April 29th marked a new chapter for beloved rapper Future. With the release of his ninth studio album, I NEVER LIKED YOU became Future’s eighth album on the Billboard 200. To understand this album and its message completely, one has to understand that Future has been doing this for more than a decade and fans know exactly what sneaky themes are embedded into the new album. 

Future is a larger than life rapper that has some interesting lines in songs and interviews during his career, and his relationship with women would be… questionable at best. Future has proclaimed himself “toxic king”, which means he doesn’t care about the stuff he says on a track, but this is a completely separate issue for another time. So enough about context and let’s actually talk about the album and its sounds.

Let me just start off by saying that this album has some of the best and weirdest production I’ve seen come out this year. Every song is melodic and catchy. This album was meant to be a take on Future’s self proclaimed “toxic” life with his numerous child support bills. 

712PM is exactly how I would start an album if I’m Future. It’s up beat, with a relentless flow. The song starts off with a sample of someone singing in the background with a powerful wind instrument, all on hi-hats and a bassline, allowing Future lay down a nice flow that gives listeners an idea of what the album is all about—how good he is, how much money he has, and how many women he sees. This two and a half minute long ride is a classic piece of Future that we’ve known for so long and his ability to rap on any kind of beat..

PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ, the fifth  song on the album is one of my favorites because of the way the song is produced. It has a floaty feel to it with different effects that enhance the trance this song tries to put you in. The contrast of Future’s short choppy lyrics that he sings with this flowy beat creates a  beautiful and emotional story of being successful when coming from nothing. 

This album is full of dark sounding bells and whistles that you don’t really see a lot of in other albums that came out this year. This menacing sound is found in almost every song. This sound isn’t bad, but it makes the songs have a similar tone and that can get repetitive quickly, which isn’t ideal when listening to the entirety of the album.

There is no shortage of songs that he keeps strictly to talk about his struggles with women, with no surprise- Drake being featured. The slower songs of this album have powerful lyrics and stories behind them, but I think overall the songs are mediocre at best. They feel like a rushed beat where Future can just complain about his baby mommas for three and a half minutes. This is a big album so there are bound to be some misses scattered throughout, but my overall thoughts on the album are that I was disappointed there wasn’t more variety with the features, the beats, and the lyrics. I thought Future could have done a better job of being creative and stepping out of his box a little bit. Even though some of the songs are a little catchy, I feel like this album was just a continuation of everything that Future had been doing with his mumble rap and chorus on a very well produced album. I recommend this album to fans of Future and the people he runs with, or anyone who likes trap or R&B. If you aren’t a fan of rap or if you aren’t familiar with Future’s style, there is little chance that you’ll find any enjoyment in this album but you’ll never know if you don’t try and actually listen to it with an open mind.