I can’t just “listen” to Future.
Every time I casually try to play a Future song my initial reaction is disgust. His misogyny and overall negativity just doesn’t mesh well with me. He’s like Thanos if Tyler Perry directed Endgame (The Infinity Stones are in a Pot of Grits). For me to enjoy Future I have to put myself in a dark place first. I put my hoodie up, I let the sun hit my glasses so the transition lenses get dark and then I get mad at all my exes for moving on (except Tara, she was/is a brave little Angel). If you’re a girl who’s dated me and you see that I watched 2 out of 13 of your IG story today, know I was trying to get ready to listen to Future.
So with that said, let’s get into Future’a new album “High Off Life”.
Future does not miss. He might bank a shot, or shoot after the play is dead, but he does not miss.
Future found his niche as a rapper who hates that he likes women. His drug dealer raps are ok, his drug user raps were ok, but his “bought a bitch a bag just to pay her no mind” raps are where he shines. He makes music for the little rascals in the “he man woman haters club” and sometimes that shit hits the spot. His real strength isn’t in the lyrics though, you can only hear about how he liked a girl, bought her stuff, got bored and moved on SO many times. His strength is in the vibe, the moodiness of his voice and repetitiveness of the problems in his life that he can’t fix. He also has great chemistry with a lot of today’s top artists. It’s no surprise that he’s made so many joint albums/mixtapes with people, he knows how to play off someone else extremely well. This is good music to play when you think someone ghosted you when in reality they were just busy sleeping and didn’t want to be on their phone.
Now the negatives, honestly the music is just too repetitive at this point. There’s finding a “winning formula” but there’s also “growing as an artist”. I get it, you felt betrayed by a chick because she left you while you were sleeping with 5 other women. How many different ways can you say “I was just fucking them girls, I was gonna get right back”? It feels like he’s refusing to grow but he’s upset people won’t treat him differently. If I was 16 and scared of women I would probably love this album. I wouldn’t call it flat out "misogynist” but the frustrations of a man in his 30s who acts like he’s a teenager aren’t exactly feminist. To make things worse his fan base is full of dudes who worship him like a God. So while Future is trying to explain himself a bunch of niggas in Paid In Full themed Dragon Ball Z shirts blindly spout his gospel.
At some point you gotta grow up, because if you don’t you’ll find yourself around people you don’t like while your body starts breaking down. Your hairs get grayer and you can’t handle Molly and/or Percocet the same way. It’s just not a sustainable lifestyle. High Off Life is fun if you’re looking for more of the same, but as a lot of us are preparing for the “New Normal” it’s not enough.
I had a good time with this album but I don’t see myself coming back to it too often. I give “High off Life” 5 angry subtweets out of 9.