Review: Future - Honest
[Epic; 2014]
Rating: 5.5/10
By Xavier Veccia, Managing Editor
Key Tracks: “Honest,” “Move That Dope,” “I Won”
How long must a rapper be in the spotlight for him to be seen as influential? Notorious B.I.G.’s entire career lasted five years while Jay Z is quickly approaching his 20th anniversary. And yet, one would have a hard time arguing one as more influential than the other.
For Future, it was one album and a handful of memorable guest appearances. No one’s saying Future should ever be mentioned in the same breath as Biggie and Hova, but one can’t deny Future has been at the helm of a new era in the South. Hell, even the original ATLiens Outkast have taken notice, bringing Future to their first show in over 10 years.
Since the Southern artist released his debut album Pluto in 2012, his brand of atmospheric autotuned hip-hop has influenced multiple artists who have taken the nation by storm. Artists like Migos, Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug are all over the news and show as much potential as anyone in recent memory. And they can all thank Future for that.
One of the toughest parts of being so influential, though, is building upon one’s creative pedigree without ditching the style already put in place. On Honest, Future’s long-awaited sophomore album, he has to prove that he can continue leading the Southern movement.
After months of delays and a title change (it was originally titled Future Hendrix), the album finally dropped. It seems, however, that the extra time has caused Future to forget exactly who he is.
There are some songs that sound like the Future fans have grown to love. The back-to-back “Honest” and “I Won” are perfect examples of this. Both tracks, produced by Metro Boomin, put Future in his spacey comfort zone, where he uses auto-tune in all the right ways.
Then there’s the heavier hip-hop tracks that Future has flirted with in the past, but never really delivered until now. There’s the coke-heavy “Move That Dope” that is highlighted by a grimy Mike WiLL Made It beat and features from Pusha T, Casino and even Pharrell back as “Skateboard P.” And of course there’s the heavenly Andre 3000-driven “Benz Friendz” that the duo debuted at Coachella. And it sounds even better when recorded.
However, real rap isn’t the only of Future’s former flirtations that appears on Honest. The album is at it’s lowest when Future does exactly what everyone feared: become pop.
The signs were there with the promotional single “Real and True,” which featured Miley Cyrus and Mr. Hudson. And, sadly, they’re still there on songs that actually made the cut, like “I Be U” and the closing ballad “Blood, Sweat, Tears.” These songs could be sung by just about any pop star, but at least most others would be comprehensible. Instead, Future gets behind them and turns Honest into a confusing mess.
This might not be entirely Future’s fault. Mike WiLL Made It is the executive producer of this album, and the hottest producer in the game has shown time and time again he’s not afraid to go pop.
Future rose to prominence because he was so special. He built upon the basic hip-hop structure in a way that no one else could. However, when faced with the task of continuing to build upon his already solid foundation, Future seems to not have known exactly which way to go, so he just went every way and he got lost in the process.
There’s some good stuff on Honest. But to keep the spotlight on him, Future needed to be more than that.
