Earlier this year, the song that jumpstarted Post Malone’s career eclipsed a massive streaming number. Certified by Spotify, the 2016 hit “White Iverson” has now reached 1 billion streams on the platform, and Spotify helped Malone celebrate the occasion while on tour in May.
Videos by American Songwriter
During his 3-concert stay in London for the European leg of his Twelve Carat Tour (May 4-7), Malone received a plaque from Spotify, as “White Iverson” is now the tenth song in his catalog to hit 1 billion plays. Releasing footage of him backstage being given the plaque on Monday (August 14), Malone is seen reminiscing on how the smash hit came to be.
“I made the beat, and I wrote the song, but I didn’t know how to work Pro-Tools,” Malone recalled. “And so I took it over to my buddy’s house, so he gave me a crash course on ProTools and I still couldn’t do it. So he came back in and recorded. But I guess I originally tried to record it myself.”
While playing beer pong in the video, a drinking game he is known to be a huge fan of despite his current efforts to cut beer out of his diet, Malone discusses how former basketball icon Allen Iverson has always inspired him.
“Allen Iverson influenced my beer pong a lot. I like to consider myself a bit of a shooter,” he said. “I guess playing beer pong backstage was just a cool way to bond with your boys and have a little fun for the show, get ready. It’s so cool looking at something and saying we did that, the team did that, and that the people like the music enough to play it a billion times.”
[RELATED: Post Malone Performs His Heart Out at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert]
Iverson, who inspired the song and music video that was filmed on a basketball court, gave a message to Spotify to show to Malone, congratulating him on the success of “White Iverson.”
“I heard I inspired your beer pong game. Congrats on 1 billion Spotify streams,” the NBA star said. “The whole world loves this song and I’m honored to be a part of it. Keep that same form, Post.”
According to Spotify, “White Iverson” has been added to “more than 23 million Spotify playlists.” Along with its success on Spotify, the aforementioned visuals have also hit 1 billion, one of five videos of his to achieve this. Certified by RIAA in November 2022, “White Iverson,” is also one of eight singles from Malone to earn diamond status.
Check out Spotify’s congratulatory video below.
Photo by Raymond Hall/GC Images
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