Nayvadius DeMun Cash (né Wilburn; born November 20, 1983), known professionally as Future, is an American rapper and singer. Known for his mumble-styled vocals and prolific output, Future is considered a pioneer of the use of melody and auto-tune in modern trap music. Due to the sustained contemporary popularity of his musical style, he is commonly regarded as one of the most influential rappers of his generation.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Future signed a recording contract with A1 Recordings and Epic Records in 2011, and released the albums Pluto (2012) and Honest (2014), which contained the platinum-certified singles "Turn On the Lights", "Honest", "Move That Dope" (featuring Pharrell Williams and Pusha T), and "I Won" (featuring Kanye West). His subsequent albums would each peak the US Billboard 200 and receive wider critical and commercial success upon release, beginning with his third album DS2 (2015) and its follow-up Evol (2016), which were supported by the lead singles "Where Ya At" (featuring Drake) and "Low Life" (featuring The Weeknd) respectively. Future's eponymous fifth album and its successor Hndrxx (both 2017) made him the first artist in history to debut two albums in consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard 200; the former contained the international hits "Used to This" (featuring Drake) and "Mask Off".
After departing A1, Future released the albums The Wizrd (2019) and High Off Life (2020), the latter spawned the diamond-certified single "Life Is Good" (featuring Drake). In 2021, Future achieved his first number-one single on the Hot 100 after a record-breaking 125 entries from his guest appearance on Drake's single "Way 2 Sexy" alongside Young Thug. His ninth studio album, I Never Liked You (2022), spawned his second single to peak the Hot 100 and first to do so as a lead artist, "Wait for U" (featuring Drake and Tems). The song won a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance, while its parent album received a nomination for Best Rap Album.
Future released the mixtapes Beast Mode (with Zaytoven), 56 Nights (with Southside), and What a Time to Be Alive (with Drake) in 2015; the latter included the hit song "Jumpman". He released the full-length collaborative projects Super Slimey (2017) with Young Thug, Wrld on Drugs (2018) with Juice Wrld, and Pluto x Baby Pluto (2020) with Lil Uzi Vert. Among the best-selling hip hop musicians, Future's accolades include two Grammy Awards from ten total nominations.
Early life and career beginnings
Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn was born on November 20, 1983, in Atlanta, Georgia. He attended Columbia High School in Decatur. At age sixteen ( 1999/2000), Future described getting shot in the hand and robbed, an event he regards as a major turning point in his life.
Future began his career under the name "Meathead" as a member of the Georgia-based musical collective Dungeon Family. He performed in a smaller hip hop group within the collective who went by the name "Da Connect", where he would later be nicknamed "The Future" by group member G-Rock. The group recorded one album, Rico Wade Presents: Da Connect which was slated for commercial release in 2003, but was ultimately shelved. Future had one solo record on the project titled "Belly of da Beast", which is considered to be his first song.
His first cousin, record producer and Dungeon Family member Rico Wade, encouraged him to sharpen his writing skills and pursue a career as a rapper, as recording would create temporary respite from street life. During this time, Future appeared in numerous Dungeon Family music videos, and received his first songwriting credit on the Organized Noize-produced single, "Blueberry Yum Yum" for rapper Ludacris in 2004. Future voices his praise of Wade's musical influence and instruction, calling him the "mastermind" behind his sound. He was thereafter discovered by fellow Atlanta rapper Rocko, who took Future under his wing as a solo artist on his A1 Recordings record label.
From 2010 to early 2011, Future released a series of mixtapes including 1000, Dirty Sprite and True Story. The latter included the single "Tony Montana", in reference to the Scarface film. He gained regional popularity after his songs were played by DJ Esco at Magic City, a strip club in Atlanta deemed "largely responsible for launching the careers of artists." In April 2011, he co-performed with Atlanta rapper YC on his single "Racks", which would become his first hit song and Billboard Hot 100 entry—peaking at number 42. In July of that year, Future and rapper Gucci Mane would release a collaborative mixtape titled Free Bricks.