Future released the new visual for “PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ” on June 2. This is an updated story.
If you thought Future couldn’t get any more damaged, you’re very wrong.
“After I f—k you, let me cry on your shoulder,” he raps on the finale of I NEVER LIKED YOU, getting “BACK TO THE BASICS” of trapping, drugs and the long term effects of his love-torn lifestyle. After sending out a barrage of tweets over the course of April, Pluto’s ninth studio album — and follow-up to 2020’s High Off Life — wholeheartedly rings in the return of rap’s toxic king.
Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (May 9), INLY sold 222,000 first-week units — the most ever for Future and the second biggest debut to Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. His 2019 album The WZRD sold 126,000 first-week units, as High Off Life (which previously held his biggest sales week) sold 153,000 units.
On top of its original 16 tracks, Future added more superstars to an already A-list group of guests. The album’s deluxe — which dropped last month (May 2) — also brings on Lil Baby, BabyFace Ray, Lil Durk, 42 Dugg and Young Scooter.
The Freebandz head honcho initially recruited longtime collaborator Drake (who appears as a knight in shining armor in the medieval-inspired visual for “WAIT FOR U”), Young Thug, Gunna, EST Gee, Kodak Black, Tems and Kanye West for “KEEP IT BURNIN” — which came with a coinciding music video upon INLY’s release April 29.
Similarly, “WAIT FOR U” earned the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 9 and has sold over 1 million units as of May 29. Tems is the first African artist to hold a No. 1 record on Billboard, as Drake and Future are the only two rappers in history to debut on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums and Hot 100 charts in the same week.
On highlights in “PUFFIN ON ZOOTIEZ,” “IM DAT N***A” and “712PM” — produced by ATL mainstays in Southside and ATL Jacob — Future’s ability to remain at the top of the game amid a legendary discography behind him is a testament to his status as hip-hop’s undeniable trap GOAT.
In Ye’s first appearance since releasing the unfinished Donda 2 exclusively on Stem Player, “KEEP IT BURNIN” sees the YZY mogul’s fingerprints all over the track. Originally placed on Donda 2, Ye viscerates his verse and sees his toxic energy comparable to that of Future’s — seemingly calling out his ex-wife Kim Kardashian as the “city’s on fire” amid the single’s stark vignette visuals.
Leading in INLY’s release by hopping on Southside’s “Hold That Heat” with Travis Scott on April 22, Future foresees greater success in his newfound reign as GQ’s “Best Rapper Alive” — divulging on working closely with Drake and Gunna in his recent cover story (April 19).
His Valentine’s Day track “Worst Day” was the lead single for the album, but was questionably left off the original tracklist of I NEVER LIKED YOU. However, the V-Day cut landed on the album’s deluxe edition, as it saw Future employ his vintage toxicity over lust-laced, hard-hitting production, which is a theme spread all over his new LP.
While remaining relatively quiet in 2021 — aside from a handful of feature verses — Future was crowned rap king in 2020 taking over airwaves with High Off Life, which included hits in “Solitaires” with Travis Scott and “Trillionaire” with NBA YoungBoy. Later that year, he linked up with Lil Uzi Vert for their November 2020 collaborative project Pluto x Baby Pluto, which saw their chemistry peak on tracks like “Stripes Like Burberry” and “Drankin N Smokin.“
Listen to Future’s ‘I NEVER LIKED YOU’ below!
