2011–2012: We Global Freebandz was founded by Future. Future signed a major label deal with
Epic Records in September 2011, days before the release of his mixtape,
Streetz Calling. The mixtape was described by
XXL magazine as ranging from "simple and soundly executed boasts" to "futuristic drinking and drugging jams" to "tales of the grind." A
Pitchfork review remarked that on the mixtape Future comes "as close as anyone to perfecting this thread of ringtone pop, where singing and rapping are practically the same thing, and conversing 100% through
Auto-Tune doesn't mean you still can't talk about how you used to sell drugs. It would almost feel antiquated if Future weren't amassing hits, or if he weren't bringing some subtle new dimensions to the micro-genre." Though Future had told
MTV that
Streetz Calling would be his final mixtape prior to the release of his debut studio album, another mixtape,
Astronaut Status, was released in January 2012. In December 2011, Future was featured on the cover of Issue #77 of
The FADER. Before his album being released in April 2012.
XXL's Troy Mathews wrote, "While
Astronaut Status is up and down and never really hits the highs like 'Racks', 'Tony Montana', and 'Magic' that fans have come to expect from Future, it’s apparent that he’s poised to continue the buzz of 2011 humming right along into 2012." Future was selected to the annual
XXL Freshmen list in early 2012. His debut album
Pluto, originally planned for January, was eventually released on April 17. It included
remixes of "Tony Montana" featuring
Drake and "Magic" featuring
T.I. According to Future, "'Magic' was the first record T.I. jumped on when he came outta jail. Like, he was out of jail a day and he jumped straight on the 'Magic' record without me even knowing about it." Other collaborators on the album include
Trae Tha Truth,
R. Kelly and
Snoop Dogg On October 8, 2012,
Pusha T released "Pain" featuring Future, the first single from his upcoming debut album. It was announced that Future will be repackaging his debut album
Pluto on November 27, 2012 under the name
Pluto 3D featuring 3 new songs and 2 remix songs including the remix for "Same Damn Time" featuring
Diddy and
Ludacris, as well as his newest street single "
Neva End (Remix)" featuring
Kelly Rowland. In 2012, Future wrote, produced and was featured on "
Loveeeeeee Song" taken from Barbadian singer
Rihanna's seventh studio album
Unapologetic.
2013–present: Various projects On January 15, 2013, Future released the compilation mixtape
F.B.G.: The Movie which features the artists signed to his Freebandz label:
Young Scooter, Casino, Maceo, Mexico Rann, and Slice 9. It was certified platinum for having over 250,000 downloads on popular mixtape site
DatPiff. Future said of his second studio album
Future Hendrix it will be a more substantive musical affair than his debut album and will feature
R&B music along with his usual "street bangers". The album was to be released in 2013. The album would feature
Kanye West,
Rihanna,
Ciara,
Drake,
Kelly Rowland,
Jeremih,
Diplo, and
André 3000, among others. The album's lead single, "
Karate Chop" featuring Casino, premiered on January 25, 2013 and was sent to
urban radio on January 29, 2013. The song is produced by Metro Boomin. The official remix, which features Lil Wayne, was sent radio and was released on iTunes on February 19, 2013. On August 7, 2013, Future changed the title of his second album from
Future Hendrix to
Honest and announced that it would be released on November 26, 2013. It was later revealed that the album would be pushed back to April 22, 2014, as it was said that Future has tour dates with
Drake on
Would You Like A Tour?. Future released
DS2 on July 16, 2015. On September 20, 2015, Future released a joint-mixtape with Canadian rapper
Drake,
What a Time to Be Alive. On January 17, 2016, Future released another mixtape, titled
Purple Reign, with productions from
Metro Boomin,
Southside,
Zaytoven, and more. On February 5, 2016, Future premiered his fourth studio album on
DJ Khaled's debut of his
We The Best Radio show on
Beats 1. ==Musical style==