★★★★☆
Future is a fairly popular rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He broke into the music scene in 2012 when he released his debut album Pluto. The album got rave reviews from critics, and spawned five other hit singles. After releasing two other albums that achieved very positive reviews, it seems that Future has done it again. His hit new album “EVOL” has been a bright spot for Hip Hop in the month of February. The album was released at number one on the Billboard 200 and is a glowing showcase for much of Future’s unique talents. Although it seems that this album may have many songs that leave fans wanting more, it does make up some lost ground in the amount of stellar hits that could come from it. A song that is a must listen has to be “Xanny Family”. This song is going to be a hit in the Hip Hop community. “Xanny Family” shows us all what Future does best. The beat is constantly up and extremely fluent throughout the song. Another thing that we see throughout the album but especially in this song is Future’s impressive use of autotune. Future uses autotune throughout much of “EVOL” to make his voice deeper and grittier. The fluent catchy beat of “Xanny Family” along with the autotune make this song a shining part in this new album. The first song listed on the album is titled “Ain’t No Time”. This song, much like this album is all about getting noticed. We can hear in the song that the artist seems to desperately want to be recognized as a great in his era for Hip Hop. This album may be what it takes to get his place cemented as one of the best in his decade. Now although the album has potentially quite a few hits, there are a decent amount of songs that are just plain forgettable. Songs like “In Her Mouth”, “Program”, and “Seven Rings” aren't very memorable and will leave fans trying to differentiate between them. They all sound very similar and at sometimes sloppy. This being said in my opinion the album still deserves a 4/5 rating for many of its popular songs. Songs like “Photocopied” and “Fly Shit Only” remind us that Future is not going anywhere anytime soon. “Fly Shit Only” is personally my favorite because the intro gives me chills. “Photocopied” shows another stellar performance by Future, especially in the chorus which hits you in a variety of different ways. Although it feels as if “EVOL” can be very hit and miss at times, we see here that the good out ways the bad.