Finally, a rap song about that kid from T-Bag and the Pearls of Wisdom …
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[5.33]
Brad Shoup: Uncut Future, which means he’s unleashed to celebrate the spoils and not the work. Nard & B provide clusters of micromelodies, a kind of low-key Liberace noodling without end. Don’t get me wrong, I like it. It lends a sense of importance that Future himself ignores.
[5]
Crystal Leww: Nard & B made two of my favorite Future tracks on Pluto, an album whose narrative was dominated by the rise of Mike WiLL. Their sound was triumphant and glossy, and Future sounded like he was out to elevate himself, his crew, and his ladies. It’s ironic now that “T-Shirt” sounds like a throwaway Mike WiLL track, and Future sounds like a braggart for no one but himself. “T-Shirt” is just senseless yelling about how great Future is. He sounded better when he was the askronaut.
[4]
Micha Cavaseno: Long before many writers mistook Future for some cyborg earnest balladeer, he was an unlikely king of street rap. He lacked the hyper-aggression of Waka, the slinky brilliance of Gucci, the everyman grunts of rap game dishwasher Jeezy. He was a lanky, druggy maniac who plugged himself into trap like an electric socket after turning the swaggy “futuristic” lane of Atlanta rap into a place where song-construction became essential. Part of “Honest” is laden with the bangers that have been ignored in the backbone of his catalog while people continue their strange fantasies of him being this nice guy with a heart of gold, having either forgotten or never heard songs where he’d “stand” on women or ordered desperate comrades to shoot people in the head for extra rewards. So a song like “T-Shirt” is just as much another shot at the many Atlanta acts like Rich Homie Quan and Migos who strive to take his lane as it is a declaration of flex. When he screams about making people envy and remember him, Nayvadius Cash wants you to remember all of him. Not just the parts you liked.
[8]
Alfred Soto: The year’s most disappointing album unleashes its best track: the one without the guest stars and unadorned beat that allows Future to chop words into spittle-flecked monosyllables.
[7]
Will Adams: The Eurotrance elements in the production add sonic depth; Future’s incessant braggadocio subtracts the emotional depth.
[5]
Thomas Inskeep: The last time we reviewed a single by Future, I said in part, “What does everyone see in this guy? He’s T-Pain 2.0, easy as that. Some occasionally half-decent songs and a vocoder, and that’s about it. This is not one of the occasionally half-decent songs.” I can’t say this single is necessarily any worse than “I Won,” but it’s certainly no better.
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