Future’s Superhero-like Origin Story and Tenure with the Dungeon Family
Chronicling the career beginnings of Atlanta trap legend Future Hendrix.
Future photographed by Anthony Hilliard in 2018. Image property of Anthony Hilliard and Vice.
Nayvadius Wilburn got the moniker ‘Future’ from musician G-Rock who once told him that he’s the future of music.
This was almost bestowed upon Future like a prophecy given to a comic book superhero, foretelling Future's undiscovered musical powers.
Since his mainstream debut in the 2010s, rapper Future’s musical output has been nothing short of prolific. Future has dropped a plethora of mixtapes, notably ‘Monster’ and ‘Beast Mode’ as well as more collabs you can list in an afternoon.
Future’s musical beginnings are unbeknownst by many. Future hails from the Dungeon Family music collective. While the Dungeon Family are not household names, their status southern rap pioneers remain unquestioned.
Future is the cousin of Rico Wade, 1/3 of production team Organized Noize. They have produced the songs 'Waterfalls' for TLC and 'Don't Let Go (Love)' by En Vogue among many others for in-house groups like Outkast.
The collective includes; André 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast, production team Organized Noize, Cee-Lo Green, Killer Mike of Run the Jewels, Janelle Monáe and Goodie Mob. Back in 2003, almost seven years before the world was introduced to the Future we know today, he went by the name ‘Meathead’.
Meathead was a member of the Dungeon Family rap group called ‘Da Connect’. The group recorded one album called ‘2nd Generation’ in 2003. 2nd Generation featured prominent guest spots from; Sleepy Brown, Ludacris, Bubba Sparxxx, Khujo Goodie and Witchdoctor.
The album only received a limited print run and was not commercially released. Years after the fact, Future fans rediscovered the project.
The album features Future throughout, channelling his innate southern rap bravado. Sonically, Meathead sounds more akin to an André 3000 than anything we know from Future today.
Future got his own solo song on the project ‘Belly of Da Beast’. Listening today, it’s surprisingly solid with a strong bassline and flows from Future.
The track is relatively catchy and repetitive in nature. Belly of Da Beast cleverly foreshadowed what would make Future Hendrix great going forward. Despite repetitive flows on the song, his almost monotone charisma solidify Belly of Da Beast as a highlight on 2nd Generation.
It is clear to see how Future developed his own sound after his Dungeon Family background. As evident from the likes Outkast and Janelle Monáe, Dungeon Family artists are known for their forward-thinking, dynamic style.
Future took this blueprint and applied it to his own, distinct sound that is now a rap music mainstay. Future’s auto-crooning trap music is now the default. Future is responsible for the stylistic shift ushered in by acts like Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert and Travis Scott.
Projects like ‘DS2’ and ‘HNDRXX’ captured the cultural zeitgeist like no other. Songs like ‘I Serve the Base’ or ‘Stick Talk’ sound fresher today than when they dropped back in 2015.
The most recent collaborations between Future and Rico Wade were on Future’s first two albums 'Pluto' and 'Honest'. Organized Noize handled production duties on 'The Future is Now' and 'Benz Friendz (Whatchutola)' featuring André 3000.
Stream Future on Spotify and Apple Music here.
