It’s hard to believe that Future has been relevant in the hip-hop game for ten years now. To put that in perspective, he’s had longer career success than Tupac, Biggie, Nelly and Ludacris. With the release of “THE WIZRD,” his 7th studio album, he looks to continue his impressive run, doing it in a way that hip-hop critics have no choice but to respect. 

---

STREAM

---

TOP 5

 

HONORABLE MENTION. GOIN’ DUMMI

I know most of you are going to ignore this song when you listen to the album, especially when you see the title of it, but I think it’s pretty solid! It features a hard-hitting beat by Wheezy, some laid-back singing by Future, and a few celebratory vibes that actually puts you in quite the mood. What I really like about the song is that Hndrixx does a great job of hitting listeners with several animated bars throughout it, delivering them in a way that truly catches your attention.

 

 

5. F&N

“F&N” is Future’s version of “Sicko-Mode:” It’s exhilarating, has a few different phases to it, and does a great job of hyping listeners up. It also has a helluva tempo attached to it, and I love how our guy HNDRXX takes advantage of this tempo by playing the trap’s version of Richard Simmons on his contributions. Matter of fact, I did hella jumping jacks while I was listening to him instruct s**t.

Future said, “I took an AK to a dinner date” on one of his verses on this song… Damn, was this n***a getting dinner at a Hibachi spot in hell?

 

 

 

4. NEVER STOP

“Never Stop” is trap-emotional, which in my opinion, is a sound that Future is pretty undefeated utilizing.

On “Never Stop,” Future talks about his rise to fame, letting us know about all the lessons he learned along the way. From start to finish, HNDRXX relies on soulful crooning and uncomfortably honest lyrical content to make it to the finish-line, sounding as vulnerable as he’s ever sounded before. Can some big booty stripper give this n***a a hug for free?

This isn’t my favorite intro song by Future, but it’s still a very good one!

 

 

 

3. TEMPTATION

“Temptation” is not the most explosive song on this album, but it is one of the more impactful ones. It is powered by a passionate trap instrumental by Tay Keith (Which surprised me, because it doesn’t sound like some s**t he would make) that literally sounds like it’s crying out for help. Over this instrumental, Future bounces between a relentless flow and heavy harmonizing, making his content about keeping s**t real with his homies and dealing with the trials and tribulations that comes with being a rap star like himself truly come alive.

 

 

2. FIRST OFF

“First Off” features two hip-hop heavyweights in Future and Travis Scott.

“First Off” is powered by a heavy-hitting instrumental that club-goers will love, a drowsy yet infectious performance by Future, and a version of Travis Scott that sounds focused as hell. What I like most about the song is that both Travis and Future keep s**t real on their verses, bragging about big-spending and how they dictated their financial success through nothing but chess moves. Other than Dwyane Wade, a baller Future randomly calls out on this song, who can hate on content like that?

On the real, Travis Scott dropped one of his best verses on this song.

 

1. JUMPIN’ ON A JET

I think “Jumpin’ On A Jet” is a really f**king good song! Matter of fact, I consider it some classic Future s**t. It features a version of the ATL rapper that is loose, experimental and audacious. With the topic of it revolving around him being flyer than us all, Hendrix absolutely shines bright, spewing out braggadocios bars in the most peculiar way possible (And by peculiar, I mean erratic). Personally, I love the track’s energy, and absolutely f**k with the video game-like instrumental that powers it.

How dope would it be to hear this song in the clubs?

---

SONG BY SONG BREAKDOWN

1. NEVER STOP (4.5/5)

2. JUMPIN’ ON A JET (5/5)

3. ROCKET SHIP (4/5)

4. TEMPTATION (4.5/5)

5. CRUSHED UP (3.5/5)

6. F&N (4/5)

7. CALL THE CORONER (4.5/5)

8. TALK S**T LIKE A PREACHER (4.5/5)

9. PROMISE YOU THAT (4/5)

10. STICK TO THE MODELS (4.5/5)

11. OVERDOSE (3.5/5)

12. KRAZY BUT TRUE (4/5)

13. SERVIN’ KILLA KAM (3.5/5)

14. BAPITIZE (4/5)

15. UNICORN PURP (3/5)

16. GOIN’ DUMMI (4.5/5)

17. FACESHOT (4/5)

18. FIRST OFF (5/5)

19. AIN’T COMING BACK (3.5/5)

20. TRICKS ON ME (3.5/5)

---

OVERALL RATING

(B)

 

Future has plowed through many different personas throughout the years: He’s been an Astronaut kid, HNDRXX, and my personal favorite, Super Future (Super Future sounds like a character from a Saturday morning cartoon that nobody watched)! In “THE WIZRD,” he combines all of these characters together for twenty tracks, and the end-result is a body of work that’s deep, heavy-hitting and trap-sounding.

In hip-hop, Future is one of those rare artists that succeeds when he doesn’t try to step outside of the box too much. In THE WIZRD, he made sure to stay the course, continuing to bless us with beats that f**k up housing foundations, dope ass melodies and real ass lyrical content. The one thing I would say he tweaked a bit on this album was his willingness to show a level of vulnerability that felt a lot more personal this time around. From time to time, he unapologetically talks about his drug-dealing ways, struggles with fame and pressure to stay true to himself, giving very specific examples whenever he got the chance. This is the main reason I was glued to my seat on songs like “Temptation” and “Never Stop,” ultimately giving it ratings it probably didn’t deserve for its musicality.

For those of you that can care less about the vulnerable side of Future, he did bless you with some serious bangers on this joint that should keep you entertained. On songs like “Call The Coroner,” “F&N” and “Talk S**t Like A Preacher,” fans are treated to music that smacks so hard, you might end up with a hand mark on your face. As I stated earlier, I know Future is capable of making music like this, so I chose to focus on the ones that were remotely experimental.

The level of consistency/focus displayed on THE WIZRD is impressive, and quite frankly, impossible to emulate. In a world that starves for realness, Future’s music continues to satiate, especially if you are in the mood for piping hot dishes made with the boldest of ingredients. Not only do I need such musical food in my life, but musicians who need to learn lessons on how to stay true to themselves should probably inquire about this s**t, too.