Purple Reign
Purple Reign is the sixteenth mixtape by American rapper Future, hosted and executive-produced by DJ Esco and Metro Boomin. It was released on January 17, 2016 with an 11-hour notice via LiveMixtapes and DatPiff.[1][2][3][4] It is Future's first non-commercial mixtape since the mixtape trilogy Monster (2014), Beast Mode and 56 Nights (2015).[5][6] Purple Reign follows the commercial collaborative mixtape What a Time to Be Alive with Canadian rapper Drake. The mixtape features production from frequent collaborators Metro Boomin, Southside, Zaytoven, DJ Spinz, and Nard & B, among others.[7] The title and cover font is a tribute to Prince's landmark 1984 album Purple Rain, which is stylized in the same fashion.
For other uses, see Purple Reign (disambiguation).Background and composition[edit]
2015 was a significant year in rapper Future's career. He worked on mixtapes Monster (2014), Beast Mode (2015), 56 Nights (2015), a collaboration mixtape with Drake, What a Time to Be Alive (2015), and his studio album DS2 (2015) shifted from introspective ballads to macabre rap numbers about drugs and sex.[10] Analyzed Matthew Ramirez of Spin, Purple Reign continues this antagonist style, but with more restraint to the point where Future sounds stoic and the instrumentals "muted" and "monochrome".[10] A few moments involve Future delivering the style of sad, straightforward lines prominent on Streetz Calling (2011) and Astronaut Status (2012). As he laments on "Never Forget", "I ain’t make my auntie’s funeral I ain’t never forget it / I know she know I love her and I hope she forgive me."[10]
Release and promotion[edit]
The mixtape was released without prior announcement on January 17, 2016, available for download on free mixtape hosting platforms such as DatPiff and LiveMixtapes.[11][12]
In 2020, Future began re-releasing popular mixtapes that were unavailable on digital streaming platforms, such as Beast Mode and 56 Nights. On April 16, 2020, Purple Reign was released for digital purchase and streaming. The tracklist was altered to remove the single "Wicked" due to its inclusion on the album Evol, combining the "Intro" with "All Right" and extending the track "Salute". The song "News or Something" was included as the final song, originally released in 2015 via Future's SoundCloud as part of the "#MonsterMondays" series.[13][14]
Notes
Sample credits