Atlanta Has a New Sound, and it Needs a Name. I'm Calling it "Post-Future."

Future - Rapper, Trend-Setter, Askernaut.

There's this sound coming out of Atlanta right now that has been developing over the last year or two. It's a bit hard to describe unless you've heard it, but I think the simplest way to categorize it is to call it "Post-Future."

Nayvadius Cash, better known as Future, is the Kirkwood, Atlanta native well known for his unique, mesmerizing, nearly impossible to understand vocoder/tonal/futuristic vocal style. He first implanted the sound permanently in all of our brains in September of 2011 with the never-ending refrain of "Tony Montana," the song that also helped put producer Lex Luger and his highly progammed, rapid fire fruity loop brand of trap music on the map. After Tony Muntaaaaaaana, there was "Magic" with T.I. (Fish tailin' out da parkin lot leavin' Maaaaagic) and "Same Damn Time," among other smooth, sort of autotuned, sort of vocoded, sort of punchy bangers.

Future's name and vision of his music have remained aligned, and looking back, even seem a bit prophetic. His name speaks for itself, and his mixtapes all carried a sort of space-exploration/sci-fi, "futuristic" theme (titles include Astronaut Status, pronounced "Askernaut" by Future, and Pluto.) I say that this all seemed a bit prophetic in hindsight because in many ways Future has become the center of the rap/pop universe at the present moment. Heard the phrase "Turn Up!" anywhere lately? Yeah, Future popularized that. See :38 seconds into "New Bugatti." (Travis Porter probably started it all, however, with "Aaaaall the Waaaaay Turrrnnnt Uuuuup.") Anyways, when his career was taking off, Future sort of was the future.

Left to Right: Ace Hood, Rick Ross, Future, DJ Khaled

He's currently fresh off a single with Miley Cyrus, seemingly today's ticket for mainstream rap success (thanks for that Mike Will and Juicy J), and he continues to be featured on the hooks of seemingly dozens of singles with big names like Rick Ross and B.O.B. His sound is obscenely catchy, just varied enough to remain interesting listen after listen, and easily adaptable to various types of production. He palpitates effortlessly between sing-songy melodic cuts and more street-ready bangers. One of my favorite moments of discussing Future came my senior year of college when I was talking to my friend Johnny Williams, a Duke Football player and routine Future "bumper." A Lex Luger produced beat came on and Future's distinct mumble began crooning out a hook. "What is he saying on this chorus?" I asked. Johnny's reply? "Bruh I have no idea. I never know what Future's saying but it sounds dope." That is Future in a nutshell. He just sounds cool. The lyrical content is secondary.

Migos...Post-Future in Musical AND Sartorial Style

And that brings me to this "Post-Future" sound that I see coming out of Atlanta more and more now. It became apparent to me first through Migos, the eclectic duo responsible for the absolutely ceaseless and yet infuriatingly endearing smash "Versace." You've probably heard this song, but if you haven't, it features a total of about 9 words and 8 of them are "Versace." The hook:

[Hook: Quavo]

Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace
Versace, Versace, Versace, Versace
Versace, Versace Versace, Versace Versace Versace, Versace Versace, Versace Versace


Quavo clearly stretches his lyrical abilities to the limit here. Honestly though, the song is listenable to a degree because of the rhythmic and stylistic variations he puts on each repetition of the luxury clothing line's famous name. If you haven't seen the video, a viewing is a must. Migos' Versace extravagance is fully on display, complete with a live Tiger on a leash and a mansion that they certainly rented solely for the purpose of the video shoot.

Why do I consider this clothing anthem "Post-Future?" There is just something about the inflection of Migos' words, the texture of their voices, that almost-but-not-really vocoded hint on every syllable they deliver, that seems to be derivative of the sound Future created. It's not always overt, and is at times more about the lyrical rhythm than the sound quality of their delivery, but the feel is there. Particularly in his earlier works, Future often used a sort of punchy, rapid fire type delivery where he would steadily emphasize all the words in a bar and then de-emphasize the last word on the downbeat at the end of the measure. This is a bit unusual. Take for example, the opening lines of "Tony Montana," with emphasized words underlined, and de-emphasized words in italics:

I'll take over the streets / fresh off the Banana Boat
I come straight from the East / where N***** split your cantaloupe

Migos do this same thing, albeit a more accelerated version, throughout "Versace," when they do diverge into the song's "verses.":

Versace, Versace, Medusa head on me like I'm 'Luminati
I know that you like it, Versace, my neck and my wrist is so sloppy

The only noticeable difference here is that "'Luminati" is de-emphasized with a rising, inquisitive tone, while "sloppy" is de-emphasized with a dropping tone of finality the same way "boat" and "cantaloupe" are in "Tony Montana." Still, the overall feel that this delivery creates, combined with the similar sound textures and verbal inflections, make the ties to Future clearly detectable.

Young Thug. Atlanta's Chief Keef.

Now, one imitator does not mean a city has developed a new "sound," and I didn't really connect all the dots until recently when I had the privilege of being introduced to the work Jeffrey Williams, better known as Young Thug. This young man and his music can only be described as obscurely, purely, weirdly hood. He is sort of a southern, amped up version of Chief Keef, if amping up Mr. Keef any more than he already is is possible. In fact, YT was arrested 3 days ago on charges of drug possession and reckless driving. Clearly not a low-key guy. I'll have you watch the video below without comment before I continue.

Young Thug has clearly taken Future's lack of concern for clearly understandable lyrics to a new level. In fact, I believe Thug is actually pushing this quality with an avant-garde intentionality and making the element of imperceptible lyrics part of his style. Whether he is being intentional about this intentionality is a question I cannot answer, and I suspect he cannot either. Regardless, the Future/Migos sound quality is again present. The rapid fire delivery, the semi-vocoded/autotuned sound textures, and even the rhythmic pattern are all there...though more blurred as every aspect of "Loaded" is generally unclear:

I peel it, I feel it I take all they stuff and I head to the 'hill with it
Let PeeWee deal with it / Back in the day I was actin' illiterate

*Mr. Thug, I believe, may be continuing to act in the aforementioned manner from back in the day.

Young Thug is clearly a unique individual, and I could write an entire blog post about that music video for "Loaded" alone. (I could do the same for the original video for Chief Keef's "Don't Like,") However, there is something shockingly similar about Migos' and Young Thug's lyrical rhythms when they hit that double-time portion of their verses. Both seem to be derivatives in substance and style of the sound that Future created a few years ago.

Dat cut doe.

There may be other Atlanta rappers who I am not familiar with making music in this style, and one or two more artists in this vein would certainly certify it as a sound unique to the city. I have read that Rich Homie Quan is a Future-influenced artist as well, but haven't listened to him. In addition to Future, I would include Roscoe Dash, Travis Porter, Yung L.A., and even some earlier B.O.B. on the list of Post-Future sound's Atlanta-based founding fathers.

I don't know if Ratchet would be a reasonably close label for the sound or not. There are some but not all elements of this DJ Mustard-popularized style in Future, Migos, and Young Thug. When used to describe the sound Mustard has popularized, the term "Ratchet" is usually directed mostly at the production style anyways. The trend that Future appears to have started is more lyrically driven, both from a textural and rhythmic standpoint. He has spread it across various styles of production.

Just what does the Future hold for rap in the ATL?

So Atlanta's burgeoning new sound needs a name...and for now I'm calling it "Post-Future." It's electronic, choppy, semi-autotuned/vocoded, punchy, melodic, whiny, catchy, and hook-ready. It's Post-Future, and endlessly fun to listen to. Turn Up!

P.S. I recommend this article from Grantland. It discusses the current state of rap and where Future fits into rap's future.