Future - DS2 Review, Bought to you by Desfantano:
A general rule for whether I enjoyed a track from this album is whether or not I perceive the hook to be infectious or not, the beats are consistently on point and dynamic especially in the first half of the album. Future works some magic with some of the hooks on the songs. Songs like
I Thought It Was a Drought, Slave Master, Blow a Bag, Where Ya At, Lil One, and even the seemingly repetitive
I Serve The Bass contain Future's trademark charisma and spirited yet highly slopped inflection.
The problem with some songs that don't have strong hooks is that Future doesn't really do enough to add anything substantial to the backing music, which at times drowns him out and leaves him sounding monotonous as a result. This is not to say that the repetition or Future's sometimes unaffected tone always is a negative, but sometimes it sounds seem to fit the mood or certain songs more so than others. On I Serve the Bass Future's unadulterated devotion to the "bass" or the beat comes off as brilliant and integrates well the track with Future sounding as a demonic as that fuzzy synth and bass line in the song. However, on a track like Blood on the Money, which sports one of the most expansive and atmospheric beats of the album, Future sounds rather stiff and uninteresting. Stick Talk is a good song mainly because it has a good hook and arguably the most well rounded beat of the album, but even on this track Future's verses are quite forgettable.
And to clear the air, I'm not expecting Future to make any sort of crazy lyrical statement whatsoever, but I feel as though his strengths lie in his ability to convey tone and emotion (or lack of emotion) through the manipulation of his voice. There are quite a few tracks that just don't have the sort of vocal anomalies or twisted inflections I've come to expect from Future. When he's on point you can almost sense the codeine laced soft drinks on his tongue, but when he's not his verses just bore in comparison to big hugeness of everything else. Most of the quotable lines in the album are contained in its choruses in my opinion.
Everyone has a varying favorites in the first ten tracks, but I want to talk about a couple of under appreciated cuts. Slave Master is one of the biggest tracks on the album for me. Future stands above the monstrous thematic beat in both his verses and the chorus. He changes flows and tone at will, adapting his trademark style to the beat perfectly, and comes up with one of the most humorous hooks of the album to me. "Drop Out The Whip, Like I'm a Slave Master," just picture white men singing that shit as they drive around in the hood, and you know they will because that shit is irresistibly infectious. Freak Hoe features one of my favorite beats on the album that sounds reminds me of heyday nasty Cash Money tracks coupled with the demonic atmospheric trap of the modern era. I can just picture B.G. in the background screaming "She Get It From Her Mamma." Future's flow is also really on point on this shit. Pretty much all of the first tracks range from good to great to me.
However, the album is quite front loaded. I want to say that I think he might have been going for the whole drug comedown concept when he orchestrated the album. However, the albums ends with some weaker quality downtempo tracks and two songs that are indeed bangers, but were recycled from past tapes. Colossal is a decent track, but the beat actually sounds a little too familiar and Future's flow is almost on some robotic mumbling shit. Rich Sex is awful. It doesn't sound like it fits the album, ruining the flow and standing almost in direct opposition to the track that follows. Blood on the Money as I've already touched on is a missed opportunity. Strippers and Percocet actually has some good Future verses, I think containing the best personification of a supposed codeine flow, however the chorus is kind of a mixed bag. Real Sisters is a bore despite a pretty hype beat and a seemingly hilarious subject matter. Kno the Meaning is the worst track on the album for me. It has this really somber beat and Future starts off with this really affected dramatic tone, yet his problems are the equivalent of white wine shit that I couldn't give a fuck about and only stand to annoy me after painting himself as this almost nihilistic sex-crazed druggie. He even stops mid verse to mourn the loss a hard drive like he's about to talk about a death in the family or some shit. And the album ends with the undeniable amazing Fuck Up Some Commas, but I've heard that track so many times at this point.
Light 8
P.S. I'm sure the review sounded too negative to warrant such a high score, but I was really disappointed because I feel this could have been one of the best trap albums ever.
