Image via Santiago & Mauricio

In a 2011 interview with an Atlanta radio station, rapper Nayvadius “Future” Wilburn was offered a career-defining question by the personality sitting across from him. “When it comes to you, as Future,” radio host B-High began. “What is it you want to bring to the Atlanta music scene that we haven’t already seen before?” The question came in lieu of the fact that despite having a chart-topping single in his writing and feature on rapper YC’s “Racks,” and releasing two mixtapes in the months prior to the interview, Future hadn’t yet completely distinguished himself from Atlanta artists who had the flame of their early careers smothered. “Stadium music, music with melody, something with a whole different feel.” Future replied after a short pause. “I just go off the vibes, it just has to grow with me.”

The idealism of his musical aesthetic being attached with growth as an individual soon set a precedent on the sonic and lyrical trajectory of Nayvadius Wilburn’s music. Life experience served as the most influential aspect of Future’s discography, and negative or positive “vibes” best serve as an indicator for his work’s persona. Future’s music would gradually depart from the utopic “stadium music” aesthetic and seep into a sound that was much more based around raw emotion, not necessarily a sound that was supposed to invoke emotion from a listener, but a sound that was much more telling of Future’s emotional state at the time of a song’s recording. Future’s sudden departure from an artist that meshed elements of cheery pop songs with trap music mirrored his departure from happiness. The subject matter and aesthetic in Future’s projects from 2011 until the present demonstrate the impact of his sudden rise to fame, the onset of a traumatic criminal history, the status of relationships with various women and his children, and the detrimental effects of copious drug usage.

Soon after the release of the mixtape consistently referred to in the interview between Future and B-High, “Dirty Sprite,” Future went on to release a mixtape titled “True Story.” The mixtape would include several of his more notable hits, like “Magic,” “Ain’t No Way Around It,” and “Tony Montana.” Lyrically, the songs are all predicated around a repeating chant based on the title of the song, making use of “economic” verbiage within a limited amount of beat. (Caramanica) This economic usage of lyrics would ensure the probability that these songs would become popular as a result of their simplicity and memorable world structure. With the exception of the choral arrangement on the intro to the mixtape, Future sings the choruses with assistance of a, while still minimal, noticeable dosage of autotune. Autotune had been proven throughout the past decade as an ingredient that could help distinguish one’s music from others, if used correctly. Future’s usage of auto tune throughout his early career took on an innocent appearance, as his voice was mastered a pitch above normal, assuming a lighthearted, radio friendly presence not completely parallel to the subject manner within the mixtapes. Future’s intent to solely separate himself from other rappers, as opposed to complete vulnerability through production and lyricism demonstrated a mental condition that wasn’t plagued by external issues. In comparison to later works, his voice was objectively less garbled, more upbeat, and characterized by the intermittent addition of a singing tone.

Production on Future’s first three mixtapes, including the two that preceded “True Story,” titled “Dirty Sprite” and “1000,” was much far less abrasive than much of the mixtapes circulating around the hip-hop scene, and even farther less abrasive than the mixtapes being released in Atlanta. Tity Boy’s (2Chainz) “Codeine Cowboy,” Alley Boy’s “Definition of F**k S**t,” and Waka Flocka and French Montana’s “Lock Out” were three Atlanta-based mixtapes defined by their abundant usage of 808s and subwoofer-shaking bass. (Richards) Throughout the years 2011 and 2012, Future’s mixtapes made usage of the crooning synthesizers and horns of producers like Mike Will Made-It, Will A Fool, and Zaytoven. The lack of abrasive, harsh production that typically defined Atlanta hip-hop artists during Future’s early career demonstrated a stark contrast between him and other artists. Future’s early work did not include darker, depressive subject matter like his later work. The hybrid formulation of a pop aesthetic with the “trap” lyrical themes would lead to a rapid rise of success for Nayvadius. The first three mixtapes would aid Future in reeling in a major label offer from Epic Records, and much commercial success.

The advent of newfound fame and fortune meshed with upgraded production value on his next project, titled “Streetz Calling.” The first track on the mixtape, “Made Myself a Boss,” used production from Zaytoven that maintained a bubbly and light-hearted tone. Much like the rest of the mixtape, the song uses celebratory anecdotes to remark at the success of his previous projects. “I paid my grandma’s rent/and got my little sister a house,” he urges. “I keep a pocket full of money every time I step out.” While his previous mixtapes fondly reminisced on his days of drug dealing, or combined elements of pop songs with Atlanta trap music, “Streetz Calling” would represent the merriest of work Future would release in the period from 2011 to 2015. The most observable example of this phenomenon would come on the third track of “Streetz Calling,” titled “Same Damn Time.” In a testament to his happiness, Future experimented with a slight departure from the formula that made him so popular: a chorus where his voice was not mastered to a higher pitch. Instead, he barks at the listener in an exaggerated version of his already grizzly voice: “I wear Gucci, I wear Bally, at the same damn time/Selling white, selling mid, at the same damn time.” Much like the subject matter where Future’s song character is that of a drug dealer that buys too much designer clothing, and sells too many drugs, Future was experiencing the byproduct of too much early success. The same departure was observable through the instrumentalism of “Same Damn Time,” which used a drum pattern and bass that typically would be considered too egregious for his earlier work. Future’s dialogue with the listener would assume its most celebratory form in this late 2011 period.

Future grew up in the Kirkwood backstreets of Metro Atlanta, an area that was especially hard hit by the crack epidemic of the 1980s. Many of his aunts and uncles were affected by an addiction to crack cocaine. At the age of seven, Wilburn saw the murder rate in his hometown practically double over a summer. Years later, he was shot in the hand while attempting to sell drugs to make ends meet. (Winegarten) The gradual traumatic effects of this upbringing would creep onto his next project, “Astronaut Status.” Despite attempts to continue to continue the formulaic pop-structure that made him so popular, the influence of a criminal history and traumatic upbringing would influence Future’s sound from 2012 onwards. In a 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, Future stated: “When I was in the streets, I ain’t never think about that, man, f**k tomorrow, n***a, let’s do this s**t today,” he says. “I’m a f****g rock star, dogg. I’m enjoying this s**t, I ain’t trying to remember yesterday.” (Winegarten) His attempt to abandon his history would cause the traumatic sound to be repressed, and only become relatively minimally apparent on “Astronaut Status” in comparison to his later works. While some songs abided by many of the same themes as his earlier work, the lyrical content on “Deeper than the Ocean” and “Itching” represented two notable examples Future’s failure to completely repress the demons of his past. On “Deeper than the Ocean,” Future recites: “My n***a set my n***a up/this game is full of madness,” in memoriam of his status as a dealer in the drug “game.” “Sometimes I want to get inside my Escalade and crash it/my pain is running deeper than the ocean.” The inclusion of suicidal ideations on the song as a result of the stresses of drug dealing was a telling indicator of Future mental state. On “Itching”, Future compares a side-effect of crack withdrawal, itching, to his pursuit of money: “My fingers, they itching, they itching for that paper” he chants. The production on the song is muted, composed of a single lead synth and hi-hat pattern provided by producer Mike Will Made-It. Future’s willingness to draw from his murky past while simultaneously attempting to repress it marked a turning point in his mental state, and therefore the sound of his music.

In January 2013, rumors began circulating that Future was dating artist Ciara. During this time, Future released “FBG: The Movie” in preparation for a then unnamed upcoming album. The mixtape would see a return to the song structure that marked many of his successful early singles, like “B***hes Love Me.” On the song, Future was on chorus duty, reprising his familiar auto tune pitch to talk about the benefits of his sexual prowess, marijuana, and strong alcohol. The coincidence between this return to the pop structure and his relationship with Ciara was evident throughout the entire work. On “Fo Real,” he referred to Ciara: “I met that girl and had to spoil her, cause that girl’s so loyal/I met her when she was a dime and turned her into a quarter.” The note Future sung the lyrics in is higher than the rest of the song. Where the instrumental mostly occupies the tuning note of “B,” Future sings the lines referring to Ciara in a “C to C Sharp” scale, demonstrating his happiness about being with her.

Future’s 2014 album “Honest” would serve as the denouement as the story between Ciara and Future. On the album, tracks “I Won,” “I Be U,” and “I’ll Be Yours” serve as straightforward love songs in reference to Ciara. Future and Ciara were engaged just months earlier, in October 2013. A month before the album’s release, in March 2014, he announced that the two were expecting a baby boy. (MTV News) The restabilization of his mental condition in light of his love for Ciara was directly reflected in the subject manner on “Honest.” The three tracks feature Future singing the entire time, going into great detail about his habit of spoiling Ciara, and the continued commitment to a relationship with her. Future’s vocals were mastered at a high volume, giving the listener an “honest” exposition to Future’s psyche. Unlike previous projects, Future did not make mumbling or garbled language a deliberate part of the odes to Ciara. Instead, clear, elaborate language made up the bulk of the lyrics, marking a departure from the catchiness of his earlier works. Drug innuendos comprised less of all three songs in comparison to the songs on mix tapes past, instead focusing on the characterization of love. Future penned and sung the chorus to a song titled “Loveeee Song,” a song featured on Rihanna’s album, “Unapologetic.” The song paid homage to aforementioned characterization.

In August 2014, just three months after the birth of their son, Ciara and Future broke up. The effect on his music that this had was near immediate. He released three mix tapes within a four-month period from October 2014 to January 2015, titled “Monster,” “Beast Mode,” and “56 Nights.” At this point in his career, Future highlighted his problems via sound with false braggadocio, references to drug usage, and a darker production style. Whereas Honest ended with a glossy testament to love, titled “I’ll Be Yours,” Monster began with a cacophonous Metro Boomin-produced song titled “Radical.” The track begins with a pitched-down sample of an aboriginal didgeridoo, soon followed by the lowest pitched version of Future vocals ever observed in his career. Future’s exposition of anger, pain, and hurt in the months that followed the breakup with his ex-fiancée is apparent in the chant throughout the introductory verse. “Fuck all your attitude, fuck all your gratitude” he begins. In his early work, references to drug usage was only referred to metaphorically or in the pursuit of wordplay, while on the trilogy of mixtapes he released in 2014 and 2015, he goes into explicit detail. “It don’t fuck with my conscience/I’ll serve my auntie that raw,” he recites in a trance-like manner on song “Monster.” The same cocaine addicted auntie that he characterized in an early work and interviews with sympathy is now viewed with hatred, a hatred that runs so deep that he’s willing to sell her crack himself. On the three mixtapes, Future lashes out at the listener (saying that he’ll take their girlfriend on multiple tracks), Ciara, and most apparent, at himself.

Monster served as an initial response to the recent breakup, and track “Throw Away” was the most explicit of those responses. Future creates an interesting narrative as the song only makes reference to stark nihilism, where women only serve as sources of sexual favors, and are as easy to throw away as a “pistol.” Halfway through the song, the beat changes to one much more mellow. “Deep down, I believe you know a monster too.” Future’s bipolar behavior goes from one of hatred to understanding, recalling the multiple times that he did cheat and potentially be the cause of the relationship between him and Ciara ending. “Go on, f**k that n***a, and get it over with,” he instructs her. He wants Ciara to get sex out of her system if that’s what it will take for her to get even with him cheating on her. The song ricochets between a variety of emotions, self-loathing, manipulative, angry, compassionate: an ideal characterization of Future’s deteriorating and nigh-schizophrenic psyche. Future’s vocal volume changes after the beat switch, extenuating upon an impression of a schizophrenic “monster” with no control of his emotions.

The mix tape concludes with “Codeine Crazy,” an ode to his usage of promethazine codeine as a coping mechanism for both the custody loss of his son and his ex-fiancée. The track serves as the most self-aware of Future’s explanations about his depression: “I’m going crazy about it/I’m going codeine crazy/That’s how I’m living it/I’m feeling lovely.” he begins the song. Later, he confesses that “I’m an addict, and I can’t even hide it.” Future comes to a conclusive realization by the end of the mix tape, finding solace in abandoning his mainstream sound and lifestyle in lieu of one that includes a variety of women, drugs, and more visceral musical elements. It is in these factors where Future finds himself most comfortable. The confident nature of his lyrical presentation, ability to switch flows in an effort to garner unique performance, and newfound love for an Atlanta trap style that he attempted to stray away from all demonstrate this phenomenon.

“I can’t change, I was God given/they tried to make me a pop star, and they made a monster.” Future raps on his July 2015 album, “Dirty Sprite 2.” In the months that followed the release of Honest and the breakup with Ciara, Future utilized a grittier sound that marked a complete departure from his pop-friendly works throughout late 2013 and 2014. As opposed to the mixed array of producers used on previous projects, “Dirty Sprite 2,” Future completely depends on the work of young Atlanta producers Metro Boomin, the “808 Mafia” Collective, and Zaytoven. (Epic Records) The album was recorded in Atlanta, produced by producers residing in Atlanta, and mastered in Atlanta, lending credence to Future’s willingness to return to his original sound. Future’s willingness to work with these young producers also cultivated a transformative phase in his sound, considering louder percussions than any of his previous works characterize the beats used on Dirty Sprite 2.

In the investigation of Future’s transformation as an artist in regards to the state of his psyche, it can be noted that there is a methodology to which he abided. In 2011, he stated himself that he wanted to create melodic “stadium music.” In doing so, he subscribed to lyrical content and production styles that were similar to that of most pop songs. The inclusion of his previous life as a drug dealer soon began to reveal underlying thoughts within his subconscious to a small degree within his early mixtapes. However, his relationship with Ciara served as a reason to extend upon this “stadium music” style, beginning to edge into the R&B genre in terms of subject matter. With the abrupt end to their relationship, Future attached that style of “pop” music as a byproduct of his relationship with her. In an attempt to invalidate his failed relationship, Future’s late 2014 and early 2015 discography is marked by a complete reversal on “pop” themes, instead doubling-down on the “monstrous” side of his personality in order to continue his career.