Late last year, Future released his 9th mixtape in five years, with his Halloween inspired Monster (the followup to his second studio album Honest). Less than three months after Monster comes Future’s next project, titled Beast Mode and produced entirely by Atlanta producer Xavier “Zaytoven” Dotson. While Future brings the same emotion to Beast Mode as with previous projects, this mixtape (in large part due Zaytoven’s production) has a different feel and theme than Monster, although Future does not abandon his sound that makes his singing very appealing and catchy. Although Future and the ‘Versace’ producer have worked together since 2011, a full collaborative project was almost inevitable to combine the talents of Atlanta’s hottest rapper and one of the city’s best producers. Beast Mode isn’t Future’s best project to date, but is yet another example that Atlanta is easily in the conversation for being the rap hub of the world right now.
Rapper/singer Future has been putting out quality projects left and right, and after a couple last year in 2014 (Monster and Honest) we now have his new Beast Mode mixtape with Zaytoven for 2015. The 9-track mixtape has features from Young Scooter and Juvenile and is available now for streaming and download.
Check out Future’s newest video off his Monster mixtape, for his Metro Boomin and DJ Plugg produced track ‘Mad Luv’. Future had another amazing year in 2014, especially with the critical successful and one of our favorite 2014 tracks ‘Move That Dope‘ ft. Pharrell and Pusha-T. Watch Future hang out in the streets of Decatur, GA in ‘Mad Luv’ below!
With Halloween around the corner, Future has released his horror inspired track ‘Break The Rules’. Enjoy the Metro Boomin, DJ Spinz, and Dun Deal produced track at the jump!
Yearly, hip-hop magazine XXL does a freshman cover, showcasing nearly a dozen rising stars. Sometimes, these lists are underwhelming, leaving obvious choices out (Drake, Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, etc) but sometimes they can also be packed with to-be stars (2011’s issue).
Now that a couple years have passed, it would definitely be interesting to observe how well some of 2012’s freshman have fared, because frankly, the gap between superstars and unknowns is huge.
Let’s begin.
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Future
The autotune crooner was already known by the time this cover was released and he’s done well for himself. While his record sales are mundane for someone at his status, his singles are still popular. Future Vandross has went completely left from his original trap persona to dive into writing for R&B artists and defying the odds, as most wrote him off to be a one hit wonder since his hit ‘Tony Montana’.
Kid Ink
Back in 2012, to the general public, this guy was just a Chris Brown look-a-like with an overly simple rap name/aesthetic. But to the mixtape circuit, he was moving around and grinding heavy. The grind finally paid off once he scored two Chris Brown features and DJ Mustard produced hits. The sad thing is he’s only known for singles.
Danny Brown
Detroit MC Danny Brown was known by 2012 but he’s only worked harder since the cover has passed, dropping a critically acclaimed album, opening for Eminem and touring worldwide. He has no plans of stopping and is fully satisfied with sacrificing radio spins for quality music.
French Montana
French’s album flopped. But he didn’t let that stop him, he instead continued to release hits as well as linking with Khloe Kardashian the goddess, solidifying his pop culture relevancy. Let’s see how he responds to the break-up.
Macklemore
Who would’ve thought? The seemingly random white rapper Macklemore, independent, corny and somewhat conscious, went on to release his Grammy award winning album in late 2012 and ran 2013 as the biggest pop artist. I still don’t get it.
Although 2014 has not been strongest year for albums thus far, being a couple months past the half way point of the year we have compiled our list of the best albums of the year so far.
The good folks at Complex today released their list of 40 of the best albums of 2014 (so far) with appearances by Schoolboy Q, Sam Smith, Lana Del Rey, and many others.
The Early Registration 