With The WIZRD en route within the coming weeks, Future took a moment to chop it up with Beats 1 host Zane Lowe, opening up about a variety of topics. While the discourse is ranged, one moment plays a pivotal role in revealing the private artist's humanity. Though Future has been somewhat emotionally unavailable, leaving only the slightest breadcrumb in his music, it's clear that losing his friend and engineer Seth Firkins had a profound effect on him.
Upon being asked about his experience rewatching the film, Future opened up about the difficulties of seeing the late Firkins on screen. "The toughest part was just the Seth part. Just having Seth there all the time, and seeing him again on the screen," says Future. "Such a big part of my music career is watching it back, hearing him speak, hear him talk about me, and how he feels, that was probably the most part."
"The first two years I was recording, he was there," he continues. "And the third year of us going back and reconsidering, just to record over again and get more content, that's when he passed away. So, it was kinda crazy." For those who don't know, Firkins passed away in his sleep on September 23rd, 2017. He was 36.
On a more uplifting note, Future makes sure to allocate some time to the upcoming WIZRD album. "This album came together me just putting it together over a period of time when we was like, man this is from the beginning of my career and it's how I want to finish," he explains. "Where I'm going to, this is how I feel like, the music that I'm gravitating towards, the melodies, the melodic music. I've been around the game for nine years now, 10 years, so it's time to mature and just elevate."
He also promises a more melodic effort, tapping into the HENDRXX side of his persona, though not exclusively. "It's just more melodic when it's more HENDRXX, and it's like HENDRXX, and it's just more of my rap content from the beginning stages of my career," he explains, albeit slightly vaguely. We've already had a chance to catch "Crushed Up" and "Jumpin On A Jet," which give a slight indicator as to where the album is headed.
Keep an eye out for The WIZRD, which arrives on January 18th.