Future’s ‘Mixtape Pluto’ is a routine rehash

Whether he was a mastermind pulling strings behind the scenes or just a willing agent of chaos holding the fuse, Future’s role in the explosive Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar feud of the year set in motion one of the biggest fights in hip-hop history. (To recap: Lamar’s guest verse on “Like That,” from Future and Metro Boomin’s project We don’t trust youtook direct aim at the Canadian hitmaker and J. Cole, igniting a months-long, heated war of words fraught with accusations of ghostwriting, grooming and infidelity.) But while meat-lovers gushed over each new diss like tea leaves, Future remained clearly above the fray, managing to avoid much of the backlash when he embarked on an extensive arena tour with Metro and made room for Cole on the follow-up’s release. We still don’t trust you.

It seemed more important to feed fans along the way than to stoke fires, which is what prompted Future’s decision to drop his latest project, Mixtape Plutosuch a strategically smart move. To his credit, the 40-year-old star has maintained his genre dominance while many of his regional and generational peers have faded into the background. But those who yearn for a return to the astral magic of Astronaut statushis ninth mixtape, or the post-Honestly run from Sample, Beast ModeAnd 56 nightswon’t find any of that 2010s charm here. Instead, they’re left with a routine, 17-track rehash of his last two albums. At this stage, Future seems more content with meeting his fans’ basic expectations than risking disappointing them with something that might upset or challenge them.

Since 2011 True storythe Pluto moniker is a satisfyingly untouchable part of Future’s brand. Freebandz fanatics will catch echoes of that planetary past Mixtape PlutoSome of the references are obvious — the “Mask Off” statement on the thumping “Brazzier,” the Ace Hood “Bugatti” bar on “Teflon Don” — though there are also subtler moments, like the grainy Three 6 Mafia sample on “Told My,” that effectively Mixtape Pluto Unpleasant We don’t trust you And Still cuts “Ice Attack” and “Nights Like This.”

But Future’s approach quickly slides from satisfying to lazy. The utterly disjointed “Plutoski” sounds like a rough demo, with a vocal recording that sounds like it was recorded from the bottom of a double-entry cup. That nagging sense of incompleteness returns on “South of France,” which spends its final 30 seconds as a meandering instrumental that ends abruptly. From the sleazy narrative of “Made My Hoe Faint” to the odd braggadocio of “Too Fast,” familiarity casts a purple pallor over proceedings. Even standouts like the coke-rap sermon “Ready to Cook Up” and the exotically lush “Surfing a Tsunami” exist in safe pockets of fan service.

With few surprises and zero features, the project feels a world away from the era Future seems to be trying to evoke. The recurring nod to the music of his late cousin, Organized Noize’s Rico Wade, on the cover never makes its way onto the tape. Instead, the music ultimately reflects Future’s more recent fare. Recruiting producer Southside for nearly half the album pretty much ensures that Pluto sounds like all the efforts since 2019 The WizardIronically, the biggest change to this otherwise reliable model is the absence of Drake, a fixture on Future’s solo albums of the 2020s High Off Life And I never liked youConsidering how much Future’s current success has hinged on these collaborations, this kind of triumphant march feels like a misstep in the rapper’s post-Aubrey era, with him opting to play it safe without his commercially lucrative collaborator rather than attempt a more ambitious option with other producers.

But is that really what people want from Future right now? Quantifiably, he’s having one of the best years of his entire career without having to engage in drill stunts with Cash Cobain clones or hook up with underground likes Conductor Williams or Alchemist. With the exception of “Lost My Dog,” a gut-wrenching song about losing someone to depression and fentanyl, Mixtape Pluto covers the same luxurious hedonism that Future has eroded into numbing futility. After starting the year as an agitator, Future is doing the opposite of what’s expected of him, delving into his legacy with no apparent interest in doing much else. Given how well his most recent material has been received, he’s simply following a formula that works.