“MIXTAPE PLUTO” teeters on mediocrity

MIXTAPE PLUTO by Future. Photo courtesy: ℗2024 Wilburn Holding Co. under exclusive license from Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.

Atlanta rapper Future released “MIXTAPE PLUTO,” his third album of the year, on Friday, September 20.

“MIXTAPE PLUTO” follows the albums “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” and “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU,” which were released in March and April 2024, respectively. Both were produced by Metro Boomin and the two albums featured notable artists including: Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd and Playboi Carti.

“MIXTAPE PLUTO,” on the other hand, is a 17-track desert with no features. As the name suggests, the project is more of a mixtape than an album. There are no transitions between songs, nor is there continuity of themes between songs.

“TEFLON DON”, the opening song, is an example of the main theme from the film series “The Godfather” and refers to the mafia. Future raps, “Beat the first case like John Gotti,” referring to the Gambino crime family boss of the same name, who was notoriously difficult to bring to justice.

“SURFING A TSUNAMI” features the best vocal performance of the project. During the chorus, soft tropical sound waves bloom, providing the perfect muted undertone for Future’s insistent, yet gentle vocals. After the second verse, the vocals and beat both disappear, leaving a pause before the chorus and instrumentals come back in to put listeners back into a trance.

Other songs on the album are very similar to songs Future has already released. “SKI” and “PRESS THE BUTTON” are two of the most obvious; their fast pace and dark, ominous beats make them a great fit for the album’s second disc “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU”. In “PRESS THE BUTTON,” a woodwind whistles eerily in the background, adding a subtle yet deliberate synthetic touch that is one of the joys of Future’s lyrics.

“SOUTH OF FRANCE” features Christmas carol-like choral sounds captured beneath the trap beat, rising and falling at the end of each line. Fittingly, the song “OCEAN” includes an example of seagulls chirping at the beginning. These unique and specific touches elevate Future’s music above that of most other trap artists.

The most unique song on the mixtape is “LOST MY DOG”, a slow, somber lament about the drug-induced deaths of some of Future’s friends. “I Lost My Dog to Fentanyl/His Body Couldn’t Absorb It.”

The high-pitched female vocals that accompany the mournful beat, along with the soft and unusually articulate rapping, make this song a worthwhile change of pace for the project.

Yet the mixtape is not without flops. During the chorus of “PLUTOSKI,” Future abandons the language together and instead moans a combination of moans and hums repeatedly. In “MADE MY HE FAINT,” a song that samples The Weeknd’s “The Hills,” Future’s flow never finds its basis within the fast beat.

The vocals in “TOO FAST” never match the instrumentals; the chorus is flat and unsurprising. Even “TEFLON DON” – aside from the mafia references and notable examples – descends into tedium as the verses drag on.

Too many of these songs lack a catchy chorus or piece of lyrics that keeps the listener coming back. As a result, it’s hard to see this project as anything more than a hodgepodge of songs that were in such a raw and unfinished state that they couldn’t fit on any other Future album.

I give this mixtape a 6/10. Overall, many of the songs are either so similar to Future’s established musical style as to be forgettable, or feel like leftovers from the “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” albums. While there is a hint of grandeur in some of the songs – and despite Future’s bold creative choices sprinkled throughout – none of the songs are memorable enough to anchor or define the project.

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