Music Times writers share an office area of roughly 45 sq. ft, which makes having face-to-face conversations totally impossible. Junk Mail is these millenials' attempt to discuss and review the week's hottest album releases... without needing to look at each other.
This week: Ryan Book, Caitlin Carter, and Carolyn Menyes e-mail back and forth about Future's Honest.
Carolyn Menyes: I guess I'll start this off by saying I like Future -- "Samn Damn Time" and "Bugatti" (thanks to his hook) are two of my favorite ridiculous rap songs -- but his new album Honest is just not doing it for me today. It's ridiculously repetitive, and I feel like he's yelling at me all the time. But not in a cool way.
Ryan Book: This is a surprise! I really expected to be rolling my eyes at your worship of Future, but it looks like I'll ride to his defense instead.
Future's lyrics certainly aren't his strong point...ranging from trap at their best, to drill at their worst. His "yelling" has always been what's rubbed me the right way however. Hip-hop has fallen into a boring state where emcees equate emotional detachment to being a badass. Future's always been unafraid to let some quiver come into his voice, which lends credence to tracks such as "I Won" and "Blood, Sweat, Tears." Fortunately, Honest features more of these tracks than those in the mold of "My Momma," which I would describe in my most loquacious moment as "stupid."
Caitlin Carter: I went into this album thinking of it more like a concept album because of the abstract nature of the title "Honest." True to that title, the album, for me, felt sincere. There is a good mix of the "I'm in touch with my feelings and know who I am" sort of honesty and "I don't give a shit" arrogant honesty. It's not trying to be avant-rap and it's cool with being poppy, which to me is a rare balance to find in mainstream hip-hop. As a whole, the album is compelling without taking itself too seriously.
CM: No, you're right Ryan, I totally prefer Future's hard delivery to that boring, detached thing the likes of Tyga and Big Sean does. Future isHonest here (as cheesy as that sounds) and he's got the passion in his voice to prove it. If nothing else, this album will jar you awake. It's not the best thing to listen to before noon -- which is what I'm currently doing.
Like last week's Jason Derulo album review, he seems to have a little bit of that "I'm a dude in love" and "I'm a hardass" dichotomy on this album. He's all tough bragging on "Covered N Money" but then he's professing his sappy, sappy love in "I Won" with Kanye West. I'm wondering if the label thought this record was getting TOO lovey-dovey. They scrapped that Miley Cyrus song "Real And True" and his Ciara collaboration "Anytime." Thoughts on that?
RB: "Anytime" didn't do anything for me, so I didn't mind too much. I was a little surprised "Real and True" didn't make the final cut, but I concur it's probably a balance thing. Future doesn't want to look soft any more than Epic wants him to look soft. "I Won" is on an equal level for softness, but nobody's going to turn down a Kanye guest spot. Who knows? Future will be Future.
I could probably tell you why "Karate Chop" didn't make final 12.
CC: I had been looking out for the Miley collaboration as well. It was so hyped, and everyone was waiting for it to break into the Hot 100. But Miley did sort of steal the spotlight on that track because it dropped as a single during the peak of Miley-mania. I think it did what it needed to as a single. As far as "looking soft," Future had emphasized, leading up to the album's release, that he wanted to show emotion on the effort. So I don't think "softness" would be a reason to leave the track off the final tracklist, but who knows.
CM: Miley totally stole the spotlight on "Real And True," so I guess I get why the track was cut. If nothing else, it helped to hype up the album. Like Derulo (sorry for the back-to-back comparisons), if Future wanted to get "Honest" on this album, I wish he just dove into it head first and really went for it instead of doing this mixed up thing. He's not afraid to do the autotuned half-sing thing a la Kanye West 808s and Heartbreak, so why didn't he just go for it? I'd rather have a vulnerable, true love album or something instead of another half dedicated, half hard thing.
I guess you need a mix to satisfy everyone, but I'm all about concept albums. By and large, I guess Honest stays on theme, but then there's tracks like "Benz Friends" that stick out like a sore thumb. The song is actually really strong and hook-filled on its own, and it's always great to hear Andre 3000 do anything, but I'm not so sure it fits on Honest like "Anytime" would have, ya know?
RB: Future's slew of guests is very relevant, regardless of who they are. As I mentioned earlier, I don't think he's a strong enough lyricist to carry this whole project himself. The Kanye, the Andre, and the Pusha were all very relevant in holding "Honest" together. The same applies to his production...Mike Will Made It and Metro Boomin helped prop the album up. It's a dangerous formula..."Honest" comes together, but put the same lyrics on a crappy beat and game over. If Andre 3000 doesn't show up for "Benz Friends," does anyone care?
"Move That Dope" is a masterpiece for bringing all the positives together (a "trapsterpiece"? Whatever, I just coined it). Even that track should worry Future however, as producers treat Pusha T like the headliner: Their verses come in at the same length, but look at the FX attention Pusha's contribution gets. It wasn't a Nicki-on-"Monster" or Kendrick-on-"Control" level verse either. Pusha didn't steal the show, management just gave it to him.
CC: Future is actually singing on the album, albeit with the help of AutoTune, which shows that he is growing more confident willing to put himself out there. Handing the reigns over to Mike WiLL and letting his featured artist make sizable contributions further proves Future's security in himself as an artist. He is big enough now that he doesn't have to prove himself by being the star of the show. That's what makes his honesty vulnerable and thus compelling, IMO.
FINAL WORDS
CM: I thought I would have more to say on this album than I ended up having, and I'm not sure if that's a particularly good thing. The production on this album is insanely solid; Mike WiLL Made It is one of the game's biggest rising producers and I totally get why. The guests are solid enough; I like the use of some fellow "softies" like Drake, Andre 3000 and (anymore) Kanye West. Those are big grabs and they were used efficiently. I guess I just wish Future really, really went for it, reached for the stars with this love album. I just want some crazy tender rap music. Either that of "Same Damn Time," but we've already got that single...
RB: Honest is a great product, but it's standing on stilts. If his next album comes crashing down, don't ask me why.
CC: Honest is a step forward for Future, as it should be. I enjoyed hearing his approach to the concept of Honesty within the context of the hip-hop world, and I think he chose a good team to back him up. I'd like to think his follow-up will stay vulnerable while stepping it up a few notches.
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