From the moment he stepped onto the scene in 2010, Future captivated Atlanta with his seemingly unlimited supply of charismatic street and strip club anthems. In retrospect, his ascent seems preordained, but at the outset of his career, he was just another young rapper trying to make a name for himself in the crowded and fickle hip hop universe.
This list revisits Future's earliest mixtapes -- 1000, Dirty Sprite, True Story, & Streetz Calling -- and culminates in his debut album, Pluto. Click through the gallery to relive a time when Future was emerging as a local celebrity in one corner of the country, a time before he held the entire world in the palm of his hand.
"Yeah Yeah"
The "Yeah Yeah" video is great because Future is 26 years old, bright-eyed, eager, and on the verge of dropping his debut mixtape, 1000. He performs for a crowd of about 100 people at the Atlanta strip club Club Ritz. "Yeah Yeah" offers a baseline, a good idea of where Future's head was at in 2010 at the outset of his career. His knack for hooks is evident.
"Splashin"
"Splashin" is a fun throwback to the Atlanta rap zeitgeist in the early 2010s, when ringtone rap became infused with an expansive, cinematic palette. The song appeared on Future's 2011 sophomore mixtape Dirty Sprite. Though it is clear he is still searching for his own sound -- he channels Lil Wayne here -- the song still has significant replay value five years later.
"Never Been This High"
Arguably the best song on Dirty Sprite, "Never Been This High" shows a side of Future he had never shown before, and has seldom shown since. Inspired by a choice morsel of Zaytoven production, Fewtch's flow spills over the beat as he confesses the full scope of his ambition. "Turn myself into an astronaut / if you believe, you can achieve / I want your spot, homie, numero uno."
"Dirty Sprite"
The Dirty Sprite title track features a dissonant piano vamp and Future's worrying promises to "drink a check" of lean. He is not without self-awareness; he rattles off a list of artists who have fallen victim to the lean and raps, "My bitch remind me all the time 'That drink will kill you.'"
YC - "Racks" feat. Future
"Racks" was a breakout hit for all parties involved: YC, Future, who co-wrote the song, and Sonny Digital who produced it. Unfortunately for YC, "Racks" would turn out to be a high-water mark in his career. On a brighter note, it demonstrated Future and Sonny's keen ears for radio hits.
"Smoke & Mirrors"
Although True Story is one of Future's more forgettable mixtapes, but at least it had its own flavor; Future's enunciation on the "Smoke & Mirrors" hook is virtually identical to that of "Tony Montana," which appeared five songs earlier in the tape.
"Tony Montana"
A remix of "Tony Montana" featuring Drake would later appear on Pluto. Though the song marked the first-ever collaboration between Future and Drake, Drake was a no-show at the video shoot, a slight that Future would later call a "slap in the face."
"Magic"
Future mined his early mixtapes for singles to put on his debut album Pluto. True Story standout "Magic" was one of them, and would eventually receive a remix from T.I.
Fewtch begins the song rapping, "Fishtailing out the parking lot leaving Magic," but by the way he says it, you'd think he's cruising out of the strip club in slow motion, as if to soak in the cheers from adoring fans waving him goodbye. The hook is catchy but has nothing on the swerving, strip club-fleeing deathwish of "March Madness," a song Future will likely never top.
"Same Damn Time"
While Chief Keef was heavily influenced by Gucci Mane, Sonny Digital takes a page out of the Young Chop playbook on "Same Damn Time." And Future takes a page out of the Gucci playbook, as he raps with purpose, making every syllable count.
"Turn on the Lights"
The most enduring single from Pluto, "Turn on the Lights" augured Future's incredible crossover potential. The song peaked at #2 on the US R&B/hiphop chart, still Future's best performance on that chart to date. It also features an aqueous pop sound that Mike Will Made-It would later revisit on SremmLife 2.