Austin Richard Post is everywhere. Whether he's dominating the country charts with Morgan Wallen or haunting our playlists with his signature vibrato, the man we know as Post Malone feels like a permanent fixture of American culture. But if you ask a casual fan where he’s from, you’ll usually get a confused look or a confident, "Oh, he’s a Texas guy, right?"
Well, sort of.
The truth is a bit more divided. To understand the "Rockstar" singer, you have to look at two very different maps.
Where Was Post Malone Born? The New York Beginnings
Post Malone was born on July 4, 1995. Yeah, Independence Day. Honestly, having a birthday on the Fourth of July feels like a foreshadowing of the massive, stadium-sized career he’d eventually have. He didn't start his life in the South, though. Post Malone was born in Syracuse, New York.
He spent his earliest years in the 315. His father, Rich Post, was a wedding DJ in the Syracuse area back in the day. This is a huge detail because it’s where Austin’s "genre-less" approach to music actually started. Imagine a young kid watching his dad pack a dance floor by jumping from AC/DC to Notorious B.I.G. and then into a country ballad. That’s the blueprint for the artist he became.
His parents, Rich and Nicole, eventually split up. Austin was primarily raised by his father and his stepmother, Jodie. They lived in the Syracuse suburbs until everything changed in 2004.
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The Move to Grapevine: Why Texas Claims Him
When Austin was about nine years old, the family packed up and headed south. Why? Because his dad got a job as the assistant director of food and beverage for the Dallas Cowboys. Talk about a career pivot.
They settled in Grapevine, Texas, a suburban city between Dallas and Fort Worth. This is where "Austin Post" really started to morph into "Post Malone." While New York gave him his birth certificate, Texas gave him his personality. He grew up around the Cowboys’ organization—literally eating free food at the stadium and getting tickets to games.
It’s probably why he has a Cowboys helmet tattooed on his shoulder.
In Grapevine, he was just another kid at Grapevine High School. He worked at Chicken Express. He wore cowboy boots. He even got voted "Most Likely to Become Famous" by his senior class. They definitely called that one.
The Guitar Hero Obsession
You’d think a global superstar took years of professional lessons. Nope. Austin actually learned how to play the guitar because of the video game Guitar Hero. He got so good at the plastic buttons that he decided to try the real thing.
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His dad promised him that if he stuck with it for six months, he'd get him real lessons. But Austin being Austin, he just taught himself. By the time he was a teenager, he was auditioning for bands. He actually tried out for a metalcore band called Crown the Empire in 2010.
He didn't get the gig. Why? His guitar strings broke during the audition.
It’s wild to think that a single broken string might be the reason he leaned more into the hip-hop/pop lane instead of becoming a touring metal guitarist.
From the 817 to Los Angeles
After a very brief stint at Tarrant County College—which he dropped out of because, in his words, he "wasn't feeling the vibe"—he made a move that most kids from Grapevine only talk about. He moved to Los Angeles.
He stayed with his friend Jason Probst, who was a popular Minecraft streamer at the time. They lived in a house in the San Fernando Valley with a bunch of other creators. He was broke, sleeping on a floor, and basically living on snacks.
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It was in that house that he met producers FKi 1st and Rex Kudo. They recorded "White Iverson" two days after he wrote it. He uploaded it to SoundCloud, and the rest is history. The song blew up, and the kid from Syracuse who grew up in Grapevine became a household name.
The Local Influence on His Sound
People often argue about whether he’s a "New York artist" or a "Texas artist."
Honestly, he’s both.
- The New York Side: Gives him that grit and the eclectic, "listen to anything" DJ mentality he got from his dad.
- The Texas Side: Gave him the country influence, the love for the Dallas Cowboys, and that laid-back, "y'all" energy.
He currently lives in a massive mansion in Utah to escape the Hollywood madness, but he’s never really let go of those Texas roots. He still shows up at local spots in Grapevine when he's home, and he’s been leaning harder into the country genre lately, which feels like a full-circle moment for a kid who grew up in the shadow of AT&T Stadium.
What You Can Learn from Austin's Journey
If you're looking at Posty's life as a template for your own path, here’s the takeaway:
- Embrace your weird influences. Whether it's Guitar Hero or your dad’s wedding DJ playlists, the stuff you like is what makes your "sound" unique.
- Don't fear the pivot. Moving from New York to Texas was a massive shift, but it provided the environment he needed to grow.
- Be the "Most Likely." If your peers see something in you, lean into it. There’s usually a reason they voted you that way.
If you’re ever in Grapevine, you can still see the places where he played his first open mic nights, like Napoli's Italian Café. It's a reminder that every "overnight success" usually starts with a kid in a bedroom or a suburban garage in a town most people have never heard of.