The smokey inflections are part of Sleepy Brown's infectious repertoire. Hip hop fans remember him for his affiliation with OutKast but he was more of a statesman than he is given credit for. The Dungeon Family legend comes out when his special touch is a pressing need, and of course at the right cost. On Future's "Struggles" he is the attributed element of "Soul" the Superfly curator wanted to offset his stoic rap persona.
"Struggles" appears on the second helping of Superfly that dropped this week, along with appearances by Lil Jon, Lecrae, G Herbo, and many others. The song gets the point of the film rather succinctly, of a pusher trying to leave the game but finding it hard to pull away. The motion picture follows a young drug dealer while he tries to execute the final drug deal that'll hopefully set him up for life, or sponsor his next activities.
Sleepy Brown has kept a relatively low profile since his appearance on the Idlewild soundtrack in 2006. Future's willingness to bridge two generations of Atlanta music is obviously commendable, it doesn't hurt that "Struggles" strikes a great balance between the two. If you like this record, I'd advise anyone who hasn't already to pick up Sleepy's cult classic Sleepy's Theme – The Vinyl Room.
Quotable Lyrics:
So long, so long, so long
Pluton, pluton, pluton
Spit on it, spit on it, get on it
Villains, dealin, spillin'
Throwin' the key to the ceilin'
This is one hell of a feelin'
They told me I couldn't conquer this
-Future
