DS2 (abbreviation of Dirty Sprite 2) is the third studio album by Future. It was released on July 17, 2015, through A1 Recordings and Freebandz, and distributed by Epic Records. The album serves as the sequel to his breakout mixtape, Dirty Sprite (2011). It features production from Metro Boomin, Southside, and Zaytoven, among others.
DS2 debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, and sold 151,000 units in its first week. In July 2022, the album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Description[]
The hiss of liquid poured over ice, an eerie Metro Boomin guitar line, and a hypnotic rhyme—"Dirty soda, Spike Lee, white girl, Ice T, fully loaded AP"—that sounds like an arcane magic spell: That's how Future opens his exquisitely toxic third album, right before he casually drops the year's most twisted footwear-related flex. DS2 was released during the peak of summer 2015, back when the rapper's buzz had never been bigger, thanks to the runaway success of his recent mixtape trilogy (Monster, Beast Mode, 56 Nights). The triumphant DS2—announced the week before its release—would serve as the capstone of Future's antihero's journey, one that he spells out on the fiendish "I Serve the Base": "Tried to make me a pop star/And they made a monster."
The paradox of DS2—short for "Dirty Sprite"—is that it's an album of wall-to-wall rippers dedicated to all sorts of depraved pleasures, over the course of which one begins to suspect its protagonist is having very little fun. "Best thing I ever did was fall out of love," Future croaks on "Kno the Meaning," an oral history of his comeback year. And while heartbreak has clearly done wonders for his creativity, the hedonism seems to be having diminishing returns: Never before have dalliances with groupies or strip-club acid trips sounded more like karmic punishments.
As a result, the lifestyle captured on DS2 is better to listen to than to live through, thanks to massive-sounding beats from a murderer's row of Atlanta producers—including Metro Boomin, Southside, and Zaytoven—that range from "moody" to "downright evil." Still, whether or not Future sounds happy on DS2, he does have plenty to celebrate: After all, in less than a year he'd flooded the market with enough top-shelf music to sustain entire careers. As he points out during the conclusion of "Kno the Meaning": "My hard work finally catching up with perfect timing." – Apple Music
Background[]
On July 10, 2015, Future posted the cover artwork, while announcing that his new album would be called DS2, and would be released on July 17, 2015.
Artwork[]
The basis for the album's cover art is a stock photo sold through Shutterstock with the title "Color drop in water, photographed in motion. Ink swirling in water. Cloud of silky ink in water isolated on white background. Colorful ink in water, ink drop". The image was created by Slovenia-based artist Sanja Tošić. Although she did not know who Future was until The Fader contacted her to ask about the album art, Tošić said that she would buy a copy of his album.
Rankings[]
| Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| The A.V. Club | 50 Favorite Albums of the 2010s | 18
|
|
| Billboard | 100 Best Albums of the 2010s | 40
|
|
| Complex | Best Albums of 2015 | 2
|
|
| Fact | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 6
|
|
| NME | Albums of the Year 2015 | 37
|
|
| Noisey | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 2
|
|
| The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s | 9
|
||
| Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 19
|
|
| The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s | 65
|
||
| Rolling Stone | 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 26
|
|
| The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time | 20
|
||
| Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 18
|
|
| The Wire | Releases of the Year 1–50 | 19
|
Track listing[]
| Standard edition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Thought It Was a Drought" |
|
| 4:24 |
| 2. | "I Serve the Base" |
| Metro Boomin | 3:09 |
| 3. | "Where Ya At" (featuring Drake) |
| Metro Boomin | 3:27 |
| 4. | "Groupies" |
|
| 3:06 |
| 5. | "Lil One" |
|
| 3:27 |
| 6. | "Stick Talk" |
| Southside | 2:51 |
| 7. | "Freak Hoe" |
| Metro Boomin | 2:54 |
| 8. | "Rotation" |
|
| 2:47 |
| 9. | "Slave Master" |
|
| 3:18 |
| 10. | "Blow a Bag" |
|
| 3:14 |
| 11. | "Colossal" |
| Zaytoven | 3:03 |
| 12. | "Rich Sex" |
|
| 4:00 |
| 13. | "Blood on the Money" |
|
| 4:42 |
| Total length: | 44:22 | |||
| Deluxe edition (bonus tracks) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
| 14. | "Trap N*ggas" |
| Southside | 3:04 |
| 15. | "The Percocet & Stripper Joint" |
|
| 2:28 |
| 16. | "Real Sisters" |
| Zaytoven | 2:54 |
| 17. | "Kno the Meaning" |
| Southside | 3:45 |
| 18. | "Fuck Up Some Commas" |
|
| 3:57 |
| Total length: | 60:30 | |||
| Spotify deluxe edition (bonus track) | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 19. | "Like I Never Left" | 25:49 |
| Total length: | 86:19 | |
Personnel[]
- Glenn Schick – mastering
- Eric Manco – mixing (all tracks), recording (3–5, 7, 9, 13, 15), engineering (17)
- Seth Firkins – mixing (all tracks), recording (1, 2, 6, 8, 10–12, 14, 16–18), engineering (7)
- Ryan Coplan – mixing assistance (all tracks)
- Jeremy D. Brown – mixing (15), engineering assistance (all tracks), miscellaneous producer (all tracks)
- Niles Roberts – engineering assistance
- Tyler Kumpee – engineering assistance
Charts[]
Certifications[]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
 Canada (Music Canada)
|
Platinum | 80,000‡ |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
Silver | 60,000‡ |
 United States (RIAA)
|
3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
| ||
References[]
- ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of the 2010s". The A.V. Club. November 20, 2019.
- ↑ "100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks". Billboard. November 19, 2019.
- ↑ "Best Albums of 2015". Complex. December 1, 2015.
- ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Fact. December 9, 2015
- ↑ Bartleet, Larry (December 2, 2015). "NME's Albums of the Year 2015". NME.
- ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Noisey. December 3, 2015.
- ↑ "The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s". Vice. November 6, 2019.
- ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. December 15, 2015.
- ↑ "The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s". Pitchfork. October 8, 2019.
- ↑ "50 Best Albums of 2015". Rolling Stone. December 1, 2015.
- ↑ "The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 7, 2022.
- ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Stereogum. December 1, 2015.
- ↑ "2015 Rewind: Releases of the Year 1–50". The Wire. January 2016.
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