"High Off Life" is Future's Best Work Since "DS2"
After an uncharacteristically calm year for the Atlanta legend, Future’s first release of 2020 comes in the form of his eighth studio album titled “High Off Life.” Pluto has been relatively quiet over the past year, only dropping three projects in the span from January 2019 to now. Future’s recent activity has been contrary to the manner fans are used to Future releasing music. For context in the span between February 2017 and October 2018, fans were blessed with a new Future project six times, with an argument to be made for another project in the form of DJ Esco’s “KOLORBLIND” where future appears on every track to be counted towards that figure, making a grand total of seven releases in the span of a year and a half. However, the lack of releases in the past year could work to Future’s benefit as fans are the hungriest they’ve been in a while to hear from Super Future. However, will Future deliver? That’s what we’re here to find out.
Future’s “High Off Life” is a 70-minute project comprised of 21 tracks. Travis Scott, Youngboy Never Broke Again, Young Thug, Lil Uzi Vert, Drake, Lil Durk, Meek Mill, Doe Boy, DaBaby, and Lil Baby all make appearances as features throughout the project.
Categories
The songs on this album divided into three lanes that are prevalent throughout the project and scored on a 1.5 scale. (0 = trash, .5 = not for me, 1 = good, 1.5 = a standout)
Pluto
Future relies on his flow and adlibs in the construction of these songs over a fast bass lead beat.
• “Trapped In The Sun” (1.5)
• “HiTek Tek” (1)
• “Solitaires” ft. Travis Scott (1)
• “Harlem Shake” ft. Young Thug (1.5)
• “All Bad” ft. Lil Uzi Vert (1.5)
• “Accepting My Flaws” (1.5)
• “Life is Good” ft. Drake (1.5)
• “100 Shooters” ft. Meek Mill & Doe Boy (1)
• “Life is Good (Remix)” ft. Drake, DaBaby & Lil Baby (1.5)
It’s Not a Drought Anymore
The DS2 vibe is replicated with Future rapping over beats with bass patterns that flashback to the hard bass soft melody trap symphonies present on DS2.
• “Touch The Sky” (1)
• “Ridin Strikers” (1)
• “One of My” (1)
• “Posted with Demons” (1)
• “Hard to Choose One” (1)
• “Pray for a Key” (1)
Future Finesse
Future shows off his talents on some of the slower and softer beats on the project.
• “Trillionaire” ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again (1.5)
• “Up the River” (1)
• “Too Comfortable” (1)
• “Outer Space Bih” (1)
• “Last Name” ft. Lil Durk (1)
• “Tycoon” (1)
The Standouts
The songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.
“Trapped In The Sun”
The intro track on Future’s “High Off Life” starts with a somber piano and violin melody created by Will-A-Fool before a fast-paced high hat and bass combination establish the pace of the song. The beat is an intricate work of art with small details like a subtle static over the beat pushing the beat further into elite status. On the song, Future changes his flow from the hook to the verses, with the verses having the faster flow. This serves as a great intro to the project because Future’s performance can only be described as vintage Future over a modern “DS2” like beat.
“Trillionaire” ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again
Track nine, produced by TeezyOnTheBoards starts off with Future and Youngboy rapping and speaking on a somber piano before the high hats and bass combination comes in. As soon as Youngboy raps “Reportin straight out of the slums,” the listener is hooked into finishing the song. This is one of the slower tracks on the project, however, the beautiful chemistry between Future and Youngboy exchanging lines throughout the first verse and the hook give this song a legitimate claim for being the best song on the entire project.
“Harlem Shake” ft. Young Thug
Produced by Wheezy, the story of track ten is the effortless flow used by Future and Young Thug. The beat has a melodic chime in the background behind the fast-paced bass and high hat pattern. For the majority of the song, the lines are simply two words and the use of “ayy” at the end of it. This subtle effort by both rappers adds to the myth of their limitless versatility.
“All Bad” ft. Lil Uzi Vert
Giving us “Eternal Atake” vibes by way of producers Outtatown and Brandon Finessin, track fourteen starts with a pop melody before Lil Uzi comes in with the hook along with the high hat and bass pattern that could easily fit on Lil Uzi’s “Eternal Atake.” This song is once again a testament to Future’s effortless chemistry with other artists as Future completely picks apart this beat. My favorite part about the song is the switch from the first hook to the second hook, with Lil Uzi singing the first half and Future singing the second half of the first hook, only for them to trade places on the second hook, putting their spin on the words of the other.
“Accepting My Flaws”
Track sixteen serves as the pseudo-outro track produced by Southside starting with an interlude that expresses feelings of betrayal. The interlude at the start is paired with a beautiful violin melody as the song develops into a harmonization that starts with Future’s presence on the track about 30 seconds in. An aggressive high hat and bass pattern meets Future on the hook and carries throughout the rest of the song. Future appears to be baring his emotions throughout this track, making it feel like an outro track.
Final Review
“High Off Life” could potentially be Future’s best project since his legendary “DS2” in 2015. “High Off Life” starts with a return to that “DS2” vibe, curated with a mix of hard bass patterns similar to the ones heard on “DS2,” before branching out into more modern beats and song structures. Around track nine, with the song “Trillionaire” featuring Youngboy Never Broke Again is where the hits on this project start in my opinion, showcased by Youngboy and Future trading lines throughout the song. Throughout the whole project, Future’s keen ear for great beats was apparent, highlighted by the beat switch on “Ridin Strikers” along with the beat selection for “Posted With Demons.” The mix of using different beats from producers like Southside, ATL Jacob, Wheezy, DY Krazy, and more work as the vibe throughout the whole project was maintained with every producer adding their seasonings to the pot. The features on the project did their thing with Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert earning shoutouts from me for their work on their respective songs, however, Youngboy shined through as the best feature on the project with his presence on “Trillionaire.” However, if I had to nitpick about “High Off Life,” I would make two points. The first being, 21 Savage’s presence on the dark piano beat that is heard on the song “Hard to Choose One” would have elevated the song to a hit for me. The second nitpick I have about this project is “All Bad” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, felt like it belonged more on Uzi’s “Eternal Atake” although it is still one of the stronger songs on this project. In my eyes, “High Off Life” is a project that provokes conversation about classic status.
Scoring
Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a 1 or above to be counted.
Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.
Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.
Raw Score: 21/21
Quality Score: 24.5/21
Playback Value: 4/5
