Evol (Future album)

EVOL
Studio album by Future
Released	February 6, 2016
Recorded	2015
Genre	Trap, hip hop
Length	39:26
Label	A1 Freebandz Epic
Producer	Future (exec.) Metro Boomin (exec.) Southside The Weeknd Ben Billion$ Schife Karbeen TM88 DaHeala DJ Spinz MP808 $K
Future chronology
Purple Reign (2016) Evol (2016)
Singles from Evol
"Low Life" Released: March 1, 2016[1]

EVOL is the fourth studio album by American rapper Future. It was released on February 6, 2016, by A1 Recordings, Freebandz and Epic Records. It premiered on DJ Khaled's We The Best Radio debut on Beats 1.

Background and release

On December 25, 2015, The Weeknd released a collaborative song with Future, titled "Low Life", on SoundCloud. It was produced by Metro Boomin and Ben Billions and co-produced by The Weeknd. The song was later revealed to be included on EVOL.^[2][3] On March 1, 2016, "Low Life" was released as the album's first single.^[1] A music video for the track premiered on MTV on the same month.^[4]

On February 1, 2016, DJ Khaled announced that he would be premiering Future's fourth album on the debut show of We The Best Radio on Apple Music.^[5][6] Future then announced the album title, release date and artwork, as well as individually tweeting the tracklist.^[7]

The album cover artwork was created by the Polish creative production studio Ars Thanea. ^[8]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Billboard	[10]
Consequence of Sound	B+[11]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[12]
PopMatters	6/10[13]
Spin	8/10[14]

Evol received generally positive reviews, with Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, giving an average review score of 68 from 17 critics.^[15] In his review, Craig Jenkins of Billboard states, "The spite of 2014 mixtape Monster, the woe of 2015’s Beast Mode, and the devilish glee of his No. 1 album DS2 have all chilled into a dull malaise here". He concluded with "Evol doesn’t break any rules or set many new ones, but as the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of wonders Future and his team wield in their creation of druggy, downcast afterparty dispatches, it is a joy."^[10] Matthew Ramirez of Pitchfork found that while Evol "has slightly more misses than hits, the highs are high—arguably higher than Purple Reign's".^[12]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 134,000 equivalent album units; it sold 100,000 copies in its first week, and boasted over 25 million streams.^[16][17] EVOL is the third project by Future to debut on the Billboard 200 at number one in seven months.^[18] As of March 2016, the album has sold 125,000 copies domestically.^[19]

Track listing

Standard version[20]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Ain't No Time"	Nayvadius Wilburn Joshua Luellen	Southside	3:22
2.	"In Her Mouth"	Wilburn Luellen	Southside	3:12
3.	"Maybach"	Wilburn Luellen Leland Wayne	Metro Boomin Southside	3:40
4.	"Xanny Family"	Wilburn Luellen Wayne	Metro Boomin Southside	3:05
5.	"Lil Haiti Baby"	Wilburn Ian Hill Benjamin Diehl	Ben Billion$ Schife Karbeen	4:37
6.	"Photo Copied"	Wilburn Luellen Wayne	Metro Boomin Southside	2:52
7.	"Seven Rings"	Wilburn Bryan Simmons MP808	TM88 MP808	3:25
8.	"Lie to Me"	Wilburn Gary Hill John Mcgee	DJ Spinz $K	3:32
9.	"Program"	Wilburn Luellen	Southside	2:56
10.	"Low Life" (featuring The Weeknd)	Wilburn Wayne Diehl Abel Tesfaye Jason Quenneville	Metro Boomin Ben Billion$ The Weeknd^[a] DaHeala^[a]	5:13
11.	"Fly Shit Only"	Wilburn Hill Mcgee	DJ Spinz $K	3:32
Total length:				39:26

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[21]	31
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22]	96
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23]	146
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24]	5
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[25]	82
French Albums (SNEP)[26]	95
UK Albums (OCC)[27]	34
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[28]	3
US Billboard 200[29]	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[30]	1

Release history

Region	Format	Date	Label
United States[31]	Digital download	February 6, 2016	A1 Freebandz Epic
United Kingdom[32]

References

1. "FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Nielsen Ratings, Music News and more!". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
2. "Low Life - Future + The Weeknd by The Weeknd". SoundCloud. December 25, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
3. "The Weeknd, Future Drop Laid-Back New Track 'Low Life'". Rolling Stone. December 25, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
4. "Watch Future and The Weeknd's Video for "Low Life"". Complex. March 25, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
5. "Future Reportedly Debuting An Album On DJ Khaled’s New Apple Music Show This Friday". StereoGum. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
6. "FUTURE on Twitter - New project alert". Twitter. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
7. "FUTURE on Twitter - Pre-Order #EVOL Midnight EST!". Twitter. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
8. https://www.behance.net/gallery/26800979/The-Ash
9. http://www.metacritic.com/music/evol/future
10. Jenkins, Craig. "Future Hits His Songwriting Stride on Surprise Album 'EVOL': Review". Billboard. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
11. Pearce, Sheldon. "Future – EVOL." Consequence of Sound. 10 February 2016. Web.
12. Ramirez, Matthew (11 February 2016). "Future: EVOL". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
13. Duricy, Brian. "Future: EVOL." PopMatters. 9 February 2016. Web.
14. Daramola, Israel. "Review: Future Speeds Down the Expressway to Yr. Skull on ‘EVOL’." Spin. 10 February 2016. Web.
15. "EVOL". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
16. "Future Scores Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
17. "Charts Don't Lie: February 17". hotnewhiphop. February 17, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
18. "Future's "EVOL" hits #1 In Its First Week". hotnewhiphop. February 12, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
19. "Charts Don't Lie: March 2". hotnewhiphop.com. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
20. "EVOL by Future on iTunes". iTunes. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
21. "Australiancharts.com – Future [US – Evol"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
22. "Ultratop.be – Future [US – Evol"] (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
23. "Ultratop.be – Future [US – Evol"] (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
24. "Future – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Future. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Future [US – Evol"] (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
26. "Lescharts.com – Future [US – Evol"]. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
27. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
28. "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 12, 2016.
29. "Future – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Future. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
30. "Future – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for Future. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
31. "iTunes - Music - EVOL by Future". Itunes.apple.com. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
32. "iTunes - Music - EVOL by Future". Itunes.apple.com. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.