2017 was a pretty huge year for Future. He released two albums in two weeks and both charted at #1 on their first week. The first album, Future, included the song "Mask Off," which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is certified 4x Platinum in the US. In October, Future collaborated with Young Thug on their surprise album Super Slimey, which ultimately began a trend where many trap rappers dropped collab projects. In 2018, Future curated the soundtrack to a remake of the movie Superfly, which wasn't the first rapper-curated movie soundtrack. Kendrick Lamar and his label, Top Dawg Entertainment, curated the soundtrack to Black Panther back in February of this year. I was intrigued by the tracklist, which included features from Lil Wayne, 21 Savage, and Young Thug among others.
Positives
As is the case with any Future project, this album has amazing production. Many of Future's go-tos and other prolific producers like Zaytoven, Young Chop, DY Krazy, and Wheezy, are present throughout. While other artists like Miguel and Khalid are featured on this album, Future takes up a bulk of the tracklist. He shows off many different flows and emotions throughout the album and it feels very different as opposed to Future's normal work. It seems like there's more soul put into it.
Negatives
This isn't too relevant to the album itself, but this has been bugging me. For some reason, there are three main artists on this album: Future, 21 Savage, and Lil Wayne. Future leads most of the soundtrack, but 21 Savage and Lil Wayne are featured on one track apiece. This is similar to the Black Panther Soundtrack, which credits Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and SZA as the main artists even though The Weeknd and SZA are featured on one track each. My main knock when it comes to the actual music is the fact that some of these hooks get way too repetitive, even on the songs I enjoyed. This is the case for tracks such as "No Shame," "Walk On Minks," "Tie My Shoes," and "Show My Chain Some Love."
Features
11 artists other than Future were present on this soundtrack.
1) Sleepy Brown (If You Want It) - The opening track serves as an ode to the soundtrack of the original Superfly. Sleepy Brown's singing sounds very soulful and pleasing to the ears.
Verdict: Liked
2) Scar (If You Want It) - He does a spoken word interlude.
Verdict: Invalid
3) 21 Savage (What's Up With That) - Once again, 21 Savage comes through with a solid guest verse and showcases some nice flows.
Verdict: Liked
4) PARTYNEXTDOOR (No Shame) - I didn't care for this song, but I didn't think PND was the problem here. His singing was pretty good but it doesn't do much to save the track as his hook gets kind of repetitive.
Verdict: Ehhhh
5) Young Thug (Tie My Shoes/Show My Chain Some Love/Money Train) - He was the most featured artist on this soundtrack as he appears on three songs. His hook to "Tie My Shoes" was a bit repetitive but his delivery made it catchy. I also liked his verse on that song. His verse on "Show My Chain Some Love" was the worst of the three features as he barely rhymes at all. I liked hearing him go back and forth with Future on the first verse of "Money Train."
Verdict: Liked on Tie My Shoes, Disliked on Show My Chain Some Love, Liked on Money Train
6) Miguel (R.A.N.) - I liked his singing and didn't mind the high-pitched falsetto on the chorus.
Verdict: Liked
7) Khalid (This Way) - I always enjoy hearing Khalid sing and I feel no different about this track.
Verdict: Liked
8) H.E.R. (This Way) - Her singing was amazing and I thought her joining Khalid on the second chorus improved it. Her bridge is great too.
Verdict: Liked
9) Yung Bans (Bag) - His feature has grown on me quite a bit. I mainly like him on "Bag" for his hook and I think his verse was just okay.
Verdict: Liked
10) Lil Wayne (Drive Itself) - I prefer when Lil Wayne doesn't use autotune. There wasn't too much to write home about outside of this line:
"You niggas actin' like some dicks but y'all some camel toes."
Verdict: Ehhhh
11) Gunna (Money Train) - His hook was decent, but I thought Young Thug would sound better on it than Gunna. He doesn't switch his flow when he goes from the hook to his verse, which makes it sound boring most of the time. It wasn't terrible, but I don't care for Gunna or his features.
Verdict: Ehhhh
Singles
4 singles were released ahead of this soundtrack.
1) Future feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR - No Shame: This song is just ugly. Future's vocals sound awful and PND's hook wasn't much better. To add to all of that, the outro of this song sounds ugly as it forces in guitars that don't fit the instrumental whatsoever.
Verdict: Disliked
2) Future - Walk On Minks: I love Zaytoven's production on this track. I thought Future's hook was a bit repetitive, but his verses sounded nice enough to overshadow that.
Verdict: Liked
3) Khalid feat. H.E.R. - This Way: I think both artists mesh very well together. It's such a soulful, emotional, and all around smooth track.
Verdict: Liked
4) Future feat. Yung Bans - Bag: This is my favorite of the four singles. It gets better every time I hear it. The instrumental sounds amazing. I didn't care for Yung Bans at first, but his hook was very catchy and he made a great all around contribution. I still love Future's verse and my opinion on that hasn't changed.
Verdict: Liked
Best Tracks
1) Future feat. 21 Savage - What's Up With That: This has one of the best hooks on the soundtrack. I love the production from Richie Souf and 21 Savage's contribution.
2) Future feat. Young Thug - Tie My Shoes: The beat sounds a lot like "Blase" by Ty Dolla $ign, but I love this track nonetheless. Young Thug steals the show with his feature and I loved when Future shouted out Nicolas Cage in the second verse. This song makes me want Super Slimey 2.
3) Miguel - R.A.N.: Miguel's vocals on this track are smooth like butter. It makes for an enjoyable listening experience.
Worst Track
Future feat. Young Thug - Show My Chain Some Love: This was one of the few tracks where I couldn't stand Future's singing. The song is brought down a bit by the repetitive hook. Young Thug also doesn't rhyme during his verse. There wasn't a single good thing about this song.
Conclusion
This didn't feel like a Future album, but that's not a bad thing. It feels more cohesive and soulful. I didn't see the movie, but from what I saw in the trailers, I can safely say that this soundtrack is way better.
Score: 7/10
This isn't technically a Future album despite that Future is all over it, kind of like how Black Panther isn't a Kendrick album even though he's all over that. Comparing the soundtrack to Superfly with Future's discography as a whole just doesn't make sense.
This concludes my twelfth review. Tomorrow, I will write and post my review of Kids See Ghosts.
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