Future - HNDRXX (Album Review)
What up one & all. Sky Bento here on the check-in like we always do at this time. Big Bento Energy is most definitely in total effect. And that’s all Summer long baby. Hope you and yours are doing well, protecting your mental health, drinking your water & knowing the vibes. I’ve been here at TDN doing these album reviews for over a year now, so if you’ve been locked and loaded with your boy just know I love you, on God. These have been extremely fun to do. You know what else is fun? Listening to Future in the Summer time. Over the past decade, Future has fine tuned his own unique brand of toxic masculinity. Which is funny because one of Future’s most distinctive qualities originally was how off-key he used to sing. But after a few more public dealings with women (and a heartbreak or two), Future has shown more and more vulnerability. They may come in flashes and go as quickly as they arrived, but somewhere in a verse full of namedrops, references to designer clothes, jewelry, money, drugs, and sex, Future often gives us a quick glimpse of the man he is behind his hardened exterior. Many point to DS2 as Future’s magnum opus, his true classic, his MOMENT… and while I don’t exactly disagree, I don’t agree. For me, Future’s best project has always been his R&B album, HNDRXX, released by surprise just a week after his self-titled album at the top of 2017. I don’t think Future’s music has ever sounded so ready for Summer. So pour up a margarita, get the shades out and roll 1 up as we take a deep dive into Future’s best project as a whole.
As always, these are just my opinions and do not reflect the views of TDN as a staff, record label, or as a m************ crew. Feel free to crucify me on Twitter @plzsaythebento but without further ago, let’s get right into it.
1. “My Collection” - “She told me she was an angel…” Right off the bat you get one of the most quotable lyrics on the whole project. He’s not welcoming women to paradise, he’s welcoming them to his own world - Pluto. This is Future, one of the biggest rappers of the last decade. And he’s finally showing us just how self aware he is. He knows damn well this is karma. He understands the role he plays in his own depression. If you the one then God will let him know. Until then, he treats em all the same. They just parts of his collection. Parts of his world, so he only lets them in as much as he’s comfortable doing. It’s a surprisingly open track for Future at this point in his career. The somber, late-night trap beat scores Future’s musings about his muses in a way that feels more intimate than almost anything in the man’s catalog.
2. “Comin Out Strong (featuring The Weeknd)” - TRACK 2. It’s always track 2 for me. Abel comes in with his more low-key delivery about how he’s the man and all the things that come with it. Watch what they do for the ones. At the end of the day, Comin Out Strong is a pretty straightforward observation about gold diggers. But his one is just incredible. Again we get another one of them more somber trap beats but this one got a lil more energy to it. Abel’s cold disconnected tenor provides a perfect contrast to Future’s more emotionally damaged and demented timbre. S*** reaches immaculate levels yo. Future X The Weeknd collabs were really an era. Wish we’d get them back. Love the little trip we take to Houston on the end too. Shout out to Genius though because I remember a lot of people getting caught up on Future sounding like he only “feels alive when he tastes d***”. Especially on a song with comin out in the title. Happy Pride Month.
3. “Lookin Exotic” - Something about this hook and beat feels like a Khaled track. Not gonna lie, this is not one of my favorites but it’s not a bad song either. It’s one of them flashy lifestyle, bouta bag a baddie-type Future joints. I applaud it for not being chilled out like the first two joints though, and it’s good that Future’s back out of his feelings and in his bag. But we already know where this leads him so it’s almost like the sequence is off. But that’s the very point, Future knows where this gets him but he does it anyway. And we love it cuz we do the same thing. Just human beings falling back into what’s comfortable for us. Yeah, this one bangs. But it’s not as memorable for whatever reason.
4. “Damage” - Back into the R&B vibes. The intro/chorus is so Guy. Then we get back to the trap. Something about the mix of the bass is off to me but it gives it a underwater kind of feeling. When the chorus comes back, it turns up with a catchy ass refrain about f***** his life up. If you can’t tell, I really dig the little bits of introspection we get from this album. That’s really what ties it all together nicely into these R&B vibes. Future is very clearly a big student of R&B. You can tell from his melodies themselves, but especially from his background vocals. The runs Future goes on throughout this album really do feel like he sat and studied the music he grew up on, because modern R&B (in 2017 at least) will hardly ever feel this reminiscent of the classics. Lyrically, this the aftermath of Future pursuing the exotic lookin’ woman from the last track. He’s already damaged, and despite “being there for youuuuu” you still go & f*** his life up. That’s cold shorty.
5. “Use Me” - NOW HE REALLY OPENS WIDE UP. Pause. Happy Pride Month though. Anyways, this track is basically Future calling to be recognized as an asset, not someone you could just throw away. Did I say calling? I meant crying. He’s reminding her that n***** are full of tries and full of lies (himself not excluded) so there’s a proper way to love him. And that’s to use him. How unhealthy is that s***. But it’s honest. Only way to be happy with him is to use him properly. Enjoy his fly lifestyle. Have hella sex. Drink, smoke, pop with the boy. Be part of Future’s collection.
6. “Incredible” - Now this is when I knew this album was different. The tropical pop sounding beat ain’t what you expect from Future (again, in 2017), but boy does he kill it. Future gets off some vaguely Reggae pockets and inflections to great effect. He really kicking flavor on this one here. I done listened to damn near this whole song and forgot to even write anything. Just vibing. But yeah, this might be my favorite song on the album. One of my favorite Future songs ever actually. I was a huge Future fan when this dropped and to see him switch it up like this alone was exciting. The rhythms and guitar stabs do a lot of heavy lifting on this one, but that “In-in-incredible” hook teleport me to the beach every time. To continue the narrative, this is what a woman can use Future for: a good time. At the beach, prolly.
7. “Testify” - Another beach-ready joint. Beach beach beach beach beach. Them beepy-ass synths in the beat are a lot more in Future’s wheelhouse than the last joint. This actually got a better hook than “Incredible”. Better lyrics in general. “So you wanna fall for the bad guy” “I wanna hear your heart beat pound for pound” “I could’ve been but I made a jugg again”. Extremely memorable record. Again you’ve gotta praise Future’s honesty, he letting her know the type of self-loathing man he is despite his accolades and high class lifestyle. This one just got that bounce in it though, it feels as fun as late 90’s early 2000’s kinda R&B with a rap verse. Ja Rule comes to mind for some weird reason with the synths. It’s perfectly tailored for the ladies but doesn’t sacrifice Future’s wizardry.
8. “Fresh Air” - What a three track run we are on. Beach beach. With a breeze of fresh air. But this is a lot more R&B than the last two joints. It even has a dance breakdown toward the back half. Can’t help but see that video of Khaled dancing looking like he rev up his feet to run and lost his balance. This one is fun as f***. Future saying he needs to get some space and enjoy himself. He needs to get out on his own, its been too long. Future could be a popstar any day of the week if he wanted to. He then reveals that he is mad underneath it all. You know that he’s mad though. Guess she didn’t testify. So now he’s getting away to whatever country the sampled woman on the intro is speaking the language of. The harmonies on this hook are again, R&B. Fully. Future is really embracing his influences and expanding beyond just trap, all the while getting honest and introspective. How can you not love this album.
9. “Neva Missa Lost” - An actual R&B sample/interpolation finally. The vocal engineering on this project is immaculate because I genuinely can’t tell if he sampled Jodeci or if he actually harmonized that “whatever you need” behind himself. I hear the sample in other parts so it’s probably both. Regardless, this album does a great job playing with Future’s background vocals. And that’s to say nothing of his lead vocals. Them runs he goes on with his vibrato make me curious how much of it is the autotune. It sounds a little too talented to just be that. This one is a smooth R&B trap record about accepting that he’s losing her. Beyond accepting it, he won’t miss her. He’s cold chilling. He is Future after all. Let’s call this an extremely solid end to the three track run, but this record stands on its own completely.
10. “Keep Quiet” - Summertime sounding intro with them sirens. Intro feels like 2011 Atlanta actually. Roscoe Dash, Travis Porter, early Future, all that. Then the beat drops, and it still feels like that era but Future feels refined. He’s not as loose as he was back then (except on the hook). He admits to being a simp on this record, a big point of contention for Future detractors. “Gotta look the other way, I know you f***** him”. In order to f*** with him, you gotta keep quiet the same way. Outro gives that same feel of old Atlanta, but also got a hint of Usher in it am I bugging? Not one of my favorite joints, but again its all about the honesty that makes the album never missa step. I think the album is at its best when its slow, sedated, meditative. But yup you need variety so it don’t get stale. I ain’t mad at it, but not one I return to on its own.
11. “Hallucinating” - A$AP Rocky type beat. This is Future flexing to a “potential love interest”. What a gentleman. This what Future does, the cycle continues anew. So many catchy moments on this one. “I seduce you with this Aston Martin I bought today” “Freshest thing I ever bought was that Bentley truck” “Everyday one of my hoes falling in love”. Quotables. His life is a fantasy, to think you keeping up is a hallucination. And the beat’s loopy vocal sample feel like a trip in itself. While the lil Ashanti-sounding harpsichord/chime/whatever feel like a trip to somewhere warm and foreign. Record’s a vibe. It ain’t Codeine Crazy, but it’s the closest we get to it on this record.
12. “I Thank U” - An ode to a hustler’s woman. Future’s thanking his woman (or women) for inspiring him to hustle harder. Pimping ain’t easy & simping ain’t cheap. Future walks a tight balance for a quick interlude type joint with some real R&B ass guitars in the background. Gotta respect that he knows to keep this one short. It does begin to feel a bit repetitive. But it never gets bad.
13. “New Illuminati” - This feels so Lil Wayne at the beginning for some weird reason. Despite that and how amazing Lil Wayne is this another one of my least favorites. None of the melodies feel catchy enough. Thankfully this the second shortest joint on the album after the last one, so it don’t stick around too long. This just more player s*** from Future, but it doesn’t have any of the honesty or introspection or any memorable flexes on it. The only thing that really stood out to me was the “they don’t know our secrets” line at the end, which gives context to the title and retroactively makes it kind of a bar but on a first listen through if you don’t know that’s what he means I don’t think it comes off as anything super dope. If one song had to be taken off the album it’s this.
14. “Turn On Me” - Fly introspection once again. Even the so-called good girls will turn on you. So Future passes em off to his homies. Can’t get too attached. This record returns to the somber trap style we get at the beginning of the album. There’s even a little bit of Kingdom Hearts vibes to the piano and synths. Can’t say there’s no cohesive identity to HNDRXX. The flows on this one feel like 2016 back. Future is in rare form on this one. This one of them joints where you just sit back and smoke like “damn… that really happened”. It doesn’t feel like Future has gotten to the “oh, well” part of the cycle. When he says “money over b****** that’s your first lesson” twice, it’s like he’s trying to remind himself to never slip again. He’s hurt.
15. “Selfish (featuring Rihanna)” - If there were any doubt what Future isc doing with this album, the only features on the original version were The Weeknd & Rihanna. It opens up with the Rihanna feature over a synth bass. Radiobait for real. But beautifully executed. Future then joins in over Rihanna about not being alone. Then we really get some pop pianos over the kick and snap while they both say they should be selfish. This one may not be introspective, but it has that self-aware yet moody vibe like them records do. Rihanna harmonizes with Future’s falsetto so beautifully. It’s a fun, spacey pop record. Can’t be mad. And given the context of the album it’s even more enjoyable.
16. “Solo” - Future’s back on his signature “mumble rap” flow over some slow synths and trap drums. This more like classic Future, which makes sense because this song is about him riding solo. Focusing on himself. Getting in his zone. No more trips with the hoes, he’s back to the streets. He enjoyed his time with them, but he’s been through it all before so he’s back to his hustle. He gotta get the money to keep the fun coming. He don’t wanna let her down either. Or the streets. Or himself.
17. “Sorry” - This a masterpiece. The beat goes crazy first of all. It’s got a West Coast groove to it, and the slowed down pianos give it an honest melancholy to it like the rest of the album’s best tracks. “Hard to say you care about me, when it’s mink dragging to the floor”. The honesty reaches a fever pitch as Future spends seven plus minutes in confession. “Sold crack to a pregnant lady, forgive me for the crack baby”. Future’s apologizing for a lot more than just hurting women he’s involved with sexually. He’s being honest and open about who he is as a man, and the way of life he’s had to live. He’s not taking the deepest dive into any one area of it but he’s showing self awareness that they are all connected. Toward the middle, he just starts freestyling and goes on for damn near the next 3 minutes of the track and its actually interesting the levels of self-awareness and self-loathing he shows. It’s painful to think about beneath the surface of what he’s saying, the demons of the hood. This is probably why he keeps it so surface level. He says it himself, shining is therapy. Originally this was the outro of the album, and ties it all together as an incredible package. The bonus tracks are more radio-ready Future joints featuring Chris Brown & Nicki Minaj. And while they’re both great records that almost deserve to be half-assedly attached to the end of this album, this joint here is a perfect send-off. Future switches flows up frequently enough that it doesn’t get boring. It is seven minutes, so yeah at some point you realize how long it is and wonder when it’s going to end, but at no point does it feel like you gotta skip it.
Future is one of the most influential rap artists we’ve ever seen for his bare-bones approach to actual rapping. His focus on delivery and melody mixed in with some so honest it’s funny quotables has inspired pretty much every era of rap we’ve seen since he was a XXL Freshman in 2013. But to see him get honest about the themes of a lot of his music, even in limited doses, make for a very interesting listen. Add to that the step up in musicianship by incorporating more R&B (and by extension, gospel) elements, the incredible Future vocal performances, and the cohesive journey the production takes you through, and I don’t think it’s hard to see why anybody would call this Future’s best album. DS2 may have been the album that capped off an incredible trilogy of classic mixtapes and made Future a household name, but HNDRXX remains Future’s crown achievment as a musician.
HNDRXX is Future’s best project.