Is Future the Greatest Rapper Alive? The last time he graced this magazine’s cover, a cover line to that effect caused a stir. But in a year where contemporary Big 3 and generational-rap Rushmore debates are more prevalent than ever, it feels worth noting once again for the record that Future has a highly credible argument for a placement in both categories. He made that case even stronger earlier this year, when he delivered two great albums wholly distinct in sound, themes and style within weeks of each other—for the second time in his career. And last night at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, his latest stop on his We Trust You Tour in support of those albums, Future reinforced the run he’s been on by delivering a pleasantly surprising polished live performance.
Dressed in all black and floor-length leather like Blade—on a stage set that could’ve doubled as the backdrop for the 1998 film’s climactic ancient tomb battle—and draped with chains numerous and heavy enough to cause scoliosis, Future materialized out of smoke and flame like a demon summoned, hip-hop’s own toxic wraith there to goad a sold-out arena into uniformly chanting expertly-rapped obscenities concerning where one’s digits might go during a sexual encounter. That’s exactly what the crowd did from minute one during the opener, “Stick Talk” from 2015’s DS2, and from there Future launched into one seminal record after another. The pace was relentless, the possibilities for the next heater, given the still somehow underrated depth of his catalog, were endless—and through it all Future remained confident and present, managing to attack each verse with aplomb while still staying James Dean cool behind unmovable shades. He’s been criticized in the past for being too laconic onstage, and sometimes falling short of convincingly translating the unique energy and atmosphere of his music to a live setting (like, say, this SNL performance with Gunna.) Those complaints were invalidated at this New York stop, where the rapper even broke the mold of many of his peers and abandoned the performance crutch of backing tracks (save for a few spots here and there on the newer songs).
That last detail was the night’s most crucial flex and reaffirmation, getting to the heart of the divide between the Pluto-agnostic and the Wizrd faithful: Future has bars. Backhanded detractors like to reduce his talents to melody, hooks and vibe, but he’s always been lyrical in his own way. Fans aren’t simply nodding along to “March Madness,” they’re going bar-for-bar, and by letting a grip of his most enduring songs breathe in full, Future very quickly had the crowd in the palm of his hand. His show was the rare arena tour where the audience is there to hear the big hits like “Wait For U” but were more than willing to hold him down on something like “Perkys Calling.” Looking back on the setlist the morning after, it’s almost startling to realize his first act was only nine songs; the crowd’s enthusiasm made the number feel much more substantial. (Crazier still that he performed “Madness,” arguably his crown jewel, as the mere mid-set act break.)
When he returned, by his side was Metro Boomin, the longtime collaborator that he has iconically vowed on wax to kill for. Metro kicked the night off with his own set of hits before priming the crowd to go Beast Mode for a bunch of Future fan favorites like “News or Something” and “Codeine Crazy.” On stage together for the show’s back half, the duo ran through all new cuts, cherry picked from their We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You albums. It was here where they impressed yet again—an artist’s most recent songs on a new tour almost always fall slightly short of resonating as widely as the legacy hits. And “Like That” notwithstanding, the twin projects don’t really have an obvious single to latch on to, but yet and still cuts like “Fried,” “Young Metro,” “Drink n Dance” and “Type Shit” rang off just as hard as some of their 2010s tracks. The latter gave way to a surprise Travis Scott performance, but following that A-list cameo, “Like That” was all they needed to shift the momentum back into their corner.
Earlier this week ahead of the duo’s Toronto tour stop, Drake—now widely assumed to be the untrustworthy frienemy Future and Metro are alluding to on their album titles—shared an Instagram post of the original tracklist of his and Future’s collab mixtape What a Time to Be Alive, with a caption (“what are you doing tonight, Pluto?”) that could be interpreted as snidely reminding Future and the rest of us that a fair amount of his biggest songs have involved Drake. This is objectively true—as is the fact that Future could’ve run through about a dozen more certifiable crowd pleasers before even touching a Drake collaboration. Hell, they could’ve dropped “Like That” once or twice more, “N-ggas in Paris”-style. He could probably even do a great B-sides one-off at this point. There’s still a lot of year left (including more to come from his “Like That” collaborator, whose beef-incitng verse went conspicuously unplayed last night.) But however the back half of 2024 shakes out, two great albums and a rejuvenated live show confirm Future’s powers are as strong as they’ve ever been.
