart, with ''Aura'' (2018) charting at number seven on ...

was released. Another remix was released on December 22, 2017, featuring new verses from rappers

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with B ...

and Nino Man. On December 25, 2017,

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

released his remix of the song, titled "5 Star" and featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

, as a single from his mixtape '' Dedication 6''. On January 23, 2018, American rapper

Fetty Wap Willie Junior Maxwell II (born June 7, 1991), better known by his stage names Fetty Wap or Harlem Fetty, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence after his debut single " Trap Queen" reached number two on the U.S. ''B ...

released his remix of the song.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

References