Post Malone, “F-1 Trillion.”

Austin Richard Post is clearly not one for half measures. On his sixth album, F-1 Trillion, the rapper, singer, and now balladeer, Post Malone shoots for the moon with a full-on country record. Not only is it weighty at 18 tracks, but just about every song has one of the biggest names in the genre today.

If Posty’s Outside Lands set last weekend is any indication, he has a deep appreciation for country music that burrows beneath the surface. Unlike his that performance, this album is entirely new, with no covers, and co-written by Post.

His secret sauce, however, remains his acumen as a pop songwriter; he’s good with a memorable lyric. The early evidence was “I Had Some Help,” a Morgan Wallen collaboration, which has an instant infectiousness. You were singing before the chorus hit a second time, right?

Each track also features the right type of guest. The country rock of “Wrong Ones” with Tim McGraw is a heavyweight opener, with swagger. Post bends the rules of country by dropping an f-bomb in the chorus, while McGraw sings a different lyric. It’s both classic and  envelope-pushing, that makes the record particularly fun.

Post sings about hell-raising with Hank Williams, Jr. on “Finer Things,” while he shares an everyman bar anthem with Blake Shelton on “Pour Me a Drink.” His voice has a whiskey-soaked rough edge but still with a rich pop sensibility.

The production is also worthy of a mention. F-1 Trillion has a fine-tuned authenticity. You forget it’s Post Malone singing country songs. Dolly Parton collaboration “Have a Heart” has all the throwback charm. The vocal harmonies are pure joy. Parton sounds spry, and Post Malone is an effective sparring partner. Solo tune “What Don’t Belong To Me” dabbles in the country world but the mid-tempo ballad swings back a little closer to the pop side of the pendulum.

Brad Paisley guests on melodic ballad “Goes Without Saying,” which also shows off a memorable chorus. The light “Guy Like That,” with Luke Combs, is sneaky good. The two vocalists play off each other well, especially with Combs’ signature twang offering a counterpoint to Post’s smoother singing. Combs returns on fiddle-led ballad “Missin’ You Like This.”

Much like Beyonce, Post Malone is finding the country world to be new musical territory to conquer. “Nosedive,” with Lainey Wilson, is one of the album’s better ballads. But when Jelly Roll shows up on “Losers,” we get the fireworks we expect. Of course, the guest is another Southern rapper turned pop and country star.

Not every collaborator is a household name. Nashville native ERNEST appears on the upbeat “Devil I’ve Been,” and West Virginia folk and bluegrass rising star Sierra Ferrell on the folky “Never Love You Again.”

The most fun moment is on Chris Stapleton collab “California Sober,” a rootsy romp with killer harmonies. Rock-country singer HARDY (Michael Wilson Hardy) chips in on intimate ballad “Hide My Gun.” Fleet-fingered bluegrass star Billy Strings guests on “M-E-X-I-C-O.” “Right About You” and “Yours,” which sandwich the former song, offer  much more traditional country sound than the rest of the album. “Yours” is a particularly sweet track about Post one day watching his daughter get married.

“One day I’ll give her away, but buddy that don’t mean she’s yours,” he sings.

It would be easy to treat this album as a novelty, but it’s just not. Post takes care in doing right by the genre, as well as his own songwriting. He absolutely shines here, frequently in ways he’s never done on a record before.

Judging by overhead drone shots of a mostly still crowd, many with quizzical looks on their faces, this is unfamiliar terrain for Post Malone’s fans. This is a gamble for him. he might lose the hip-hop fans. But hopefully it has the opposite effect, introducing some skeptics to country.

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.