When the idea of Future and Lil Uzi Vert teaming up for a joint project originated, fans had a right to expect greatness. Uzi is a Comeback Player of the Year candidate with his Eternal Atake and Lil Uzi Vert vs The World 2 deluxe package notching him two weeks atop the Billboard 200.
Future bolted out of the gates of 2020 hollering “Life Is Good” alongside Drake (has a song title aged worse?) and banked in another solid solo LP during the beginning stages of quarantine with High Off Life. Hendrix and Uzi collabs such as “Too Much Sauce” fill us with jubilant nostalgia four years later.
The cosmic duo tested the waters once again in July serving up a two-pack of tracks that really came and went without leaving much of a mark on the summer. We wouldn’t hear from them again until last Wednesday (November 11) when they set the stage for their Pluto x Baby Pluto joint project releasing less than 48 hours later.
The apprentice runs laps around the master throughout the 54-minute overstuffed marathon. Though toxic masculinity is his calling card, there’s only so many times Future can say he’s going to steal my girl without hesitation and I’ll wear it like a badge of honor before it becomes disinteresting.
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Production quality didn’t seem to be an issue, as Future and Uzi linked with an array of frequent collaborators such as executive producer DJ Esco, Zaytoven, Buddah Bless, London On Da Track, Wheezy, Bobby Raps and Turbo to lay the spacy sonic foundation.
Where are the features, though? We’ve seen Hendrix and LUV open the door to guests as flexible collaborators with ease throughout their careers. A few simple texts could have lifted some of the burden off their shoulders. It’s easy to imagine Lil Baby, Young Thug, or Lil Durk floating with ease to unglue a couple of the 16 tracks.
The project’s standout arrives with the Uzi solo cut, while Future exits for a water break stage right. The Philly native looks inward and gets introspective when examining his love life in the form of a pensive journal entry, which he titles “Lullaby.” It’s kind of a surprise he didn’t save this for himself and threw the candid cut on here.
“I talk to bitches even when you right here/I text ’em in the room when we layin’ right next to each other/I try my best just to hug her with my fingers crossed/Cause I know deep down inside, I am really doing wrong,” he raps over the pitched-up production.
The short-lived winning streak continues when Future rejoins Uzi for the more upbeat “She Never Been to Pluto.” LUV is always good for a sports reference and he breaks one out here comparing his shooting ability with women to that of NBA three-point specialist Ray Allen.
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Super takes the baton and asserts himself to tip the scales back in his favor with a syrupy verse. With rumors flying of Future getting engaged to now ex-girlfriend Lori Harvey earlier this year, the 35-year-old admits he won’t be settling down with a woman until he feels the time is right.
“I put these carats on my ring/Ain’t tryna marry no bitch ’til I’m ready,” he raps.
Pluto x Baby Pluto may have fell victim to 2020’s inconceivable circumstances. Instead of booming at house parties and nightclubs, the loosey-goosey effort doesn’t get its due, as social restrictions have only been raised across the country with COVID-19 cases surging and America still feeling the aftershocks of one of its most divisive presidential elections in history.
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Going a step further, could Future be exiting his prime as an artist? Don’t get it twisted, Future is on the Mount Rushmore of seminal Hip Hop acts of the 2010’s and can take a ton of credit for the booming ATL scene, but his epic 2014-2015 run is only getting further away and the ’20s are almost certainly going to bring a changing of the guard in rap.
Future & Lil Uzi Vert's 'Pluto x Baby Pluto' Album Brings Out Crazy Memes — Good & Bad
Pluto x Baby Pluto will end up being glossed over in Future’s decorated joint album history. Both Future and Uzi are leaving 2020 wanting a redo with tracks feeling more like a warmup than deserved album cuts. There just had to be more heat in the stash from these two, especially with known snippets like this existing. If Uzi is really standing by his two-album promise, Pluto x Baby Pluto is a wasted bullet in the chamber.
