Future

Honest (Freebandz/Epic)

16/20

Since its inception in 1993, Atlanta’s Dungeon Family collective has been a nest for the offbeat strand of Southern rap. From the colourful production styles of Sleepy Brown, to the flamboyant ear worms of CeeLo Green – the family has played a primary role in pinning Atlanta down as the first state of US hip-hop. And 30 year old Nayvadius Cash, aka Future, is a very modern incarnation of the Atlanta dream: a man with a sound that is idiosyncratic, radio governing and constantly unswerving. 

Future’s highly-anticipated second album Honest flickers between somber auto-tuned warbling to smash-mouth club bangers, but it never loses the feeling of intent. The epic balladry of Blood, Sweat, Tears, for example, doesn’t have the in-car speakers velocity of Sh!t or Move That Dope, but a method is consistent throughout: Future distorts and irons his oily, often auto-tuned voice until his words (be they sentimental or reckless) resemble near-incoherent squawks and croons that float atop premium production. The most impressive moments of Honest are on songs like I Be U and I Won, where the beats leave room for Future’s unmistakable robo-whimper to take centre stage. There’s an audible sense of sincerity in Future’s voice on these cuts. Beneath all the ad-libs, high-profile feature spots and frenzied beats – he really means it.

After too many nights at the club with Uncle Juicy J, and too many bleary-eyed mornings in brand new Bugattis, Future seems to have staggered home to his wife-to-be Ciara and she’s advised him to have some ‘me time’.  When we caught Future’s London debut show in February, we got the feeling that his honeymoon period of his radio singles was coming drawing to a close, and that for Future to become the sovereign of New Atlanta, he had to deliver something weightier. Don’t get us wrong, there’s no finer way to end an album than Karate Chop, but these aren’t the sounds that last on Honest, and the trap machismo is eclipsed by a soulful bionic-balladry that is built to last. The Dungeon has freed it’s most captivating inmate in decades.

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Words: Duncan Harrison