For the most part, when a fan calls out a rapper on Twitter, those tweets are ignored by the artist in question. In fact, for those who consider engaging with their (least) favorite artists on social media for the simple purpose of trolling celebrities, it's often in the artist's best interests to resist the urge to retaliate and just let it be. However, there are rare instances where fan interaction that begins with a negative tone can turn into a positive experience for all parties involved. Case in point was Post Malone's Twitter back-and-forth with a fan who had a problem with some of the lyrics on his new track, "Rockstar"
The fan, identifying himself on the social media platform as Derek Schwartz, began by saying, "I like the @PostMalone but the way the way he glamorizes/normalizes popping pills on his new record is flat out disgusting." He continued in that vein for a minute, posting a follow-up remark that read, "What makes it worse it is all contrived. He’s not doing it but convincing our children to do it while he profits from their pain." Pretty big accusations, especially since there's no way of telling exactly what Posty's intentions were in the first place. Thankfully, the emcee chose to set the record straight almost right away.
"Never did i once tell anybody's children to take ANY pills. music is about experiences. i have the right say whatever the hell i want," replied Malone, but he still got some resistance from the fan in question. "I know you didn’t say it directly I was just talking about the impact your songs have," replied Schwartz. "These kids look up to you. What you say matters." While that may be true, Post Malone continued to approach the issue from the angle that music consumers have agency over what they listen to lyrically. "Like i said man, there's a perfectly good clean version for people who feel just like you," the rapper explained. "They don't even let you say uzi anymore lol."
The honesty in Posty's words seemed to tip the scales in his favor at the end of the Twitter interaction with Schwartz, with the latter's attitude changing noticeably in his last response: "Haha I hear ya man. At the end of the day personally I fuck with the song. I just had a moment but keep doing your thing, I’mma big fan." Props to Post Malone for sticking to his guns and having an honest conversation with one of his fans.
