Ever since it was announced, it was evident that the Metro Boomin and Future collab album was going to be a moment for hip-hop in 2024, but no one was ready for what actually happened. Over the course of three weeks, they dropped two separate albums, the latter of which had a surprise seven song mixtape tacked onto the end! These two albums combined have 42 songs and almost 2.5 hours of new music! Of course, anyone who has been paying attention knows that most of the attention hasn’t been given to the music itself, it’s been given to one feature by Kendrick Lamar.
For those that don’t know, Kendrick showed up as a surprise on the first album’s sixth track, “Like That”. On that song, he directly dissed Drake and J. Cole while rejecting the “Big 3” moniker that has been widely used the past decade to describe those three rappers. The majority of those shots were at Drake, and over the rest of that album and the next one, more people took shots at Drake. Future, A$AP Rocky, The Weeknd, and even Rick Ross had shots towards Drake in their verses. It took a little over three weeks, but a diss track from Drake eventually was leaked to the public. It took almost a week, but he claimed it and has since put out another diss track that was taken down because he used an AI version of Tupac on the track. The only person to respond so far to any of Drake’s attacks is Rick Ross. There have been many AI diss tracks and constant misinformation over the past week that has taken all the hype out of the diss for me. Between the lack of music, vitriol, and all of the purposeful misinformation from people on the outside who just want attention, this barely feels like a beef anymore.
This beef has overshadowed these albums so much, and it’s frustrating because these are the two most replayable albums of 2024 for me! They’re not necessarily perfect, as each has its own problems, but it’s easy to put on either album and just vibe. The first album, We Don’t Trust You, is a hip-hop and trap based album. This album sounds exactly like what you would expect a Future and Metro Boomin collab album to sound like. Metro’s production consists of bass-heavy tracks with plenty of intricate sounds to keep them interesting. I always like when there's a heaviness to his tracks, and he brings that back on here with songs like “Young Metro” and “Cinderella”. These songs feel dark and menacing, just from the sounds that Metro uses.
It’s not a surprise, but Future’s rapping fits the sound on here perfectly. Metro has always been fantastic at tailoring his production to the artists on them, and We Don’t Trust You is no different! If you have been a fan of Future, you’ll enjoy his rapping here. It’s obviously not much lyrically, but his flow is just as fantastic as ever. The only thing I wish he added is the extra level of his flow that he can go to. For example, on songs like “712PM” and “Holy Ghost” from his last album, he changes flows so many times and does so more frequently than ever before. When it comes to We Don’t Trust You, that extra gear of flows isn’t quite there, but it’s ok. Metro’s production doesn’t require Future to be rapping on top gear, but he wasn’t able to do the normal stuff for the second album.
We Still Don’t Trust You isn’t a hip-hop album, it’s an R&B album. It’s not the first time that Future has delved into this sound, but it’s an overall rarity for him. He did this same tactic back in 2017 where he put out albums back to back weeks, one being a hip-hop album and then one being a pop/R&B album. Future arguably sounds ever better on here than the first album! He’s still not singing without the autotune, but his voice is full of emotion on a good portion of this project. The way he sings the chorus of “Always Be My Fault” makes it sound like he’s truly at his end, whereas his voice on the chorus of “Nights Like This” is genuinely fantastic! His knack for melodies on here is surprisingly great! The subject matter also shifts from their beef with Drake and flexing to him being heartbroken and partying. It also brings out one of the most wild Future lyrical cliches, which I like to call Future-isms.
Future-isms are something I like to call his wild lines where he says something that only Future can say. They’re often filled with hilarious self-evangelizing and some less fun misogyny. So when I put these lines below, I’m not saying that I support what he’s saying. What I am saying is that these lines are so outrageous that it’s hilarious that anyone can take most of Future’s lyrics seriously. It’s like watching The Wolf of Wall Street. None of the characters in the movie should be idolized, but sometimes it’s entertaining and kind of funny to watch people do and say some crazy things. So without further ado, here are five of my favorite Future-isms from this second album.
“Twenty main bitches, I swear I'm from another planet. I love all of 'em the same, we just like one big family” - “One Big Family”
“It could be God himself, anyone after me is a downgrade” - “Mile High Memories”
“Let's gеt so drunk we forget to f**k” - “Luv Bad Bitches”
“Girls kissin' girls, that's amazin' to me” - “Amazing (Interlude)”
“On a fifty-passenger, tryna take eighty bitches” - “Came To The Party”
These all come from the first disc of the We Still Don’t Trust You, and I even kept off a couple particularly outrageous lines, including one about a sister on “Out Of My Hands”. For the rest of the album, there are an extra seven songs on disc two that bring them back to the days of Monster. Metro’s production adds the energy that was missing from the first disc, and even from the first album. There’s no denying bangers like “Nobody Knows My Struggle”, “All My Life”, and “Crazy Clientele” are all some of the hardest tracks of 2024. And these songs were just released as a thank you, they weren’t even supposed to be included in the album! The fact that they can just drop a fantastic, short collection of bangers at the end of this two album cycle is not to be taken for granted!
Overall, I don’t want the beef that has been caused by these projects to overshadow how great they actually are! They managed to drop some of the best projects that Future has made in a long time, and in multiple genres nonetheless! They started out with the classic trap sound that made Future popular, and then they hit us with an R&B album that is arguably even better than the first album! Now, these projects still didn’t elevate either one of their own respective sounds to new heights, nor will it likely gain many new fans for the duo, but for fans of them, these are easily two of the most enjoyable bodies of music to come out in 2024!
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