"Chemical" is a song by American rapper

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. His music blends various genres including hip-hop, Pop music, pop, Contemporary R&B, R&B, Tra ...

. It was released through

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

and

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

as the lead single from his fifth studio album, ''

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

'', on April 14, 2023. The song was produced by Malone himself, Andrew Watt, and

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 the three wrote it alongside Billy Walsh. One week after its release, the song appeared as the last track on Malone's first compilation album, '' The Diamond Collection'', which was released to celebrate him becoming the artist with the most diamond-certified singles by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), although the song was not certified at the time of the album's release.

Background

In an early 2022 interview with ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' ahead of the release of his fourth studio album, ''

Twelve Carat Toothache ''Twelve Carat Toothache'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Post Malone. It was released on June 3, 2022, by Mercury and Republic Records. The album contains 14 tracks and includes guest appearances from Roddy Ricch, Doja Cat, Gun ...

'' (2022), Malone expressed plans to rebuild his artistic vision, even if that meant to compromise commercial success. "Chemical" marks his first release as a lead artist since the album. On April 12, 2023, Malone posted a clip of him listening to the song on his social media and announced the release.

Composition

"Chemical" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

and

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

song that sees Malone return to his trademark sound, while the song is also accompanied by an acoustic "folk-based" guitar and "contemporary pop elements". It includes a "bright and catchy" chorus, which was described as a "contrast" to his previous moodier offerings. Despite the upbeat vibe of the chorus, the lyrical content was viewed as "on-brand" for Malone, as he opens up about his inability to let go of a seemingly toxic relationship, akin to an addiction.

Music video

The accompanying official music video for "Chemical", directed by Alfred Marroquin, was released on April 14, 2023. It sees Malone in different locations, including him smoking in a car like he says in the song as well as him dancing in front of a

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

, and

cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

backdrop. In the beginning of the video he briefly walks by a

nighttime Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of su ...

backdrop. The same backdrop can be seen at the very end of the video as he's seen sitting on top of a vehicle. In the beginning of the video and towards the middle of it, someone from behind the scenes can be seen pushing the backdrops, making way for a different backdrop. Malone also posted a lyric video, in which different angles are shown. The quality of the lyric video was reduced to create a

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from the past, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. It has been argued that there is a nostalgia cycle in popular culture. Definition The term ...

effect.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Post Malone 2023 singles 2023 songs Mercury Records singles Post Malone songs Republic Records singles Song recordings produced by Post Malone Song recordings produced by Andrew Watt (record producer) Song recordings produced by Louis Bell Songs written by Andrew Watt (record producer) Songs written by Louis Bell Songs written by Post Malone American pop rock songs