This is the 8th full-length album from Atlanta rapper, singer & songwriter Future. Lot a people don’t know that he got his start being brought into the Dungeon Family thanks to his cousin Rico Wade of Organized Noize but he did become one of the leading figures in the trap subgenre with releases like Honest, Monster, Beast Mode, 56 Nights & my personal favorite: D.S. 2 (Dirty Sprite 2). It’s been a little over a year since Future’s last album The WIZRD, but he’s now coming out of the shadows with High Off Life.
Things kick off with “Trapped in the Sun”, where Future talks about giving game to his sons over a tense instrumental. The next song “HiTek Tek” of course gets materialistic over a bland instrumental while the track “Touch the Sky” talks about how no one can finesse him over a cavernous Southside beat. The song “Solitaries” with Travis Scott sees the 2 getting boastful over a lively beat from Wheezy & Mike Dean while the track “Ridin’ Strikers” talks about sending shooters & the way that the So Icey Boyz’ instrumental on here transitions during the last minute or so is just jaw-dropping.
The song “One of My” gets annoyingly repetitive over a dime a dozen trap beat while the track “Posted with Demons” talks about pimpin’ over a DJ Spinz beat with some luscious string sections. The song “Hard to Choose One” talks about having too many bitches over a keyboard heavy instrumental while the track “Trillionaire” with YoungBoy Never Broke Again sees the 2 vapidly talking about becoming richer than they already are over a comatose instrumental.
The track “Harlem Shake” with Young Thug sees the 2 talking about being trap stars over an Italian-flavored beat while the song “Up the River” pretty much addresses that he’s the one a lot of trap rappers got their styles from over an euphoric beat. The track “Pray for a Key” gets reflective over a cloudy TM88 beat with some occasional vinyl crackling if you listen very closely while the song “Too Comfortable” is a message to all the hoes that wanna fuck with him over an acoustic trap beat.
The track “All Bad” with Lil Uzi Vert sees the 2 talking about how fine the women around them are over a colorful instrumental while the song “Outer Space Bih” talks about over a DY beat with a piano-loop that’s sweet to the ear. The track “Accepting My Flaws” is a beautiful thank you to Lori Harvey backed by a heavenly instrumental while the song “Life is Good” with Drake is pretty much 2 mediocre solo songs from each artist combined into 1.
The track “Last Name” with Lil Durk sees the 2 talking about paranoia over a dismal beat while the song “Tycoon” talks about being a magnate over a sedating instrumental. The penultimate track “100 Shooters” with Doe Boy & Meek Mill sees the 3 talking about how street their are over a woodwind-infused Tay Keith beat & then the album finishes off with a pointless sequel to “Life is Good” except it’s Future on the first half then DaBaby & Lil Baby on the other.
You know I wasn’t really looking forward to this album given how hit or miss Future’s discography has been since 2017, but this is definitely one of his better releases within the past 3 years. Some tracks during the 70 minutes runtime definitely could’ve been left on the cutting room floor, but the production is a lot more interesting for the most part & the songwriting is a lot catchier too.
Score: 3.5/5
Legends Will Never Die 