Post Malone and Pokémon: a combination that is so crazy it can only work.
Malone had the honor of hosting P25 Music, a year-long celebration in collaboration with Universal Music Group, on Saturday – the official Pokémon Day, no less – with a virtual concert streaming on Pokémon’s YouTube and Twitch accounts, and to launch his website. The tribute was short and lasted just under 15 minutes, but set the stage for what the rest of P25 Music might look like: a showcase of the enormous world of Pokémon, while also appealing to your casual listener of the Hot 100 do.
And it’s not like Malone was on stage with his version of the classic PokéRap (though this writer, for what it’s worth, would love to see it). It might have looked like any other virtual concert – if it were not for the different Pokémon that Malone wrapped throughout the show. Just like the Travis Scott “Fortnite” concert that came before it, the kick-off of the P25 Music used its format to make the experience one that was truly unique, if not a little surreal.
The concert kicked off with an animated version of Malone (one starting earlier this week in preparation for the event) greeting a stadium of what looked like hundreds of thousands of pixel fans, who jumped into his hit “Psycho” when a giant Pikachu the stage. While Malone continued to perform, he was dragged on a floating piece of land to tour different environments to find different types of Pokémon. After hovering between the Butterfree, he finds himself in a dark forest, surrounded by the glowing Shiinotic and Umbreon as he turns into one of his greatest hits, “Circles.”
Eventually he was also taken to more of the Pokémon world – from the sky with Braviary, to the sea with Jellicent. He has virtually made his new contribution to P25 Music, his cover of Hootie & the Blowfish’s “Only Wanna Be With You”, using the Ecruteak City theme of “Pokémon Gold and Silver” to give the Nintendo flare while he dances. along with Charizard and Groudon.
Is there anything bizarre about watching a cartoon Malone atmosphere with a legendary Pokémon as he sings his version of a Hootie hit? Sure there is. But in its own way, it’s just a tribute to Pokémon’s long relationship with top musicians. After all, who can forget Donna Summer’s powerful song on ‘The Power of One’ to pick up ‘Pokémon: The Movie 2000’? Pokémon have always recruited famous artists to celebrate their Pocket Monsters – Malone (who apparently is a Pokémon fan himself and sticks to a Game Boy Color just to play the games) is just the latest in a long legacy.
After Malone returned to the stadium and concluded his set with his Quavo collaboration ‘Congratulations’, he teased some of the future stuff in P25 Music: new music by Katy Perry, J Balvin and’ many more artists ‘. And it’s anyone’s guessing who Pokémon Perry and Balvin will dance with, or with which of the classic games they can taste in their new offerings. But it’s clear that the Pokémon company is doing everything in its power to celebrate 25 years of one of the world’s most enduring franchises.