In just one year, Future has experienced a career turnaround that is seldom seen in hip-hop. Hits come and go, and relevancy is fleeting. But Future, being the diverse and creative artist he is, has managed to keep his name near the top of the rap pyramid for several years through various Top 10 hits and hooks. However, even multiple years of popularity isn’t enough to prevent a career stalemate. 2014's Honest was a solid effort but apart from a few songs the album didn’t have much lasting power. But could you blame him? 2014 Future who was engaged to Ciara, off the syrup, and was singing ballads on a beach with Kanye West dressed in all white was worlds different than the artist he was when he made himself a star.
“Falling out of love was the best thing I ever did,” mumbles Future on “Kno The Meaning.” Even though it’s a bonus track, that may be the most powerful line on the album as it represents the surreal journey that Future is on since dropping Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights over the course of 6 months. After breaking up with Ciara and restarting his drug addictions, fans have been blessed with music that sounds so fresh that everything else that has come out this year — which is a lot — feels actively…boring. After the surprise release of 56 Nights in March, a tape that sounded better and better with each listen, fans anxiously awaited the next installment. Mixtape or album? Would Mike Will be the executive or sole producer?
It’s not hard to intellectualize Future’s music. His struggles with drug addiction are expressed through his music, juxtaposing savagery with melancholy cries for help. Fans are caught in a struggle between enjoying this prolific drug-fueled output and worrying about Future’s health. The concern is heightened especially due to A$AP Yams’ fatal overdose earlier this year, with a symbolic final tweet referencing this song from Future himself. But there is no doubting that the pain and struggles have elevated Future’s music to a new level where he is finally realizing the full potential everybody saw years ago.
If Future is the star runningback, then Metro Boomin, Southside, Zaytoven, Sonny Digital, and TM88 are his invaluable offensive line. And they all deserve Rolexes.
In short, Future was able to accomplish with DS2 what so many rappers are unable to do: create an album that builds on the sound created through his mixtapes, instead of abandoning it and reaching for something different. He created his own formula, found out what works, and improved on that sound. Since Monster, Future has employed just 10 producers over 46 songs. The cohesion and continuity that Future and his producers created over this time ensured that DS2 would deliver in the same way that his previous 3 tapes did. If Future is the star runningback, then Metro Boomin, Southside, Zaytoven, Sonny Digital, and TM88 are his invaluable offensive line. And they all deserve Rolexes.
Future begins this album with “I just fucked your bitch in some Gucci flip flops” over a mystical Metro Boomin beat. His subject matter hasn’t changed much since Monster — sex, drugs, and guns — but he’s able to keep it fresh through his usage of autotune, different melodies, and diverse beats. It’s impressive that he’s been able to do this; it’s easy to critique Future by getting lost in the 3-word-repetitive-hooks and Kill Bill sirens, but he has the unique ability to create catchy phrases and quotable lines. Somehow, the hardest line on the whole album might be “Imma tell a lie under oath.” Future and executive producer Metro Boomin did well in blending the different sounds from previous mixtapes into one. There was no shortage of high-energy head knockers in “I Serve The Base,” “Groupies,” “Freak Hoe,” and “Blow A Bag.” However, he also delivered raw, slower tracks just as effectively in “Rotation” and “Slave Master.” Zaytoven’s distinctive keyboard work was shown off on “Colossal” and was a welcome addition to the second half of “Blood on the Money.” These songs seem almost effortless to Future, who has never sounded more comfortable on these tracks at any point in his career. “The Percocet and Stripper Joint,” a laid-back jam on the deluxe edition that sounds almost nothing like the rest of the album, is an example of Future successfully furthering his sound. Another important part of Future’s musical formula is the lack of features. Of the 46 aforementioned songs, only 4 have someone other than Future on it. That astonishingly low number, especially in today’s feature-oriented rap game, is a testament to Future’s songmaking ability. Rumors are flying that Drake himself had to beg to appear on DS2, and while rumors are just rumors, Drake is not slick for vulturing off Future’s hype after their rocky past.
Since Monster and all the way up to DS2, Future and company have reiterated that the music they’re making was for the streets and fans. The projects he has released lately have been more about the whole, rather than the sum of its parts (in the form of singles). Instead of chasing hits, he made music and the hits came naturally — three of which were thrown onto the deluxe version of DS2 in “Commas,” “Trap Niggas,” and “Real Sisters.” DS2 is no different; besides The Drake Track, the album runs front to back without any deliberate singles or any sort of sonic compromises that many rappers make to appeal to radio. It was this strategy that allowed Future to truly reconnect with fans and give them what they want. This show-and-prove attitude plus a rabid Twitter fanbase imploring fans to buy the album is setting Future up for a fantastic first week showing that in the end, good music prevails over all. In a rap game with cult figures like Lil B and RiFF RAFF, it’s refreshing to see an artist shine off the sheer quality of his music. It’s been a wild year for Future, one that has seen him make the best music of his life while taking a stranglehold over a 2015 chock-full of fantastic hip-hop releases. On the melancholy Monster cut “Hardly”, Future croons “I pour my life inside these poems, my whole soul and my spirit”. Future’s passion for making music is felt in every track on DS2 and as a result, we are blessed with what is undoubtedly one of the best albums of the year.
Score: 8.7/10
Favorite track: “I Serve The Base”
Favorite beat: “I Serve The Base”
Favorite feature: No one. Drake’s verse was average as hell outside that one line about buying his neighbor’s house.
