Post Malone may view himself as a work in progress to some degree, but his records speak for themselves. Post Malone's debut album Stoney just surpassed Michael Jackson's Thriller for most consecutive weeks inside the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Michael Jackson's record stood at 76 weeks in succession between 1983 and 1984. While debates on authenticity are the core of standardized record keeping, the Billboard R&B chart has been the quote-unquote measuring stick for North American chart data since its inception in October 1965, before "hip hop" was amalgamated into the mix.
The Top 10 All-Time looks like this, for the time being:
77, Stoney, Post Malone, 2016-18
76, Thriller, Michael Jackson, 1983-84
64, Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston, 1985-86
63, The E.N.D., The Black Eyed Peas, 2009-10
59, The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, 2012-14
58, Recovery, Eminem, 2010-11
58, Can't Slow Down, Lionel Richie, 1983-84
56, Control, Janet Jackson, 1986-87
55, Rapture, Anita Baker, 1986-87
54, 24K Magic, Bruno Mars, 2016-18
Stoney's supremacy at the summit of the list, bodes well for any concerns he may have had about "perception" or longevity. Even at his very worst, Post Malone never demonstrates poor taste. He often enters a maniacal loop where boredom and creativity pass each other like a snarling wolf. Stoney may never compare favorably to Thriller, but very few do.
Congrats Posty, keep locking down those bags.