Future Recruits Drake, Travis Scott & Loe Shimmy For New Single “Ya Hit”
Future is not easing into his next album cycle — he is kicking the door down. The Atlanta superstar released his brand-new single “Ya Hit” today (Friday, Nov 6), and the lineup reads like a festival poster: Drake, Travis Scott and Loe Shimmy, all on one record. The single is out now via Epic Records and serves as the first taste of Future’s forthcoming album.
Start with the top of the bill. Future and Drake are one of the most proven pairings in rap — their joint run through “What A Time To Be Alive” and a decade of records together helped change the sound of the genre — so any time the two reconnect, the timeline stops. Throw in Travis Scott, who has traded blockbuster records with both men, and the song carried event status before a single second of it played.
Then there is the fourth name, and it might be the biggest storyline of the four. Loe Shimmy is the Florida underground standout the whole industry has been watching climb — one of rap’s fastest-rising newcomers — and this is no token look. Shimmy holds a full slot next to three superstars on the first single of a Future album rollout. The crew is leaning all the way into the moment, too: Drake shared the single’s hand-drawn artwork billing the four of them as “The Avengers.”
The song’s backstory has become a story of its own — and it comes with a narrator. According to DJ Akademiks, who has been breaking the record down on his livestream all week, Drake was not originally on it. The record started as a three-way link-up between Future, Travis Scott and Loe Shimmy, and Hypebeast reports it was first previewed in New York during Drake’s 40th birthday celebrations last month. Akademiks says he spoke with Drake after the birthday, and that once Drake heard about the record, he insisted on getting on it. Whether the verse lives up to that build-up is now for the fans to argue about.
For Future, the drop opens the rollout for his next album with the bar set where it always is for Pluto. That Grape Juice notes his previous album, “The Real Me,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — his 12th chart-topper. Three minutes, four voices, and the whole culture listening on day one.
So let’s argue about it. Four stars on one record — did “Ya Hit” live up to the lineup, and who walked away with the best verse? Or is this a moment that plays bigger on paper than it does in the headphones? Let us know in the comments.
Reporting: Hypebeast and That Grape Juice; backstory per DJ Akademiks’ livestream; single, artwork and label details via Apple Music and Epic Records.
