Only a few hours after Beyoncé's surprise delivery of her self-titled album (and subsequent explosion of the internet), "Drunk In Love" arose as an early fan-favorite. Sporting the pummeling drums of Young Money's secret weapon, Detail (whose name you may have seen hiding amongst the Nothing Was The Same production credits), the over-sharing verse from hubby Jay Z, and meme-ability of the now ubiquitous "SURFBORT" line, what truly took the song to the next level was Bey's powerhouse vocal performance.
Future, while fully comfortable in the R&B sphere at this point, is not what you would describe as a powerhouse vocalist-- by conventional standards at least. Thus, the Freebandz leader taking on a particularly difficult song from one of R&B's most technically skilled musicians seems an ambitious task.
As soon as the Hendrix-idolizing rapper steps foot on the track however, it's clear the instrumental could have been written for him. Recalling "Turn On The Lights", still arguably the rapper's best, and irrefutably biggest solo cut, "Drunk"'s beat provides Future both the booming low end of his street hits, and the twinkling synths of his ballads.
The Honest crooner sticks to Bey's melodies quite faithfully, even reaching for the octave jump in the song's hook. He then goes on to mirror Jay's flow on the second verse, reminding us that he still identifies as a rapper first and foremost.
Quotable lyrics:
"You call me young Mike Tyson/ I'm pourin' that drank on top of you/ Then I'mma sip it all of of you"