As one would expect them to because of their notoriety and status in Hip Hop, Future and Metro Boomin already took the music world by storm this year with their album WE DON’T TRUST YOU. The iconic duo dropped one of the best Rap records of the year so far, not only due to its massive success but also due to its high quality. WE DON’T TRUST YOU did not disappoint. It is not the most creative or innovative music they have made, but it is very entertaining for what it is. In addition to just being full of dope music, WE DON’T TRUST YOU spawned one of the more exciting moments in Rap music this year so far with the Kendrick Lamar feature on the song ‘Like That.’ In this verse from Kendrick, he set Hip Hop on fire, taking shots at J. Cole and Drake and asserting himself as the king of Hip Hop. This verse induced such a huge reaction that Drake has been cryptically posting about it on social media since the day it came out and claims he has a response to Kendrick cooking up; J. Cole decided he needed to respond immediately to Kendrick, having dropped a full album called Might Delete Later last week which is riddled in slights towards Kendrick. Like they promised they would, Future and Metro Boomin just dropped their second album in a month, with this one being titled WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU. This record is an absolute behemoth. It is two discs, with the first disc containing 18 tracks and the second disc containing 7 tracks. WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU is an hour and a half long. Listening to this album is a journey. It contains some of the highest highs I have heard in Trap music in a while, but I can also admit that it sometimes feels like it drags just because it is so long. Similar to Beyoncé’s new album COWBOY CARTER, although I really do enjoy WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU overall, I can not do a full traditional review of a 25-track, hour-and-a-half album. If I were to do so, this review would be like 10,000 words because of how I write, so I will save myself and y’all who are reading from that. Instead, I am going to highlight my favorite 9 songs from the record, then give some closing thoughts and a review at the end. If I had to pick a couple of honorable mentions from this record that I am not going to highlight below, I would choose ‘Nights Like This,’ ‘All My Life’ with The Weeknd,  and ‘Nobody Knows My Struggle.’ Please let me know in the comments below what your favorite songs are from WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU, and also comment on how you feel about this record as a whole

WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU WITH THE WEEKND

I know that Future threw listeners for a loop with the opening track of this record. ‘We Still Don’t Trust You’ is nothing like we have heard from Future in a while. There were rumors we were going to get “R&B Future” on this record, and that was confirmed with ‘We Still Don’t Trust You.’ To be honest, the instrumental for this track feels more like something one would expect from The Weeknd rather than Future. ‘We Still Don’t Trust You’ is a dark and shimmering track, driven by cold, metallic Synths with a 1980s tint to them. The beat for this song has a 1980s-esque New Wave sound as well, which is a typical sound for The Weeknd but very unique for Future. The Weeknd obviously sounds natural and great on ‘We Still Don’t Trust You,’ but Future impresses with his vocals on this one. I love the range he sings with, as the raspiness in his vocals on the high notes gives the track texture. ‘We Still Don’t Trust You’ is an interesting opener to this record that works super well.

DRINK N DANCE WITH CHRIS BROWN

The moment I first started listening to ‘Drink N Dance,’ I was certain this track would be a sleeper hit that would become huge in a couple of months. ‘Drink N Dance’ has the energy of a song that will be perfect to listen to on a balmy night in July or August. Like the first track of the record, this track has a 1980s Synth-Wave tint to it that makes the song feel nostalgic. The beat of ‘Drink N Dance’ has a bit more of a modern feeling than the last song, making this one feel fresh and classic simultaneously. People who know me know that I am typically not the biggest fan of Chris Brown, but I will admit that he sounds great on this track. Future’s vocals are not overly special, but they are more than solid and help make this song feel so sultry. I am pretty confident ‘Drink N Dance’ will end up being a summer hit because of how warm and fun it is.

LUV BAD BITCHES

Future is bound to give us at least one club banger per album, and I think the one from this album(if it’s not ‘Drink N Dance) will end up being ‘Luv Bad Bitches.’ This is not the most sophisticated song on the record, but it may be the most catchy and easy to sing along to. ‘Luv Bad Bitches’ by a sweet and cozy sample from the song ‘If You Love Me’ by Brownstone. This is the kind of track that will immediately get stuck in your head when it comes on because of that melody. ‘Luv Bad Bitches’ may have my favorite vocal performance of the record from Future as well. The range he sings with on this song is exquisite and makes this track so engaging. ‘Luv Bad Bitches’ may be pretty simple in nature, but it is an earworm and an anthem that will get people pumped up when it comes on. 

ALWAYS BE MY FAULT WITH THE WEEKND

Quite a few of the best moments from the first Disc of this record are the times where The Weeknd comes on and assists Future, and one of the best examples of this is on ‘Always Be My Fault.’ This is an additional track that honestly feels more like an instrumental one would expect to hear from The Weeknd rather than Future. ‘Always Be My Fault’ is a somber and chilly Synth-Pop track that feels heavily inspired by the 1980s. The melody for this track is super sharp, but also a mix that makes it feel very full and all-encompassing. The beat for this track has the energy of the music made popular by artists like New Order or INXS(which has been made re-popular by The Weeknd over the last couple of years). The vocals from both Future and The Weeknd on ‘Always Be My Fault’ are frankly great. Future sings with this low and guttural tone with a palpable amount of pain in his voice, and The Weeknd’s higher and softer tone gives the song light and life. ‘Always Be My Fault’ is probably one of the more out-of-the-ordinary and risky moments on the record, but its individuality also makes it one of the best.

RED LEATHER WITH J. COLE

‘Red Leather’ is the song that is by far the most unlike the others from this record(It is also a song that makes me feel like the whole “beef” with Kendrick was a marketing ploy, but that is beside the point). First off, the obvious reason that ‘Red Leather’ is special is due to the surprising J. Cole feature. This one does not have a semblance of Trap or Synth-Pop music at all, and it has a way different style of R&B sound than anything before it. ‘Red Leather’ has a sweet, laid-back sound that reminds me of underground Rap music from the early 2000s. This instrumental is very light and low-key, putting the focus on the performances of Future and J. Cole. Both artists sound very good on this track, with Future especially impressive on this instrumental(because it is so different from what he is known for). ‘Red Leather’ is a switch up from Future that I can appreciate a lot because it shows his versatility.

ALL MY LIFE WITH LIL BABY

‘All My Life’ is the first song from Disc 2 I picked for this list(I picked four out of the seven, so that shows how I feel about the two sections of the album). Like three tracks that follow it, ‘All My Life’ goes significantly harder than anything on the first disc on this record. This song is dark and menacing. The instrumental feels very heavy and dystopian. The synths that drive this melody are frigid, and the beat is so bouncy. Future sounds very good on this track, but Lil Baby really stands out. His rapid flow creates a juxtaposition with the timing of the beat, which makes the song hit all the more harder. ‘All My Life’ is an absolute banger that I will listen to whenever I need to feel pumped up because it is so full of energy. 

CRAZY CLIENTELE

‘Crazy Clientele’ is probably the most low-key song of the second Disc from this record, but it may also be the most catchy and interesting. Compared to the other Disc 2 tracks, this instrumental is pretty stripped back. It consists of a haunting synth-driven melody that is put on a semi-fast, bass-heavy Trap beat. The instrumental for ‘Crazy Clientele’ may not be anything special, but Future’s performance sure is. I feel like this toned-down instrumental allows for Future to shine. He experiments with flows and tones on this track, creating so many moments that make this track captivating for me.  ‘Crazy Clientele’ is a song that thrives in its simplicity and complexity at the same time, and that makes it stick out.

SHOW OF HANDS WITH A$AP ROCKY

If it weren’t for the J. Cole appearance earlier, A$ap Rocky’s surprise appearance probably would have been the most important moment of this record. Unsurprisingly, his guest appearance comes on what is easily one of the best(if not the best) songs of the instrumental. This song’s prowess starts with its instrumental. ‘Show Of Hands’ of the biggest songs of the record. The song has a larger-than-life, atmospheric sound that feels like it came out of a different dimension. The synths that drive the melody are so ominous and otherworldly; this extremely saturated melody is put on a raucous Trap beat with a buzzing bassline and an off-kilter tempo Future’s performance on ‘Show of Hands’ is very good, but A$ap Rocky stands out. He is not known for rapping on this kind of instrumental and he shows off his diversity and elasticity with how natural and fresh he sounds on this track. I love how easy and smooth his flow is, as it gives the song a lighter element that it benefits from. ‘Show Of Hands’ is a great track with an uncommon collaboration that works amazingly well.

STREETS MADE ME A KING

Like ‘Crazy Clientele,’ ‘Streets Made Me A King’ is close to one of the more complicated songs on the record. This one may have the most basic Pop-Trap sound. I guess it just shows how much Future excels at making this kind of music because, in my opinion, it’s still one of the best songs on the record. As far as the instrumental goes for this one, there is not necessarily a ton to say. The melody is pretty simple, being provided by gloomy synths with a very icy feeling to them. The beat for ‘Streets Made Me A King’ is fast-paced and punchy. It is the kind of beat that will infuse anyone with life because of how rhythmic and entertaining it is. The instrumental for ‘Streets Made Me A King’ is cool, but the best thing about this song is easily Future’s rap performance. His flow is addicting and fits the tempo of this track perfectly, and the tone he raps with goes perfectly with the creepy feeling of the melody. ‘Streets Made Me A King’ is another moment where Future shows he can still make even-keeled, fundamental Trap music as well as anyone. 

It is honestly not super easy for me to give a full rating of WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU. As I stated in the introduction paragraph, this album is colossal in every way. It is not only super long, but it also has a super heavy and powerful sound. When one adds in all of the context surrounding the record and its features and the beefs it has created, WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU feels so important. Regarding those beefs, at the very least, WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU will always be remembered for the riffs it created between Drake and a lot of the other top artists in Hip Hop. Over the last three weeks on Future’s records, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Rick Ross, A$AP Rocky, Future, and The Weeknd have all had negative things to say about him on these tracks. Regardless of the overall opinion of this record, these moments will stand the test of time with infamy in Hip Hop music. In regards to the actual quality of WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU as a whole, I have a few main points or thoughts. First off, as I said in the review, I think Disc 2 is much stronger than Disc 1. Almost every song on Disc 2 hits so hard, and the riveting energy of these tracks feels so fierce when compared to the more relaxed theme of the first disc. I don’t think the chilled-out nature of the first disc is bad, though. It shows a side to Future we do not see often and shows his eclecticism. I will say, though, that the first Disc has some extremely high points, but it does have quite a few dull moments as well. I believe if the fat were trimmed and the least appealing 5-7 songs were omitted from Disc 1, this could truly be album of the year material. But alas, WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU is pulled down by its length. The not-so-engaging moments in Disc 1 do pull it down a decent bit. I do think there is a lot to love about this record, though. There are quite a few songs that i do enjoy a ton and that I think will end up getting more appreciated as time goes on. WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU may end up being mostly remembered for the drama surrounding it, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot to respect in its sound as well.

7/10