Stoney is the debut studio album by American artist Post Malone. It was released on December 9, 2016, by Republic Records. The album features guest appearances from Justin Bieber, Kehlani, Quavo, and for the deluxe edition, 2 Chainz. The production on the album was handled by DJ Mustard, Metro Boomin, Vinylz, Frank Dukes, Illangelo, Charlie Handsome, Rex Kudo, Foreign Teck, and Pharrell Williams, among others.

Experimenting with hip hop, country, and pop,[1] Stoney debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 and later peaked at number four. "Congratulations" was first released as the album's first promotional single on November 4, 2016. The single was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and was Malone's biggest US Billboard Hot 100 hit at the time. Stoney was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

In February 2017, Post revealed the title of his next project, Beerbongs & Bentleys,[63] and was set to be released in December, before eventually being pushed back to 2018.[64] In September, Post released the first single from the album, "Rockstar", featuring 21 Savage. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the spot for eight consecutive weeks,[65] later prompting Rolling Stone to call him "one of the most popular musicians in the country" in 2017. In November, Malone released the official music video for "Rockstar", directed by Emil Nava.[66][67][68][69]

On February 20, 2018, Post previewed his new song with Ty Dolla Sign titled "Psycho."[70] "Psycho" was released on February 23, 2018,[71] and a tour with 21 Savage was announced.[72] The song debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Post's third entry in the top 10.[73] On April 5, 2018, Malone stated that Beerbongs & Bentleys will be released on April 27, 2018.[74] The same day, he also premiered the song "Stay" during the Bud Lite Dive Bar show in Nashville.[75] Upon release, Beerbongs & Bentleys broke the first day streaming records on Spotify, with 78.7 million streams worldwide.[76] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 moving 461,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, with 153,000 coming from pure sales. The album was also certified platinum by the RIAA after four days[77] and spawned three top 10 songs and six top 20 songs.[78]

In an interview with Billboard in May 2018, Post's manager announced that Post was planning to start his own record label and film production company[79] and Post later won Top Rap Song at the Billboard Music Awards for "Rockstar" featuring 21 Savage.[80] Post confirmed in June 2018 that he was writing his third album,[81] and confirmed that a festival will be taking place, organized by him, titled "Posty Fest" in Dallas, Texas on October 28. Post promised a "blockbuster" lineup with headliners like Travis Scott.[82]]

In August, Post broke Michael Jackson's 34-year-old record for most weeks on Billboard's Top R&B and Hip-Hop Albums chart with Stoney reaching its 77th week compared to the 76 weeks that Thriller spent on the chart.[13] A collaboration album with Mac Miller was also teased in August 2018.[83] During his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, he previewed his song "Sunflower", a collaboration with Swae Lee, from the soundtrack to the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.[84][85] In November 2018, it was confirmed Post was recording his third album in his Utah home.[86]