Future - "DS2"

[StevePulaski]

DS2 (2015)
By: Future

Rating: ★★★½

It's no exaggeration when I say Future's latest release, DS2, could sit alongside Gucci Mane's Trap House and Montana of 300's Cursed With a Blessing for one of the best trap rap albums I have yet to hear. There is not a single subpar track on the album, as it's built from the ground up on tender, sometimes emotional ballads, raucous party tunes, and pleasantly repetitive bangers, all sung with Future's trademark grogginess. Whether or not trap rap will fall off in the same way g-funk did, I can't say, but if it does, DS2 will stand as one of the genre's contemporary classics.

Future has had the kind of year rappers dream of, not only managing to release several products, but having them all be met with considerable acclaim and artistic merit. Releasing three acclaimed mixtapes, this studio album, and then proceeding to continue feeding his fans with a compilation mixtape with Toronto-based R&B crooner Drake, Future doesn't show any signs of stopping his unfathomable work ethic. When DS2 was announced, and subsequently released only a week after, it was unknown how much more gas Future had in his tank, but just a few tracks into this album and one can recognize quite easily that this is the real deal.

DS2's (which stands for "Dirty Sprite 2") opener "Thought It Was a Drought" sets the tone for this right away, beginning with Future presumably pouring himself the titular Promethazine/Codeine cough-syrup/Sprite/Jolly Rancher concoction into his Styrofoam cup, a mixture that is known to slow the body down considerably and create an inebriated effect. The very ambiance of the opening track emphasizes the mundane acts but identifiable sounds of loosening the cap off a two liter bottle of Sprite, pouring the soda, and, finally, mixing the cough syrup in a way that hauntingly adds to Metro Boomin's, Future's signature producer, production.

Future begins to rap on the track with one of the most infectious lines of the entire album (and there are a lot, mind you): "I just f***** your bitch in some Gucci flip-flops; I just had two bitches and I made 'em lip-lock. I just took a piss and I seen codeine comin' out; we got purple Activas, I thought it was a drought." These four simple lines should make you realize if you want to continue hearing (or, hell, sipping) DS2, with Future's slurry vocals and rampant vulgarities in addition to Metro's melodic production taking over, but the brave and willing souls who choose to continue will find a wealth of enjoyable content ahead.

"Where Ya At," featuring Drake, is probably the most mainstream song of the entire album, featuring the aforementioned pleasant repetition of the two men ostensibly interrogating a once loyal but now two-faced supporter of their work. Future makes the song incredibly infectious, and when Drake steps up, his deeper, raspier vocals fully command the track and make it even better. Following that are songs like "Stick Talk," a funk-induced, violently detailed banger, "Freak Hoe," a remake of the late Speaker Knockerz tune (who wound up dying from a heart attack induced by the dirty Sprite beverage) that winds up paying its homage whilst carrying its own tune and lyricism, "Rotation," a contemplative and descriptive track that sheds light on Future's destructive hobbies, "Blow a Bag," a bonafide trap song about embracing your net worth and spontaneously deciding to spend a boatload of money one day, with lively production thanks again to Metro Boomin and Southside, and "Blood on the Money," which concludes the standard edition with another dark, contemplative stroll into the dark consequences and real-life ills of trapping for money.

If you choose to ask for a refill on your dirty Sprite with the five bonus tracks on the deluxe edition of the album (and you damn well should), you'll be greeted with songs like "Trap N*****," a perfect followup to "Blood on the Money" in that it praises the trapping lifestyle, whilst denoting the hardships, and "Real Sisters," an infectious song that further elaborates on Future's love for having sex, preferably with two women at one time. The album concludes with "F*** Up Some Commas," Future's unexpected radio hit that has been steadily climbing the charts since its release in 2014.

DS2 was an album I casually perused, cherrypicking certain songs before finally listening to the entire work in two separate sittings today. The first time I heard "F*** Up Some Commas," I quickly grew tired of its monotony, and the first time I heard "Trap N*****," I felt indifferent about Future's style. It wasn't until a short while after hearing those songs only once, I found myself singing them while going about my day. The next time I'd play the tracks, I'd fall in love with them, and, when it came to songs like the latter, "Blood on the Money," and "Thought It Was a Drought," I recognized the true talent of Future when it came to writing songs about real pain.

As stated, DS2 is a slurry, groggy, uncompromising masterwork of trap music that, much like the famous dirty Sprite concoction, mixes elements of pleasure and pain for, not only an overwhelming effect, but a telling and revealing window into trap life.

Recommended tracks (in order): "Thought It Was a Drought," "Blow a Bag," "Where Ya At," "Real Sisters," "Trap N*****," "F*** Up Some Commas," "Stick Talk," and "Colossal."