The rap features game can be a tough one to master. The chemistry has to be right, and if something is out of sync, fans can tell it a mile away. Future and Metro Boomin work perfectly, however – the two have aligned on multiple tracks across a decade of music-making, including 2017’s ultra-catchy single ‘Mask Off’.
‘WE DON’T TRUST YOU’ is their first full length project together, 16 tracks (and a bonus cut) propelled by friendship, and an easy-going attitude to creation. There’s considerable breadth here – from trap shellers to warped soul samples – and while the highs undoubtedly soar, the project doesn’t feel unified.
Opening with title track ‘We Don’t Trust You’, the pair assert their major league credentials. Future, after all, is one of US rap’s MVPs while Metro Boomin has more platinum records that most of his peers. Utilising a looped, chopped ‘n’ screwed sample of Motown cut ‘Smiling Faces Sometimes’ – it opens the record on a note of paranoia, the chirruping snare trills emanating menacingly in the background.
‘Young Metro’ continues this sub-zero tone, before the self-explanatory ‘Ice Attack’ takes this instinct to its outermost level.
—
—
The project, though, never moves in a straight line. ‘Type Shit’ is awkward, less a song and more a chant over a beat; equally ‘Like That’ feels curiously dated, the synths wrapped around a bassline that recalls, of all people, Barry White. It’s a surprise in every sense, then, when Kendrick Lamar suddenly illuminates the song with a rare – and excellent – feature, almost stealing the entire show in the process. ‘Fried (She A Vibe)’ similarly feels like a sketch, an idea elongated over a full song – it lacks the depth of other moments on here.
That said, at its best ‘WE DON’T TRUST YOU’ epitomises just why Future and Metro Boomin work together so seamlessly. ‘Everyday Hustle’ sits on a pared up soul sample – akin to the production work of Griselda, or Kanye, or RZA before them – and it reaches a state of euphoria, the bars tumbling across each other.
‘Seen It All’ dismisses the newcomers with admirable wisdom, while bonus cut ‘Where My Twin’ has an admirable directness, and a cute use of melody, too.
Long-awaited by fans, there’s more than enough on ‘WE DON’T TRUST YOU’ to make it worth your while. At times uneven, the project stands as testament to the unique bond between these two A-list rap talents.
6/10
Words: Robin Murray
