Everyone loved Future in 2015. Beforehand, only diehard fans really saw his knack for melody and songwriting. Albums like Honest and Pluto weren’t released to rapturous applause. But by late 2014, he released Monster, a deeply dark, sinister mixtape that saw the Atlanta legend bare his soul completely after breaking up with his ex-girlfriend Ciara. Then, he’d go on one of the most prolific runs in hip-hop history. He released two extremely strong mixtapes afterward, featured on countless records, eventually culminating in his opus.
On this day eleven years ago, Future released DS2, an album that essentially distilled his entire artistry. He’s a grizzled street rapper, a lovelorn heartthrob, and a calloused heartbreaker all the same, encased in some of the most addictive hooks imaginable. Moreover, some people slept on some of the most extremely potent, imaginative writing of his career. “A product of the roaches in them ashtrays/I inhale the love on a bad day/Baptized inside purple Actavis” he raps on “I Serve The Base”.
DS2 officially marked Future’s first album as a certified hitmaker. The album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, selling 151k units in its first week. Moreover, “Where Ya At” with Drake saw him peak at number 28 on the Hot 100.
Future Releases Arguably The Best Album of His Career On This Day 11 Years Ago
Critics immediately fawned over the record, matching Future’s narrative of misery and excess at the time with his evident talent as a hitmaker. For instance, Kris Ex mused about how Future makes simple, sinful pleasures sound outright miserable.
“Such is the effect of downers — the pain is real, but the joys ersatz and the escapes empty,” they wrote for Billboard. “Yes, Future started this album off by having sex with a girl while wearing designer sandals. He said it as a boast, but he never said he enjoyed it.”
Similarly, critic Robert Christgau deemed DS2 a “miserable minor masterpiece” that was “proof we needed that money can’t buy happiness.” “A hypnotic, slow-motion trap-life tone poem that turns on two tells,” he wrote for VICE. “’I just f***ed your b**** in some Gucci flip-flops” to set the mood and ‘Best thing I ever did was fall out of love’ to rationalize it.
By the end of 2015, countless publications anointed Future with high positions on their year-end albums list. For instance, Complex declared DS2 the second best album of the year, with only To Pimp a Butterfly pulling ahead.
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