Future (born Navyvadius Cash), is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He is currently signed to the record label Epic Records.Nayvadius Cash grew up in Kirkwood, Georgia and was given the moniker "The Future of Rap" by his local crew.[1] His cousin, producer Rico Wade ofDungeon Family, encouraged him to sharpen his writing skills and pursue music.[2] From 2010 to early 2011, Future released a series of mixtapes including 1000, Dirty Sprite and True Story.[2][3] The latter included the single "Tony Montana", on which he raps with a fake Cuban accent in an attempt to approximate the voice of the main character from the Scarface film.[3][4] During this time, Future also partnered with Gucci Mane on the Free Brickscollaborative album and was the featured artist on YC's single "Racks".[1][5]
Future signed a major label deal with Epic Label Group in September 2011, days before the release of his next mixtape, Streetz Calling.[6] The mixtape was described by XXL magazine as ranging from "simple and soundly executed boasts" to "futuristic drinking and drugging jams" to "tales of the grind."[5] Jordan Sargent of Pitchfork Media remarked that on the mixtape, Future comes "as close as anyone to perfecting this thread of ringtone pop, where singing and rapping are practically the same thing, and conversing 100% through Auto-Tune doesn't mean you still can't talk about how you used to sell drugs. It would almost feel antiquated if Future weren't amassing hits, or if he weren't bringing some subtle new dimensions to the micro-genre."[4]
Though Future had told MTV that Streetz Calling would be his final mixtape prior to the release of his debut studio album, another mixtape, Astronaut Status, was released in January 2012.[7][8] XXL's Troy Mathews wrote, "While Astronaut Status is up and down and never really hits the highs like 'Racks', 'Tony Montana', and 'Magic' that fans have come to expect from Future, it’s apparent that he’s poised to continue the buzz of 2011 humming right along into 2012."[9]
Future was selected to the annual XXL Freshmen list in early 2012.[10] His debut album Pluto, originally planned for January, is scheduled to be released on April 17.[11][12] It will include remixes of "Tony Montana" featuring Drake and "Magic" featuring T.I..[13] According to Future, "'Magic' was the first record T.I. jumped on when he came outta jail. Like, he was out of jail a day and he jumped straight on the 'Magic' record without me even knowing about it."[13] The track became Future's first single to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[14] Other collaborators on the album include R Kelly,Snoop Dogg and Trae Tha Truth.[15]
