HNDRXX is the sixth studio album by American musician Future. It was released on February 24th, 2017. After going on a year-long hiatus from releasing a solo album or mixtape (which was significantly long from the man who released eight solo projects in 2 years), Future returned on February 17th, 2017 and released his self-titled album FUTURE, and released HNDRXX the following week. 

Future is a hot topic in pop culture and has had his fair share of controversy, mostly based on how his fiancee Ciara broke up with him, and how he became addicted to drugs and became a womanizer instead of properly healing. This toxic masculinity became a part of his persona, which helped propel him to mainstream fame.

FUTURE aligned with the rest of Future’s catalogue and was rap-heavy with familiar topics from him such as his life as a criminal before becoming famous, taking and selling drugs, and a LOT of details about his misogynistic lifestyle. This album however was one of his strongest, and had a huge impact on both the rap community and music community in general. Fans and haters alike were buzzing about how strongly he returned. About 5 days after the release of FUTURE, he then announces that he is releasing another album titled HNDRXX in 2 days through an interview where he states that he is “opening up and letting it all out” on this album.

HNDRXX did not steer away from this statement, as we see Future decide to take a path that is not common for rappers, or for Black men in general; showing vulnerability. Future uses pop and R&B-heavy instrumentals to express his feelings and his struggles with his own identity. He opens up to the world about how that break-up combined with his past and his current fame has turned him into the monster that he is, and then ends off the album with him having to live with this identity, and then choosing to bittersweetly embrace it. 

This album is nothing short of a masterpiece in my opinion and critics alike. All the aspects around its release, like releasing your biggest album a week before and then stating it is a prequel, and then the content of the album itself helped cement it as one of the biggest hip hop moments of the decade. Future wants the world to see life from his perspective, and he does a great job at this by showing the listener his struggles and taking pride in the fact that he is human, a fact that a lot of celebrities try to dismiss from their persona.