The mixtape Future said was based on “a very true story”
Future has been a hip-hop legend since the late-2000s, and as an Atlanta native, he has produced a lot of music for the strip club. Akin to artists such as Lil Wayne and Boosie Badazz, Future has made a lot of hard-hitting singles, and many of his early anthems were made by Organized Noize.
The production duo were part of Atlanta’s iconic Dungeon Family. Comprised of André 3000, Big Rube, Killer Mike, Big Boi, and CeeLo Green, the unofficial collective was responsible for some of the biggest hits to come out of Georgia in the 2000s.
One of the first songs that was a hit for Future was the 2010 smash, ‘Watch This’, which appeared on his debut mixtape, 1000. However, although ‘Watch This’ was successful, it was not hitting as hard as some of the other tracks coming out of Atlanta at the time, so with the help of Organized Noize, he attempted to make another anthem and made on ‘Magic’ featuring T.I., which featured on his 17-track tape, True Story.
Following the mixtape’s release and all the buzz it had created, Future sat down with MTV News to speak about the project. Opening up about his inspiration for the body of work, the lyricist told the online news outlet, “The mixtape True Story, everything on it from the beginning to the end is based on a very true story, and I just wanted to go in and paint the picture for the streets.”
Future told the story of ‘Magic’ to MTV News, disclosing, “‘Magic’ was a song that I just made. They were playing this beat, and I just thought about the night before, on a Monday, I went to [the strip club] Magic City, and then on a Tuesday, I went to the studio and that morning put my whole situation on the track. Everything I do, I pretty much freestyle.”
T.I. was incarcerated when Future’s mixtape dropped but could sense the hype around the young musician and, upon release from jail, asked if he could jump onto a remix of the song, which gave Future a major lift up in the industry.
Telling MTV how it felt to get T.I.’s approval, Future stated, “It’s always a good thing when people stamp you and say, ‘Hey, I salute you on your hard work, ’cause all the hard work payin’ off.’ So when that happens, it’s always a plus, make you wanna go back in.”
The song became Future’s first Hot 100 hit as a lead artist when it debuted on the chart. He had previously been on the chart but as a featured artist on YC’s 2011 cut ‘Racks,’ which peaked at number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100.