The Future is Now

             I will never forget the day when I first heard the rapper Future. It was the first semester during freshman year of high school, when a friend came up to me and told me to listen to a song called “Tony Montana”. I did not know what to expect, but once I played the song I was both impressed and confused at the same time. It was unlike anything I have ever heard in my life, and I walked away from the song being unsure if I enjoyed the song or not. Not many more listens after that event I was convinced that Future was creating art that was pushing boundaries, but back in 2012 I still would not even know how influential he would go on to become. 

 

            Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn, known by his stage name Future, was born in Atlanta and has risen to be a very high-selling rapper with many first week album debuts under his belt. He grew up around the Dungeon Family, which was an Atlanta label that had acts such as Outkast and Cee Lo Green. His cousin, Rico Wade, was a member of the Dungeon Family and was the individual that really pushed Future to pursue a career in music. Lucky for the world, Future did pursue his passion for music and in turn has changed the face of the rap genre. His use of spacey and dark production in conjunction with autotune was a defining moment in the 2010’s decade, and his influence can be heard in most mainstream hits within rap and pop music.

 

            Nearly 8 years after I first heard Future, I have become one of his biggest fans and advocates. The mood that he creates within his music is extraordinary to me, and very few artists have the ability to match the energy that he brings throughout his large discography. His subject matter consists of a hedonistic lifestyle that involves women, houses, cars, and drugs. Yet, the great thing about Future is that he also reflects about leading that kind of lifestyle, and has a constant mention of how the drugs and money are an escape from his dark past. The hedonism is used a vehicle to forgot the pain and the difficult times when growing up in the environment that Future came up in. He also uses producers such as Zaytoven, DJ Esco, and Metro Boomin which are all known for creating beats that are heavy on the bass and very moody in terms of their energy. The beats are a perfect complement for the duality that Future explores lyrically in his music.

 

            Future has many critics that claim he overuses autotune and glorifies drug use. While I understand their stance on his music, I completely disagree and I have always believed that those comments come from individuals that have never actually given the music an honest chance. The autotune enhances the production that Future utilizes, and the subject matter is a perfect two-sided tail of the rise and fall of an individual’s personal character. It creates an all-encompassing mood that shows both the positives and the negatives of an over indulging lifestyle, and it displays how a person can arrive at this way of life. Regardless, many upcoming rappers are sounding like copies of Future, and the use of autotune has only increased in the industry since his rise. Future is here to stay and the album he released earlier this year still went number 1, showing that even though his official debut was in 2012 he still has the selling power 8 years later.