It’s no secret that 2017 has been a big year for the genre of hip-hop in general. It officially surpassed rock as the most popular subdivision of music in the United States and, based on the amount of songs that most Americans are consuming on a weekly basis, there’s a lot of rap records being played these days.
On top of that, many big artists released strong albums over the course of this calendar year. From Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. to Jay-Z’s 4:44 to French Montana’s Jungle Rules, there were many watershed moments to be had by some of the most admired emcees in the world. However, according to the RIAA, there is only one man who’s managed to get two 2017 albums certified Gold at minimum: his name is Future.
The “Mask Off” rapper has accomplished a rare feat in the music industry, after seeing his record HNDRXX get a Gold plaque for moving the sales plus streaming equivalent to 500,000 units. This further boosts his credibility with show business pundits, with his self-titled FUTURE album already having been classified Platinum by the RIAA, due in large part to the strength of the aforementioned hit single. Both records, when looked at together as a larger body of work, total nearly 40 tracks and run right around two hours and thirty minutes in length. It’s a lot of music and the fact that fans have continued to stand by it is a testament to Future’s emergence as one of rap’s biggest stars.
In more recent music news, the Atlanta native recently teamed up with Tory Lanezto craft the track “Real Thing,” a song that will likely be making an appearance on Lanez’s forthcoming album titled Memories Don’t Die. There are several things that we want to see from the Canadian’s follow-up to I Told You, which include a certified club banger and perhaps a collaboration with a fellow Toronto native (Drake anyone?).
