Before I begin saying why the hip hop community should stray away from adapting to Future’s sound, let me say one thing: I like listening to Future. Yes, I am just like most hip hop heads and party enthusiasts who have grown to love the leaned out, auto-tuned rapper over the last year or so. I, too, have become a fan of songs like “March Madness” or “Where Ya At?” I can be caught reciting his mumbled lyrics such as, “I bought all the sodas at the gas station,” or his infectious approach to saying “Tony Montana.” To say Future is neither entertaining, catchy, nor highly dedicated to perfecting his craft is an insult and a clear misunderstanding of the man's talent. However, when it comes to the overall sound and success for hip hop artists, I'm here to ask up-and-coming rappers to please leave Future’s sound to him and him only.
In today’s rap industry, success can come in many different sounds. Kendrick Lamar is nominated for 11 Grammys for an album heavily influenced by jazz, Joey Bada$$ is a 21-year old throwback to 90’s boom bap, and Kanye West is one of the many pioneers of electro and hip hop fusion. Hip hop has expanded into an art form that can't be boxed into one sound.
Future has exploited this open-armed culture and completely mastered his own lane of music. Over the last year and a half, he released four independent mixtapes, a mixtape with Drake and one highly commercially successful album, "DS2." He even has a new album, "EVOL," coming out this week. This catalog has thrown him into rap superstardom, besides the lack of versatility of his lyrics and production. Every beat he raps over reminds you of the last one you heard. Every verse of his will mention drinking cough syrup, have misogynistic language, and in some shape or form, mention violence. But somehow his songs still regularly deserve the flame and 100 emojis they so often get praised by.
Despite this approach being a staple to Future’s rap success, I hope it doesn't become the tactic to every rapper's future success. Rap music shouldn't become littered with rappers talking about their codeine habits over what sounds like “Metro Boomin Type Beat” found on YouTube. Rappers shouldn't intentionally rap a mumbling flow just because it's been working for Future. Not every song should be about the “trap life” Future has made so prevalent in his music. The music Future makes is well received because it's his own style. Unfortunately, in a world so in love with trending topics and hashtags, Future seems to have become the latest phase for rappers to mimic.
Let me say once more: I like Future. His music has become such a large part of hip hop culture only because of its genuine likeability. I’m not saying Future should discontinue his own style of music, because it's clear it will continue working for him. What I am saying is that I hope people will leave his style to him.
In a sense, Future is like the junk food of the rap industry. Let’s use chicken nuggets to make it clear. Chicken nuggets are a great food to eat when you really don’t care. They’re relatively simple to make, good for a crowd of people (especially if they’re drunk), but overall, you know they’re not good for you. Future is great at murmuring his codeine-crazy lifestyle over bass-heavy trap beats, but that doesn’t mean everyone else should.
Hip hop's popularity is at an all-time high because of its vast array of styles. Copying Future Hendrix’s sound will only lessen hip hop's cultural significance and overall health. Like eating chicken nuggets, I will continue to listen to Future, especially after late night festivities. But like chicken nuggets to a healthy diet, hip hop doesn’t need anything else like Future.
