This is unfortunate, given Future’s influence on Toronto’s rap scene.įuture’s influence on Toronto’s rap sound is undeniable: he makes autotune and trap go together like salsa and chips, essentially setting the stage for Toronto rappers such as Lb and Casper, known for gritty lyrics coated in autotune. Toronto superstars Drake and The Weeknd who have collaborated with Future in prior projects (Drake and Future dropped their collab retail mixtape What A Time To Be Alive in 2016, The Weeknd and Future topped charts with their songs “All I Know” and “Low life”), could have been used very well on this album but were nowhere to be found. The album is too long (20 songs), the songs as a collective sound too similar to each other and there should have been more features. This might explain why Future crowned new rap sensations Lil Baby and Gunna the kings of trap music earlier this month.ĭespite these highlights, there are cons. It is almost as if he has done what he set out to do when first started rapping. From the album’s title to the, “I been poppin since my demo bitch,” hook that Future repeats on “Rocket Ship,” Future is very reflective of his past on The WIZRD.
Nearly two years removed from his last full-length release, Future returns with The WIZRD, an album titled after the nickname his late associate, OG Double D gave him before his passing in 2013. Since his debut album Pluto dropped in 2012, the genre’s top charts have been filled with Future songs and trap influenced by Future’s iconic autotuned melodies and mumble raps that have shaped hip-hop’s landscape. When it comes to rap’s hottest sub-genre, trap music, Future is the leader of an era. The WIZRD is good - but not great like the other Future projects that served as the blueprint for Toronto’s rap soundĪtlanta-born rapper Future’s impact on this generation's rap music cannot be understated.