From the very first words on Honest, Future goads the listener with the kind of suggestion that he loves to befuddle us with: life advice from the world’s most questionable source. “Be bold,” he recommends, then asks, “You smell me?” This is exactly the kind of self-effacing rhetoric that makes him so hard to pin down. Is he serious? Even if he is, should we take him seriously?
Perhaps the prime example of his shenanigans is on the most recent, brilliantly titled, single, “I Won.” A song that essentially congratulates an unnamed woman (presumably his fiance, Ciara) for making him always feel like “(he) done won (himself) a trophy.” Of course, there’s a bit more to it than that. This is after all Future we’re talking about, the guy who spends an entire album singing through auto-tune, the same interstellar miscreant hitting two bad bitches, one on pluto, the other on mars, “at the same damn time,” evidently.
I mean, what good is a trophy if you haven’t a team to share it with? So it seems natural that Future would invite Kanye West-a man with unquestionable trophy wife bona fides-to join in on the fun too. The two men sound positively jubilant spitting lines like, “you say that money don’t matter it’s the times and the memories, but that ass getting fatter and I know it’s because of me.”
Touching stuff.
I’m not going to waste too much ink here speculating on whether or not these two realize that calling your fiance a “trophy” isn’t exactly a compliment. Maybe they’re trying to turn the whole idea a on it’s head–you know, change the Trophy Wife into something dignified. Then again, maybe not. All I know is, it’s a baller move. Tongue-in-cheek to be sure, but it’s also a dead-on, 101 proof distillation of how every man feels about his better half from time to time.
I wish I could report that this song is the worst thing I’ve ever heard. I cannot. It only sort of sucks. Truth is, I’ve found myself listening to it several times in spite of myself. After spending some Q.T. with it, I’m convinced that it might just be the best love song ever written.
Frankly, they should play it at weddings.
Now, before you haul off gagging yourself with your finger because the whole enterprise sounds unconscionably puerile. Remember this: you’re not alone. Even I, after hearing that song for the first time found myself regretting the fact that I’d asked to review this record.
Then everything changed. When I heard the opener, “Look Ahead,” a song strangely reminiscent of Kanye’s “Power,” it single-handedly made me optimistic about the year of hip hop ahead of us.
Believe it or not, the vast majority of this album packs a tremendous amount of heat. To his enormous credit, Mike Will Made It (who served as the album’s executive producer) doesn’t allow a moment of mediocrity–at least as far as the beats are concerned. After a few spins it becomes pretty apparent that Honest is a rare and thunderous record, quite worthy of your time.
“Look Ahead” and “I’ll Be Yours” are two of the most radio-ready bangers to come along in a dog’s age (inexplicably, neither have been released as a single…yet). And if “Move That Dope” proves anything, other than the surprising fact that Pharrell can actually rap (with a sense of humor about his “Gandolf Hat” to boot), it’s that Future can drop an unforgettable chorus (probably because he took a cue from Migos…but still).
Ultimately Future has easily bested Pluto here with this fierce batch of trap-influenced, autotune-soaked jams who’s only real detriment is that they’re tailor-made for the suburbs. Sure. You might have to get past an occasional eye-roll to find the transcendent, but it’s there if you let Honest wash over you. Even when it falters, usually because Future is trying too hard to be provocative, Honest still has a way of sticking with you. Luckily, it’s better attributes hit much harder than it’s occasional shit-headedness–more often than you’d think possible, the two find a way to compliment each other.
Rating: 4.2/5