Future Hendrix was the original title for Future’s second album, initially intended for 2013 release until he shifted directions and swapped it for Honest. But it also represents a distinct stylistic mode for the rapper, who’s always relied on a rotating cast of alter egos to express different facets of his personality. Most recently, he’s adopted the snarling persona of Monster, a wounded, id-driven hedonist. But the Future Hendrix character—epitomized in 2012 mixtape cut "Deeper Than the Ocean"—is a free spirit and tragic romantic, prone to guitar-driven lone ranger ballads.

His latest, "News or Somthn", is a return to Hendrix mode, complete with a guitar solo outro via longtime collaborators Nard & B. And it boasts some of his sharpest lyricism yet, marking the halfway point of what’s shaping up to be the most pivotal year of his career. He’s segued out of a divisive early 2014 that alienated long-time fans with a stunning trifecta of tapes that have reaffirmed his status as one of the most vital rappers of the 2010s. Future used to emote via vocal performance rather than lyrics, but his imagery has grown arrestingly visceral this year. That newfound clarity is showcased nowhere better than here, where dark and light coexist in some surreal Atlanta purgatory: gleaming Chevy ‘55s, shadowy trap houses, and "a full moon in the middle of the day."