Future and Young Thug's triumphant studio summit earlier this week signaled the beginning of a new, tenuous era of peace and prosperity in the relationship between two of Atlanta's most popular rappers who have quarreled in the past, perhaps bothered by the traits their music shares in common: the prioritization of rhythm, cadence, and emotional tenor over lyrical content.
Future has always kept close to the mainstream but he is an auto-tune pioneer and influencer who paved the way for artists like Young Thug. And though Thug is more left-field than Future in almost every way, his hit-making ability arguably surpasses that of Future, who is eight years his senior. This has fostered an uneasy dynamic between the two in recent years
Click through the gallery to revisit old collaborations between the two, the time Thug almost signed to FBG, and their acrimonious Twitter beef.
Young Thug almost signs to FBG
The Young Thug explosion began in proper at the beginning of 2013 when he signed to Gucci Mane's Brick Squad imprint and dropped his acclaimed mixtape 1017 Thug. The release of "Stoner" and "Danny Glover" towards the end of the calendar year signaled the beginning of Thug's infiltration of the mainstream, and in January 2014 reports surfaced that he would be leaving Brick Squad for Future's Freebandz Gang.
Of course, this never happened. Two months later, in March 2014, Thug's label affiliations were still unclear
"I want to sign with whoever got the most money," he said in an interview with Billboard. "I don't give a damn — could have been you, if you was offering money. I talked to [Cash Money CEO] Birdman yesterday, and he's talking more than anyone, so that's probably where I'll end up. I'd rather go there anyway — it's a dynasty."
Thug would go on to sign a management deal with Cash Money.
Early collabs
Rewind to December 2011. Future has just signed to Epic Records, and Thug is a locally buzzing 20-year-old artist. He drops I Came From Nothing 2, which includes a song with Future called "My Everything."
His decision not to sign with FBG in 2014 clearly did not impact his relationship with Future; they appeared on two more songs together that year, Metro Boomin's "Chanel Vintage" and Mike WiLL Made-It's "Caliifornia Rari."
Young Thug - "My Everything" feat. Future
Metro Boomin - "Chanel Vintage" feat. Future & Young Thug [July 2014]
Mike WiLL Made-It - "California Rari" feat. Young Thug, Future, & Problem [December 2014]
Twitter beef
In November 2015, Metro Boomin took to Twitter to lament that "new mixtapes are falling out of the sky." "Putting out 5 tapes in a year won't make you heat up like Future," he wrote.
Young Thug had just released the second installment of Slime Season six weeks after the first, and he took offense to Metro's tweets. "Hey @MetroBoomin who u referring to ????" he responded. "Put some names on that shit lil boy @MetroBoomin."
He later called himself to Michael Jackson and compared Future to Michael's lesser-known brother Tito. Thug tweeted "RIP Metro Thuggin," though his beef with Metro Boomin was later revealed to be a joke, or at least far less insidious than any ill-will he bore against Future.
A couple months later in early 2016, three weeks after Purple Reign, Future was preparing for the surprise release of EVOL on the same night as SS3, which Thug decided to change to I'm Up at the last minute. Thug mocked Future on Twitter until Future felt compelled to respond. "Yo bitch wish u was me...in real life," he wrote.
"Yo family/team wish u was me lil nigga," Thug responded.
Everyday I wake up, new mixtapes are falling out of the sky.. I think we all know where the trend came from lol pic.twitter.com/dytHN7fubs
But artists have not put this much music out in years, now artists are dropping tapes every month. Everyone was holding their music b4
These niggas crazy tryna tweet me like I don't know who Lil Wayne is and like those weren't my main years growing up
Don't tweet me about anything before 2014 because that's not what I'm talking about. Talk to me about the CURRENT state of rap music.
Moral of the story is, putting out 5 tapes in a year won't make you heat up like Future. That was just his path. It's not for everyone
Just take all the hardest songs from the 5 tapes you plan on dropping, and make 1 tape full of fire. #qualityovereverything
Hey @MetroBoomin who u referring to ????
Put some names on that shit lil boy @MetroBoomin
A nigga music couldn't ever sound nowhere near mines.... ((IM MICHEAL)) he's ((TITO))
It's ok to ride a nigga dick, but don't agitate another one lil nigga
I think if you guys were to stop drinking so much cheap liquor and high-tech syrup you would be able to think before speaking and typing
I have nun in the world against future I listen to his music His music makes me happy and I hope he continues to bless me and others with it
I almost cried, but I no now
U will never have the juice like dat...
What juice ????
Oh ok... The juice metro ran with...
That's kinda late like my pic.twitter.com/bXSjqLFS6G
That's that old thug...
I been dirty for multiple years now!!! Don't no how that taste.... He no that too
Shit like this makes me realize that these Negas are really sitting in the studio together throwing subliminalson their own teammates
But fuck it we ball!!!
RIP metro thuggin
You gotta be crazy if you think I subtweeted Thug. That's corny. People are allowed to believe what they want though. True or not.
Midnight eastern
Boy slow down dropping all that BS music...️
Sh!t bout to get real in a few hrs.
Yo bitch wish u was me...in real life
Yo family/team wish u was me lil nigga....
New Deal Alert @AppleMusic
I hope Apple save u lil niggas.... Or church !!!!
I'm on my #yeezy shit, fuck ss3.....
It's now ""IM-UP"" tweet up
Reconciliation
One of the standout songs on DJ Esco's new tape Project E.T. is "Who," an unexpected collaboration between Future and Thug. Speculation abound. Were they back in business?? These days, there's no way of knowing whether or not collaborators actually record together in the same studio. But given Esco's status as Future's right-hand man, he would have been remiss if he hadn't ran such a collaboration by Future if he had known they were on bad terms.
As if to confirm that any beef had been squashed, Future and Thugger hit the studio together less than a week after Project E.T. dropped. Admittedly, the beef was never that deep -- their rivalry was rather that of two alphas duking it out for Atlanta supremacy.
Studio flowww w/ @youngthug @1future @EscoMoeCity
.@youngthug & @1future hit the studio & have something on the way... pic.twitter.com/2fRtvlvkp1
