![]() ![]() Toronto’s very own Frank Dukes (né Adam Feeney) is one of the smartest producers working right now. Future and Drake may have caked off this track, but as far as rap’s arms race goes, Thug is the victor here. In the second verse he raps, “I’m an astronaut / I’m dodging bullets, no Russia,” invoking the Cold War and suggesting that his innovative style is never going to be trampled by anyone else. It’s a pretty standard affair - and it was for Young Thug too, whose ‘I Mean’ hook was pretty much just blowjobs and Balmain.īut as with almost every Thug track, he manages to sneak in something that breaks your brain a little bit. Metro Boomin’s production is somber, a perfect palette for Future to wax on life before fame and for Drake to taunt one of his rivals. This isn’t a sample so much as a beat entirely repurposed and further finessed into a new track. We look back at the samples that make up the album, from Young Thug and Frank Dukes to Quincy Jones and and Uncle Murda. Leaving aside the continuing journeys of our two protagonists, WATTBA contained some of 2015’s most exciting pop-rap, from ‘Diamonds Dancing’ to the endlessly meme-able ‘Jumpman’. This tailoff leaves WATTBA as a relic of the pair’s previous peak, a mile-marker for how swiftly time goes by when you’re running on the internet’s clock. His releases Purple Reign and Evol (sadly not inspired by Sonic Youth’s album of the same name), plus hosting duties on DJ Esco’s Project E.T., generated just one hit - ‘Low Life’, featuring The Weeknd - but have mostly felt lackluster after such an impressive 2015. In the meantime, Drake has returned to his role as Rihanna’s romantic heel and is doing just fine as a superstar on his own, while Future’s 2016 output has been impressive only in its velocity. But the two rappers’ relationship has always seemed reciprocal: does Future lean on Drake’s fame by inviting him to guest on all of his full-lengths? Does Drake win authenticity points from Future’s co-sign? Their Summer Sixteen Tour might still be on the road, but the duo’s need for each other seems drastically diminished. It was supposedly recorded over an impromptu six-day session, which is notable since most collaborations are now simply assembled digitally performers can be anywhere in the world as long as there’s an engineer to splice together the takes. The mixtape’s genesis feels almost mythical, too. Future was untouchable, his run from Beast Mode to DS2 was peppered with megastar moments like ‘March Madness’ and it truly felt like he was about to hit a turning point and actually become a pop star – without having to rest on pop music. ![]() The album was released at the height of Drake’s beef with Meek Mill, a feud that now seems ancient. It’s hard to believe that What a Time to Believe Alive only came out a year ago. ![]() Claire Lobenfeld digs into the samples that make up the album’s defining moments. Released a year ago this month, Drake and Future’s What a Time to Believe Alive defined a peak moment for two of the world’s most popular rappers. ![]()
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