Is there any arguing the magnitude of Future‘s impact on hip-hop over the last few years? Ever since he woke up in that Bugatti, Future’s influence has been felt by almost every rapper and has even crossed over into the pop realm (look up the writing credits for Beyonce‘s Drunk in Love and I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised). After a trilogy of mixtapes that were better than most albums (seriously, Monster still gets daily spins from me), everything culminated into something painfully beautiful. DS2 didn’t have a prolonged marketing roll out. It wasn’t laced with top notch features. DS2 was Future at his all time creative best: intoxicated, depressed, and spiteful. Had Codeine Crazy – or an emotional equivalent – been placed on DS2, I’d probably be inclined to give it a 10/10 and possibly tattoo the album art across my back. There’s a brutal honesty in the entire album. Even a record like Thought It Was A Drought has undertones of darkness, seclusion, and addiction. Sure, we are used to hearing rappers go on and on about drug use, robberies, and shoot outs; but the pain in Future’s voice allows for us to hear his stories with empathy – and sometimes sympathy. DS2 is also the culmination of the evolution of Super Future Hendrix. I’ve said it for awhile now, but I don’t think any of us could have imagined the guy that made Same Damn Time could a few years later make something as emotionally impactful as Kno The Meaning (speaking of which; Kno The Meaning leaves a great opportunity to go back and listen to 56 Nights). The albums hit single – Where Ya At featuring Drake – is quite possibly one of the loneliest subject matters ever used for a song that turned into a club banger. I think my personal favorite is Stick Talk, which at first listen could be easy to confuse as a braggadocious trap banger – but there’s savage levels of honesty here too (“I’ma tell a lie under oath”). Every payday has me running out of the office like, “BOUT TO F*** THIS CASH UP ON A NEW TOY!”. As noted in my review of Bryson Tiller‘s TRAPSOUL, I am a fan of an emotional listen; and I can’t lie – Future’s DS2 puts me all the way in my feelings. We’re coming up on 2016, and DS2 still to this day gets more spins than anything else in my catalog. Here’s to hoping he can continue this formula. Revisit the magnum opus that is DS2 here, via Spotify.
