EVOL
From the moment a ratcheting hi-hat introduces “Ain’t No Time,” Future brings fiery intensity to *EVOL*, leaving behind the syrupy laments of *DS2* with confidence and muscle. The Atlanta rapper’s inspirations haven’t changed—he’s still reveling in champagne baths, sexual conquest, and the spoils of fame—but he leans forward with forceful energy on highlights like “Maybach” and “Lie to Me.” The album’s steamiest moment, “Low Life,” adds a seductive guest vocal from The Weeknd.
EVOL arrives less than a month after Future's surprise mixtape Purple Reign, and while it has slightly more misses than hits, the highs are high—arguably higher than Purple Reign's—and ultimately, the lows aren't enough to break his current all-timer run.
Atlanta’s foremost lean-loving MC gives us another dose of purple sprite with his second release of 2016.
If you’re going to call yourself Future, you’d better have at least a tenuous grasp on modernity, and with his distinctive rap style allied to cutting-edge beats, Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn – for such is Future’s rather splendid given name – certainly fulfils that requirement. You’d also better have, if not popularity, then at least a presence bordering on ubiquity, which Future is fast approaching, in America at least. In the R&B world, “heat” is measured partly by collaborative frequency, and in that regard, he’s on fire, with dozens of credits over the past couple of years, including a complete mixtape album recorded with Drake, What a Time to Be Alive, debuting at number one last September.
Future is wounded. It’s the kind of hurt that could launch a thousand ships and blow a thousand bags. Open cuts that can’t be healed by
After a brace of mixtapes full of weird and exciting ideas, Future’s latest full album feels a bit flat