Look at the artwork that accompanies this mashup of Post Malone and 21 Savage's new song "Rockstar" with Nickelback's once-ubiquitous song of the same name. Look at Post Malone's stoned, satisfied smile; look at the rather crude Photoshop job that's led to his face replacing Chad Kroeger's iconic smolder in the video for "Photograph"; see the way his spindly dreadlocks sit uncomfortably next to Kroeger's antipodean soap opera necklace. Observe all that, and then realize that, in fact, this looks quite natural if you squint a little; think about how happy Post Malone is, showing you the artwork to his latest single; bask in the calming glow of one aspiring rockstar literally obscuring Kroeger.Embrace it. That slightly uncomfortable sense of equilibrium you feel will only intensify when you press play and realize that you cannot stop, that you cannot turn back, that you must listen through Post Malone's intro verse and get through to Kroeger's effortfully gruff lines. Stare at the image—really stare at the dividing line between Malone's facial hair and Kroeger's—and let Kroeger's first vocal burst through the woozy trap beat. The key isn't quite right, is it? No, it's weird. It doesn't sit right.Stick with it. Kroeger will settle into the track. Every note will line up. Eventually, he will become emboldened, cutting 21 Savage off mid-verse to say that, actually, Chad Kroeger has "15 cars," more than Savage's "six."Replay the song. Unnatural, is it not, to hear Post Malone and 21 Savage here, intruding on Chad Kroeger's song.The track and the artwork are the work of Donly, a Kanyetothe forum user. "The original didn't pay any respect to the original rockstar, so I took matters into my own hands," he wrote when posting his creation.Let this be the lesson. There is a hero within all of us.[H/T Pigeons & Planes]Follow Alex Robert Ross on Twitter.
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