I Never Liked You (2022)
Here's why you should listen
I've decided to try a new format, and my first entry will be for my personal #1 album of 2022. My plan is to go track by track, and pull a bar or two for analysis. The end goal of this exercise is to give Future his flowers for this work of art.
Future - I Never Liked You
I guess I should do an overview first. There's a vibe that Future achieves through his voice and his attitude that's evident before you even hit play. The cover art and the title both tell you what to expect, and that's a lot of Me > You. I personally love seeing this reflected in the lyrics. The hard part is parsing those lyrics out as well as I manage it with other artists. That's still part of the magic, though. You have no idea what he's saying, but you like the way he's saying it. And I think, when you do figure out what he's saying, it hits that much harder.
712PM
Sittin behind 5 percent
You can see the chi-nain
Lil one goin crazy
Ready to sprrrht for the gin-ang
I had to start with the intro to the whole album. The first thing that may need explaining is that the 5 percent refers to 5 percent tint on his car windows. The number represents how much light gets through, so the windows are pretty much black. But you can still see his chain. The implication there is that his bling will blind you. This motif serves as the chorus a few times throughout the song.
The lil one can refer to two different things, but both follow the same theme. It's either an object, or a person, so let's say a little tool or a little homie. The sprrrht acts as the verb in this sentence, telling you what this lil one will do without having to use any words. Say less.
As for the way he morphs 'chain' and 'gang', I see this as clever and smooth matching of syllable counts. He could have made the bars rhyme with just chain and gang, but this way he introduces his style to you from the get go.
Great song all around, my kind of intro.
I'M DAT NIGGA
I can't be caught around a sheep
You D-I-E, you fuck with me
I don't do rentals, don't do lease
Crank up the trap without the key
The part I picked here doesn't have the same sound as the rest of the song, but I wanted to point out these specific bars because it feels like they hit harder when the beat dies down. A simple but clear example of how cold and rich he is, which is what the song is all about. I also want to point out his adlibs on each of those lines. Especially how he says "wolf" after sheep. It's very subtle so it's easy to miss, but I think when you catch it it adds a lot more flavor to each line.
KEEP IT BURNIN (ft. Kanye West)
Comin from the 'Raq
We the home of the drillers
Comin from the hundreds
You got change for a billion?
Comin for the House
Real change in a minute
When I run for '24
I know my spouse bet' be with me
I decided (just now) that when there's a song with a feature on it, I'll look at the bars from the featured artist. Just to keep it interesting and save myself some time.
Ye killed it here. CROSS ME SO MUCH I GOT NAILS IN MY HANDS is one of those nuclear bars all by itself, but I wanted to focus on this other bit. Specifically, the part about comin for the House and running for '24. I didn't see what this was about at first at all, but now I realize the House is the White House, and '24 is 2024, and he's expecting to have his wife on his side. Big statements.
The other part of the song that stands out to me is MONEY LIKE SAGE IN MY HOUSE - KEEP IT BURNIN, evoking the smell of burning money as a symbol of extreme wealth.
FOR A NUT (ft. Gunna & Young Thug)
Multi-millionaire motto
Fuck a top model
Tuesday Taco
Wednesday Cabo
Foreign push-start auto
This not a Silverado
Rich, I aint hit the lotto
Hit Cash when I'm in Toronto
My favorite part of this is how the beat picks up the tempo a little and Gunna switches up the flow to match it. The end result is pretty impressive for how smooth it is. I haven't listened to anywhere near as much Gunna as maybe I should. He kills it here though, and I'm thinking I might do a breakdown of my current #1 Gunna song, thought i was playin.
I just put some diamonds in her butt
And I seen it shinin when she nut
Load the jet with good pounds of musty
I can't sit on my pockets cuz its bustin
Similar to Gunna, I haven't listened to too much from Young Thug, but there have been enough standouts to make me appreciate what he's doing. The first two lines here seem very much on brand with his sense of humor, and I think he paints a very vivid picture of his good times. The other two lines are some more lifestyle flaunting. Makes me wonder how good his musty really is. Free YSL.
PUFFIN ON ZOOTIES
Dirty the Fanta but make it in Canada
Bro get this money like it's my religion
It's gon' be a mad day, a sad day
For any of these niggas that try to compare with I did
This song in general is not one of the highlights of the album for me, but I do appreciate the more chill vibes. My initial understanding of the first line here was "Dirty the Phantom up, make it to Canada", which, with the next line, would imply that he's transporting things into Canada using his Rolls Royce. As it stands though, "dirty the Fanta" is alchemical language, meaning he's adding another substance to his drink, though I'm not sure what the Canada connection would be in this case.
The second part ties into the overall theme of the album, specifically the Me > You argument. The man knows he's a legend, and he's warning those who think they can compare.
GOLD STACKS
We don't even wanna know who shot at you
We whipin off a block
Over one thousand shells
They gon' hear bout it tomorrow
Aint no time to negotiate
We got them Bells, fuck a clock
I'm the Wizrd, nigga
I can turn a trapper to a star
I'm in a Real Real, nigga
Automobile, that's a double R
I done came out the field
I work a stick, fuck a guitar
You ain't got enough to gamble
Then you can put up your car
A bit of a longer section here, but there's a lot I wanted to highlight. The first half is all about cold-blooded, indiscriminate violence. When there's no specific target, the whole block gets it, and if you don't hear the shells, you'll hear about them on the news. My best guess is that the Bells in the next bit refer to the Bell Precision Rifle, and I like how he weaves time, clock, and bells together for a consistent theme for the bar.
The Real Real part might also be Real Rare, hard to tell. What it refers to though is his Rolls Royce, which I think ties into the upcoming bar about putting your car up to gamble. I just think it paints a very clear image of what kind of stakes they're playing for.
One last bit of mind bending, if you'll indulge me. He's known as the Wizard, and also as FUTURE HNDRXX. In this section, he explains the Wizard bit, and also alludes to the Hendrix bit by saying 'I work a stick, fuck a guitar' (because Jimi Hendrix was known for his ability with the guitar). I would like to add another image: when he says he works the stick, the primary implication is that he works a gun, but I think you can also imagine the stick as a wand. Because he's a wizard. That is all.
WAIT FOR U (ft. Drake & Tems)
Supposed to be a dog
But you done put me in a kennel
Girl, put a muzzle on it
All that barkin over dinner
I was fuckin witchu
When you had the tiny Presidential
You got better when you met me
And that aint coincidental
Tried to bring the best out you
Guess I'm not that influential
Guess I'm not the one that's meant for you
The first of two Drake features on the album. Both have very different flavors, and this one is clearly more of a love song, without much flexing or violence. I find it to still be very cinematic though, and I can clearly see him arguing with his girl over dinner. I want to point out a theme in the first few lines, highlighted by the words dog, kennel, muzzle, and barking. My understanding is that he's the dog, in a womanizing sense, and the kennel is a symbol of his commitment to one girl. However, she's the one who ends up barking, and needing a muzzle. Pretty clever.
The rest of the lines are a bit of a mystery to me though, in terms of who's who, and I think the key lies in the tiny Presidential. I'm assuming it's meant to be a Rolex, or another watch. So is the 'you' in these lines the girl, and Drake is telling her all this, OR is Drake the 'you' and he's talking from the girl's perspective (all that barking). I might be overthinking this, so hopefully it becomes clearer to me in the future.
LOVE YOU BETTER
You tellin me you fallin out of love with me
Hope you can find someone to love you better than I did
Takin our memories on Love and treatin it like nothing
This is one of those extra mellow tracks, and very light on bars, but I think it's worth highlighting the emotions Future's expressing here. He's clearly disappointed with how things turned out, and is allowing himself to be uncharacteristically vulnerable, almost going against the established theme of the album. Or maybe the point of the track is to show the source of the pain that creates the I Never Liked You attitude.
The other thing I want to point out is the way he names Love as the drug that made those memories great. In a way it adds to the disappointment of what's happening now, as if the effect of the drug was meaningless the whole time. Pretty dark.
MASSAGING ME
Bitch inspire me
"Get more money" and I go out to get it
Stay on gang time
Soon as I get off the jet I'm in the trenches
Throwin up gang signs
I know how to take this cash and go and flip it
Gotta work hard, boy
Turn a Chanel store to a hangout
I'd say this is tied for #1 track for me. This and Holy Ghost.
I don't think he's saying 'gotta work hard boy' but I can't think of anything else that fits. The 'gotta work' may be 'cut up a', but what's he cutting up? You could stretch it to mean the same thing as him stepping on the dogfood, but at this point it's just a mystery to me. But anyway, my favorite image here is him getting off his private jet and heading straight to the trap house. To me this just speaks to work ethic. Hard work is what will let you loiter at a Chanel store as much as you want.
CHICKENS (ft EST Gee)
You ain't got no sack
You rappin bout yo partner pack
On me even OT
Like I don't know how to lack
This aint '03 I aint Jeezy
Leave with it, can't bring it back
Slime Language phone might be tapped
Five racks make her lay on her back
This whole song is a test of how well you as the listener understand Slime Language. I've learned that I still have a ways to go, and I should listen to even more EST Gee than I already have. I'm not sure what the OT might be referring to (my best guess is jewelry), and I figure the Jeezy line is a reference to something Jeezy said in '03. I guess the sky's the limit for hip-hop lore.
WE JUS WANNA GET HIGH
Bag it up and sell it
Then go cop me some Screwww
Twenty-six Pirellis
Put on brand new shoesss
Ze-ro-be-low
All this ice, catch the fluuu
Had to do some research on this one. Turns out Screw is another word for lean, tying back to Houston-native DJ Screw. I guess half the fun of writing these things is I get to fill these random gaps in my knowledge.
Overall, the main reason I picked this part is I like how he pitches and stretches the rhymes here. It's hard to explain, but it just sounds good, as if the higher he pitches the more money you imagine him having.
Also I feel I should point out that the shoes aren't for him, but for his car.
VOODOO (ft Kodak Black)
I dance with the Devil so long
She pullin me closer
I'm sleepin with demons (how they get there?)
She invited them over
Out of all the artists featured here, I've listened to Kodak Black the least, maybe a few songs total. I will remedy this as I move forward, but for now I'll just say his voice lends an interesting feeling to the song. The title VOODOO evokes images of some kind of dark wizardry, and Kodak talking about devils and demons only serves to add to that atmosphere. It's also a powerful warning about being careful who you sleep with. I think this ties in quite well to one of the underlying themes of the album, involving the pain associated with heartbreak.
HOLY GHOST
Me and my lil whoadie gettin it in,
Japanese trend
Big top Maybach Benz
Buy em by the twin
We got em locked in, boxed in
Glocks in
Alligator skin for my sins
I'm bout to win again
Here Pluto is describing how he and his ward-mate like to go about their business, by first explaining their choice of transportation. It's the expensive kind, and they buy multiples at once. The Japanese trend line is still being researched on my end, because I can't say I see a clear connection. The only thing I can think of, and I'm sure this is a stretch, is they go about their business like Japanese Ninjas. Like real Gs, one could say. Regardless, they outfit their new luxury vehicles with all the necessary tools and equipment, and go get the bag. In this case, the bag is represented by the Alligator skin, likely shoes. Or an actual bag!
THE WAY THINGS GOING
Takin time
Buildin my crib like the pyramids
Reminiscin
Where I come from, gettin money a religion
You got smoke in the air
Don't let it cloud your vision
Some of my partners not here
I really do miss you
Take the money and ball it up
And use it for tissue
Sendin gun powder out
Resolvin these issues
And the way things goin
Is very malicious
It's another bloody summer
Inside of my city
I would say this is one of the more poetic tracks on the album. To me it feels like Future is taking this time to consider death on a more personal level, and the effect it has on him. In the end though, I feel like his attitude is that he stands above it all, and I as the listener can draw my own strengths and insights from that.
It feels like there's not much that needs explaining, at least in this section, but I'll touch on a few of the more powerful images. First, notice how he takes time before he takes money. And don't forget that taking/getting money is a religion. Treat your crib, or your place of work like a temple, and build it up as much as you can. Not everyone will still be there with you at the end, but by then you'll have the resources to deal with any problems that might plague you. These times will come and go just like the seasons.
I'M ON ONE (ft. Drake)
My lil one sprayed the clip
And threw his arm out of place
We too damn rich
To worry bout a murder case
My personal favorite bar of the whole album. The bit about the lil one harkens back to 712PM, where the lil one was ready to sprrrht, and now he has. The problem is that the kickback was too much for him and it dislocated his shoulder.
Iunno why the fuck niggas try to test me
What
I'm just all about my goals like Ovechkii
What
I'm just all about my goals like I'm Messi
What
Being messy
Shit do not impress me
What
I could never be your man
I'm your bestie
What
And I Never Liked You niggas
So don't text me
The second Drake feature. Definitely my favorite of the two. I guess I just like the energy better.
This is where he digs deep into explaining just why he's as good as he is, in order to prevent people questioning him. I especially like how he stretched Ovechkin's name to rhyme it with Messi, using both superstar athletes as analogs for his own success. Then he juxtaposes Messi and messy, implying that even if the words sound the same, they mean completely different things. Maybe something like "I'm Messi and you're messy," but not so on-the-nose.
And then he ends his verse with the album title, tying everything together quite masterfully. Drake continues to bless.
BACK TO THE BASICS
Ima make em lose count if they addin up the total
After I fuck you let me cry on your shoulder
It almost feels like this is a continuation of LOVE YOU BETTER, definitely similar vibes at least. I kind of wish I'M ON ONE was the outro song instead of this, because I would have liked the album to end on a high note, but as it stands it almost flips the whole concept of the album on its head. It starts with I Never Liked You and ends with him sounding almost broken. On a philosophical level, maybe that's the point. In these last two lines, he maintains that he's outrageously rich forever, but that's not enough to prevent the pain he's feeling. Stay strong.
And that's the album. Hopefully some of you reading this will go and check out the whole thing for the first time. There's also a deluxe version with 6 more tracks on it. If there's any interest, I'll work on those as well as an update to this. For now, sign up for the site so you can get notified when I write something new, and so you can leave me some comments about what you liked or what I could work on. I appreciate all of you.
Here's a little extra for the road.