Future – Superfly (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Review)

Kendrick Lamar made me a believer in a specific artist serving as the central figure to a soundtrack. I feel like when this happens, you get consistency as opposed to a whole bunch of random watered down music that old ass movie execs want rappers to make for the movies sake (ala Fast & Furious soundtracks). With that being said, Future got his chance to orchestrate his own soundtrack with “Superfly,” and I expect it to be as complete a body of work as anything else he dropped in the past.

TOP 5

HONORABLE MENTION. IF YOU WANT IT

I don’t care what you guys say, Sleepy Brown fits this soundtrack just as much as anyone else! His silky smooth demeanor falls in line with what Superfly is supposed to represent, plus his bald held shows he’s been through a struggle of some sort (Don’t know what that has to do with anything, but oh well). In “If You Want It,” Brown gives us something that will take you back to the 70’s, combining a nostalgic instrumental with dreamy vocals by him and a myriad of vaguely recognized guests. The song probably won’t be a fan favorite, but f**k it, I think it is.

5. NO SHAME

If you would’ve asked me a few weeks ago how i felt about this song, I would’ve literally upchucked. But as time went by, I started to understand it more and more, and now I appreciate it for what it might mean to the Superfly movie.

The production on the song is bluesy, PARTYNEXTDOOR sounds like he’s seconds away from suicide, and Future comes across like a n***a that just lost it all at the casino… To call the track sad is an understatement. However, I can see it going hand in hand with a scene in which Superfly becomes homeless.

4. BAG

Future and Yung Bans are using their inside voices like s**t on this song.

“Bag” has some smooth production attached to it, is hella catchy, and features some good chemistry between both Future and Bans.

Lyrically, I thought Yung Bans could’ve done a bit better on his verse — as talking about f**king b*tches for literally 2 minutes won’t cut it for me — but I did like his confidence. Future shined bright on his contributions though, swagging his way through the song with this sly demeanor throughout.

3. DRIVE ITSELF

On any given day, this song can end up as the best one on this soundtrack. It features Future and Lil Wayne trading verses, letting the world know just how ruthless and savage they can be.

Both rappers share the same melody on their respective verses, but Wayne focuses more on punchlines and wordplay than Future does.

If you give Future and Wayne a sinister instrumental like this, more than likely they are going to kill s**t.

2. STAINS

“Stains” can fit on any Future project from the last couple of years. Everything he does well as an artist he does on this song: Killer hook, excellent melody, absolutely flawless delivery on his verses, and most importantly, a good blend between drug-dealing and flossy talk.

1. THIS WAY

Khalid continues to be the soundtrack king.

This song is too beautiful to ignore as number one. Khalid links up with H.E.R. on it, and together, they were able to create this slow-paced gem that is heavy on the heartbreak side. The back and forth they do on the song is so emotional that it is chilling, and every single note they hit you with will eek at your soul.

If I were to guess, this song will play on a scene where Superfly finds out that his favorite afro pick was created by a white company.

Unlike Miguel’s random ass feature on this soundtrack, this one fits the tone of the project way better.

SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. IF YOU WANT IT (4.9/5)

2. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT (4.8/5)

3. NO SHAME (4.5/5)

4. WALK ON MINKS (3.8/5)

5. TIE MY SHOES (3.7/5)

6. STAINS (5/5)

7. SHOW MY CHAIN SOME LOVE (3.9/5)

8. R.A.N. (4/5)

9. THIS WAY (5/5)

10. BAG (4.8/5)

11. DRIVE ITSELF (4.5/5)

12. MONEY TRAIN (4/5)

13. NOWHERE (3.7/5)

1. TRAPPIN’ SO HARD (4/5)

2. NEW GOALS (3/5)

3. THAT’S HOW I GREW UP (4.5/5)

4. REP YO CLICK (3.7/5)

5. PLEASE FORGIVE (4.1/5)

6. CAPONE SUITE (4.8/5)

7. STRUGGLES (4.2/5)

8. FIND MY WAY OUT (4.5/5)

9. LE DUÊNA (4/5)

10. GEORGIA (4/5)

OVERALL RATING

(B)

This album was so hard to rate, because there was a good blend of beautiful R&B and gritty hip hop on it. Of course the bando version of myself wants to have a top 5 with every single track that Future spazzed on it, but realistically, ignoring Miguel, H.E.R. and Sleppy Brown’s contributions would be reckless of me. With that being said, 4 of my top 5 songs from this album has Future either spazzing or semi-spazzing on it.

I get asked so much about my rating scale by readers and how the numbers I give the songs doesn’t match my final rating — well that’s because I factor in multiple things like how the body of work flows, how each song relates to one another, and the overall effort from the artist/artists to step outside of the box. This soundtrack has everyone of those elements — plus Lil Wayne.