rockstar - Intellectual

A Rasta is a follower of the Rastafari religion, a Jamaican movement that saw its first major rise in popularity in the 1930s. One of the most iconic Rastas was Bob Marley, who popularized the faith with his music in the ‘70s. Rastas are known for sporting dreadlocks and smoking marijuana, which “gas” is slang for. Smoking ganja is a sacramental component of the Rastafarian religion.

“I’m with the band” is a phrase groupies use to get past security. It’s so ubiquitous that one of rock’s most notorious groupies, Pamela Des Barres, named her 1987 tell-all memoir after it.

In the book, she recounted her drug-fueled sexual escapades in the 1960s rock world, including her affairs with rockstars like Keith Moon of The Who, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Des Barres' story epitomized the stereotypical groupie lifestyle that Post describes here.

Olufunmibi Awoshiley, better known as Tank God, is a New York-based producer. Some notable artists Tank has worked with include Lil Wayne, A$AP Rocky, and A Boogie wit da Hoodie.

On October 6, 2017, Tank God broke down how he produced the song in an episode of Deconstructed by Genius:

Drugs, alcohol, and rock music have always been intertwined, often to tragic effect. Brian Jones' drug and alcohol abuse led him to drown in his pool in 1969, Bon Scott, who Post name-dropped at the beginning of the verse, died of alcohol poisoning in 1980, and Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison all died of drug overdoses at just 27 years old. Post is embracing this “live fast, die young” rockstar lifestyle.

The Montage is a chain of five-star luxury hotels. Post’s friend and collaborator Justin Bieber has reportedly lived at the Beverly Hills location since late 2016.

Trashing hotel rooms—and specifically tossing TVs out of hotel windows—is a rockstar tradition. Although there’s no consensus about who started the trend, some believe the inciting event was when The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and keyboardist Bobby Keys launched their TV off of a West Hollywood hotel balcony in 1972.

“Light My Fire,” released in 1967, is one of The Doors' biggest hits. That year, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

On December 9, 1967, the band’s frontman Jim Morrison was arrested during a live show in New Haven, Connecticut following an incident where he was insubordinate to a police officer backstage. The crowd rioted, and Morrison became the first ever rockstar taken into custody during a performance.

Three years later, Morrison was arrested on stage again, this time in Miami, Florida for exposing his genitals to the crowd and feigning masturbation.

Post sports the faces of music legends tattooed on his fingers. In a 2016 GQ interview, after he talked about adding Jim Morrison to one of his digits, he said “without these guys, I wouldn’t be making music right now.”

A Pop-Tart is a pre-baked toaster pastry that’s hard on the outside but soft and gooey on the inside.

“Hard” is a street term for being tough. By saying “you are not hard”, 21 is saying this person isn’t tough enough for the streets. He compares them to a Pop-Tart, as they act hard on the outside but on the inside, they’re too soft and sweet, unlike the image they are trying to set for themselves.

Mos Def and Talib Kweli used similar euphemisms on “Re:Definition” talking about people being sweet enough to cause cavities and “sweeter than some cinnamon” and not tough.

Finally, Pop-tart is also a reference to a “pop star” which has considerably less authenticity/hardness than a true rapper.

“Shottas” are loyal gangsters who you can call upon to commit violence or murders. The term was popularized by the 2002 Jamaican movie of the same name, which is a drama about two young men involved in organized crime in Kingston, Jamaica and Miami, Florida. Loyalty is one of the film’s key themes.

“Gra-ta-ta-ta” is an onomatopoeia for a gunshot.

“Big snack” is a sexual reference that has multiple meanings, one is when a man eats out the woman’s genitalia, or when a woman sucks on male genitalia, in this case; 21 is saying how his opp’s wife wants to eat him out, which means that his wife will be performing oral on 21.

Hennessy, or Henny, is a type of brandy/cognac from France.

The company sees themselves mentioned quite a lot in rap tracks, probably because it is somewhat high-end, meaning they are able to show off their wealth. With all this said, the popularity behind this brand doesn’t only stem from the consistent mentions from artists.

In an interview with Pigeons & Planes, producer Tank God confirmed that this laugh belonged to Post Malone.

P&P: At the beginning of the song, is that eerie laugh a recording of Post? Or is that a sample?

Tank God: Yeah, that’s Post. [Laughs]

“Tracks” is slang for a type of hair extensions because the pattern at the base of the extension can resemble train tracks.

“No más” is Spanish for “no more” and, considering the previous line, seems to imply the girl 21 is having sex with is experiencing some level of discomfort. Additionally, “hit her from the back” could be indicative of anal sex, which is often painful for the female partner.

It might also be a reference to the shocking conclusion of the famous bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Durán, where Durán suddenly quit the fight in the midway through the eighth round by raising his hand and saying “No más” to the referee.

Hollywood Hills is an upscale neighborhood located deep in the Santa Monica Mountains. This area hosts high-end homes and celebrities like Justin Timberlake, Dr. Dre, and Big Sean.

It’s no stretch of the imagination that 21 is big enough to be a pop star since he achieved major mainstream success. On his July 2017 hit “Bank Account,” he bragged about having eight million dollars to his name, and buying a house in the Hills:

Straight up out the 6, now got a house in the Hills, dog

21 used to be a drug dealer and was involved in gang violence. However, the arrival of his debut album Issa in July 2017 earned him hits like “Bank Account” which peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 list.

Even before that, his tracks “X” and “No Heart” both cracked the top 50 on Billboard, and through his Drake collaboration “Sneakin'”, he cracked the top 25. His first song to chart as a solo artist was “Red Opps” which peaked at 74 in 2015.

This is an interpolation of 21’s double-platinum Metro Boomin collaboration “No Heart,” where he rapped:

Young Savage, why you trappin' so hard?
Why these niggas cappin' so hard?
Why you got a 12 car garage?

This may also be an acknowledgment to Tyga’s unreleased diss track directed at 21, which Kylie Jenner previewed on her Snapchat. On the song, Tyga raps:

Why you got one car in a 12-car garage?
Sucking dick for a Ferrari, don’t forget to lick the balls

Another explanation is that he is thinking about the future. He needs the more garage space for the more cars he would buy. Drake rented 21 a Ferrari for his birthday in October 2016, and 21 liked it so much he ended up buying it.

“Caking” means to spend time with a love interest and build a relationship. 21 isn’t looking for love; he just wants sex.

Post first teased “rockstar” in December 2016, so 21 likely wrote this verse long prior to the song’s release. But since then he’s switched it up and gone the romance route—in July 2017, rumors started surfacing that he was in a serious relationship with model and actress Amber Rose. They even met each other’s parents.

Alternatively, 21 might be insinuating that he doesn’t like women who cake their face in make-up, asking “how you kiss that” to imply that while others might do so, he personally couldn’t bring himself to kiss someone who is “caked” in make-up.

On 19 February 1980, Bon Scott, the lead singer of the rock band AC/DC, drank himself to death at the age of 33. Scott and the band were working on Back in Black at the time—although they briefly considered calling it quits after he passed, they ended up releasing the album as a tribute to him, and it became their best-selling and most critically acclaimed endeavor.

Post is putting his own spin on “sex, drugs, and rock and roll,” a pop culture catchphrase that characterizes the rockstar lifestyle. The saying actually derives from Ian Dury’s 1977 song “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.” Even though it didn’t chart well, it slowly became an anthem because of Dury’s electric live performances.

It’s no surprise that Post would evoke the phrase, since his influences span all genres, and he’s even recorded straight-up rock and country songs like “Feeling Whitney” from his 2016 album Stoney.

In this line; 21 is showing off his sexual side by addressing how his pool is filled with multiple women completely naked, as that’s how he likes his preferences.

In 2013, $100 bills were updated to have more security features, such as a blue strip towards the center of the bill. 21’s bragging about saving his money and appreciating his wealth, but also calling back to his bygone drug dealing days.