Future, I Never Liked You

GQ Magazine just crowned Future as the best rapper alive, a controversial statement to say the least, and sparkled debates on social media, something is for sure though, Future is for me the best trap artist of all time. So this project was highly anticipated and I couldn’t wait to see what the track list would unveil.

Drake, Kanye West, Gunna, Young Thug, Tems, Kodak Black and Est Gee are all featured on I Never Liked You on the 18-track album.

The album opens up with 712PM, produced by Wheezy, Future wastes no time and goes in immediately. Tracks like I’M DAT N****, GOLD STACKS and CHICKENS also follow the same formula in the sense that they all complement the theme of the project, but leave room for other tracks to shine.

Amongst those include KEEP IT BURNIN featuring Kanye West, there is a different dynamic with a much faster pace than a lot of tracks on the album. Kanye kills the track and both rappers complement each other and the production is crazy. As is most of the project.

FOR A NUT featuring Gunna and Young Thug is all over the place but in the best way possible. Gunna comes in early and Thugger’s verse suits the style of the song over this eccentric production. Future is on the hook and the song works perfectly. This is Trap music at its peak. 

Some of the most outstanding tracks for me include PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ. Future puts his soul into this one, the production is not as heavy as other tracks yet it’s the most impressive one. Whilst PUFFIN ZOOTIEZ is out of this world, I’M ON ONE features Drake, and I thought what I heard on the album up to that point was enough. But this beats everything. This is for me the best song they ever worked on together.

WAIT FOR U also features Drake as well as Tems, Future is very melodic and Tems brings additional vocals over the instrumental. The mixing over Drake’s part doesn’t sound on par as what the album sounds like but WAIT FOR U is outstanding nevertheless.

Tracks like LOVE YOU BETTER, MASSAGING ME and WE JUS WANNA GET HIGH are all relatively short and not groundbreaking yet each production keeps you on your toes at all time, something that is still impressive, after all this time and all those year Future has spent in the game, mastering his craft. 

VOODOO features Kodak Black, the song starts in a very theatrical way. The track is crazy. After a few songs that weren’t that innovative, this is very refreshing to hear. Different vocals are used throughout the almost four minute long track and it’s beautiful. Kodak brought additional vocals that just suited the track.

HOLY GHOST is a rollercoaster, as crazy as the song begins to sound, it’s nothing compared to what’s coming. This feels like a cypher where Future battles against himself, trying to outdo his previous bars. The song goes insane, the production never settles and is all over the place. Ominous as it comes.

THE WAY THINGS GOING, completely different mood, it has a very ‘rock’ feel about it. Reminiscent of Relationship ‘Beautiful Thugger Girls’ Future. Substance matter is mainly women.

On BACK TO THE BASICS I could picture Drake on the track but he didn’t make the cut obviously. 

The production, mixing and features on the album are all outstanding, some tracks may feel like out of place because of their composition compared to their counter parts but the project still works because Future knows how to work with Wheezy, ATL Jacob. On Tracks like PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ, he displays rapping abilities that no one should doubt by now. 

Trap music has been the main focus on social media lately, many people claiming the genre is dying, but it isn’t. Future is just better than everyone else at it. Which makes it virtually impossible for anyone else to leave their imprints on the sub genre.

Whilst some songs aren’t on par, this is a great body of work.