Pluto (Future album)

Pluto is the debut studio album by American rapper Future. It was released on April 17, 2012, through A1 Recordings and Freebandz, and distributed by Epic Records. The album features guest appearances from Drake, R. Kelly, T.I., Trae tha Truth and Snoop Dogg, with the production, which was handled by Will-A-Fool, Sonny Digital and K.E. on the Track, among others.

Pluto
Studio album by Future
Released	April 17, 2012 (2012-04-17)
Studio	11th Street (Atlanta) Boom Boom Room (Burbank) DBrady Investments (Memphis)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	56:44
Label	A1 Freebandz Epic
Producer	Honorable C.N.O.T.E. John Blu Jon Boi Juicy J K.E. on the Track Mike Will Made It Nard & B Organized Noize Sonny Digital Will-A-Fool
Future chronology
Astronaut Status (2012) Pluto (2012) Pluto 3D (2012)
Singles from Pluto
"Tony Montana" Released: April 16, 2011 "Go Harder" Released: November 29, 2011 "Magic (Remix)" Released: January 23, 2012 "Same Damn Time" Released: March 24, 2012 "Turn On the Lights" Released: April 13, 2012

Pluto was supported by five singles: "Tony Montana", "Go Harder", "Magic (Remix)", "Same Damn Time" and "Turn On the Lights". The album received generally positive reviews from critics, debuting at number eight on the US Billboard 200, selling 41,000 copies in its first week. It was reissued with an alternate track list in 2012 as Pluto 3D.

Promotion

The lead single from the album, "Tony Montana", was released on April 16, 2011.^[1] The record version of the song, which features a guest appearance from Canadian rapper Drake, was released on July 6, 2011.^[2] The music video for "Tony Montana" was released on October 27, 2011.^[3] The song peaked at number four on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.^[4]

"Go Harder" was released digitally as the album's second single on November 29, 2011,^[5] and impacted rhythmic contemporary radio on January 10, 2012.^[6]

"Magic (Remix)" featuring T.I., was released as the album's third single on January 23, 2012.^[7] The music video for "Magic (Remix)" was released on January 31, 2012.^[8] The song peaked at number 69 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[9]

The album's fourth single, "Same Damn Time", was released on March 24, 2012.^[10] The music video was released on April 6, 2012.^[11] The remix to "Same Damn Time", which features guest appearances from Diddy and Ludacris, was released on May 16, 2012.^[12] The music video for "Same Damn Time (Remix)" was released on July 22, 2012.^[13] The song peaked at number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[9]

The album's fifth single, "Turn On the Lights", was released on April 13, 2012. The song peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the album's most successful single to date.^[14] In 2012, it was announced that Future scored the number one spot on the Mediabase Urban Mainstream chart for his Mike Will-produced single, "Turn On the Lights".^[15] It became his most successful song on the latter three charts, and his most successful single as a lead artist.^[15] In 2012, Future released the remix to "Turn On the Lights" featuring Lil Wayne.^[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100^[17]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[18]
The A.V. Club	C+^[19]
Fact	2.5/5^[20]
HipHopDX	2.0/5^[21]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)	^[22]
Now	4/5^[23]
Pitchfork	7.8/10^[24]
Spectrum Culture	^[25]
Spin	8/10^[26]
XXL	3/5^[27]

Pluto was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 68, based on 10 reviews.^[17]

David Jeffries of AllMusic called it "fat and redundant at 15 tracks, but it delivers whenever you desire that purple and woozy, Cudi-meets-Khalifa flavor", and wrote that "Future comes off as a memorable name in spite of his narrow style".^[18] Pitchfork's Jordan Sargent wrote that, "though it will sound instantly recognizable, his personality, voice, and skewed take on pop-rap make it instantly different".^[24] Andrew Nosnitsky of Spin called its songs "so well-defined" with "more advanced experiments" than Future's previous mixtapes and stated, "The more adventurous listener might wonder what he could accomplish if he broke free of his genre's gravitational pull entirely".^[26]

In a mixed review, Alex Macpherson of Fact found the album too conventional, calling it "template rap", and stated, "Both Future's drugged-out vocal style and the chintzy production, so arresting in isolation, become wearying".^[20] Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club called Pluto a "sporadically engrossing, frequently frustrating curiosity" and commented that it "is a more compelling listen than an album with so many atrocious lyrical turns has any right to be".^[19] In his consumer guide, critic Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention, he cited "Turn On the Lights" and "Permanent Scar" as highlights and quipped, "The truth is, his Auto-Tuned flow has more future in it than his intermittently interplanetary rhymes".^[22] Joshua Errett of Now said, "Pluto nicely refreshes current rap trends and offers some genuinely forward-thinking hooks".^[23] Calvin Stovall of XXL said, "Pluto may be far from the sun, but Future shines brightest when he aligns with the stars".^[27]

Rankings

Chris Richards of The Washington Post placed the album at number four on his list of the top-10 albums of 2012.^[28] The New York Times' Jon Caramanica included the album in his top-10 albums list, ranking it at number nine.^[29] Jody Rosen of Slate placed the album at number one on his top-20 albums list for 2012.^[30] Spin ranked the album number 11 on its list of 50 Best Albums of 2012.^[31] The album was listed 34th on Stereogum's list of top 50 albums of 2012^[32] and subsequently listed 100th on their list of top 100 albums of the 2010s.^[33] Consequence ranked the album number 36 on its list of top-50 albums of the year.^[34] Pitchfork placed the album at number 37 on its list of 50 Best Albums of 2012.^[35]

Commercial performance

Pluto debuted at number eight on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 41,000 copies.^[36] As of December 2012, the album had sold 217,000 copies in the United States.^[37] In 2022, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of 1,000,000 units in the United States.^[38]

Track listing

Pluto track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Future Is Now" (featuring Big Rube)	Nayvadius Wilburn Ruben Bailey Michael Patterson	Organized Noize	1:04
2.	"Parachute" (featuring R. Kelly)	Wilburn Robert Kelly John Blu Pharris Thomas	Blu DJ Pharris^[a]	4:09
3.	"Straight Up"	Wilburn Brandon Rackley James Rosser, Jr.	Nard & B	2:58
4.	"Astronaut Chick"	Wilburn Willie Byrd	Will-A-Fool	4:13
5.	"Magic (Remix)" (featuring T.I.)	Wilburn Clifford Harris, Jr. Kevin Erondu	K.E. on the Track	3:31
6.	"I'm Trippin" (featuring Juicy J)	Wilburn Jordan Houston Gary Hill	Juicy J	4:41
7.	"Truth Gonna Hurt You"	Wilburn Michael Williams Asheton Hogan	Mike Will Made It A+^[a]	3:38
8.	"Neva End"	Wilburn Williams Pierre Slaugher	Mike Will Made It P-Nasty^[a]	4:22
9.	"Tony Montana" (featuring Drake)	Wilburn Aubrey Graham Byrd Rodney Hill, Jr.	Will-A-Fool	4:08
10.	"Permanent Scar"	Wilburn Jon-Sosef Miller R. Hill	Jon Boi	4:05
11.	"Same Damn Time"	Wilburn Sonny Uwaezuoke	Sonny Digital	4:33
12.	"Long Live the Pimp" (featuring Trae tha Truth)	Wilburn Frazie Thompson Carlton Mays, Jr.	Honorable C.N.O.T.E.	3:28
13.	"Homicide" (featuring Snoop Dogg)	Wilburn Calvin Broadus, Jr. Miller R. Hill	Jon Boi	4:10
14.	"Turn On the Lights"	Wilburn Williams Marquel Middlebrooks	Mike Will Made It Marz^[a]	4:09
15.	"You Deserve It"	Wilburn Rackley Rosser, Jr. G. Hill	Nard & B DJ Spinz^[a]	3:35
Total length:				56:44

Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Paradise"	Wilburn Miller R. Hill	Jon Boi	4:05
17.	"Fishscale"	Wilburn Byrd	Will-A-Fool	4:25

iTunes bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
18.	"Go Harder"	Wilburn George Jackson Rico Wade	Luney Tunez	4:12

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer

Personnel

Credits for Pluto adapted from liner notes.^[39]

Big Rube – spoken word, featured artist John Blu – producer Jon Boi – producer Will-A-Fool – producer Tom Coyne – mastering Crazy Mike – mixing Honorable C.N.O.T.E. – producer Sonny Digital – producer DJ Spinz – producer Drake – featured artist K.E. on the Track – producer Steve Fisher – engineer, mixing Future – primary artist, producer Jordan J. Sirhan – engineer Trehy Harris – assistant Jaycen Joshua – mixing

JP Robinson – art direction Juicy J – featured artist, producer R. Kelly – featured artist Ross Kossman – assistant Mike Will Made It – producer Nard & B – producer Michael Patterson – guitar P-Nasty – producer Propane – engineer Will Ragland – design Ray Seay – mixing Snoop Dogg – featured artist Brian "B-Luv" Thomas – engineer Pharris Thomas – producer Trae tha Truth – featured artist

Charts

Weekly charts Chart performance for Pluto Chart (2012) Peak position US Billboard 200^[40] 8 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[41] 2

Year-end charts 2012 year-end chart performance for Pluto Chart (2012) Position US Billboard 200^[42] 141 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[43] 31

Certifications

Certifications and sales for Pluto

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)^[38]	Platinum	1,000,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for Pluto

Region	Date	Label(s)	Format(s)	Ref.
Germany	April 13, 2012	A1 Freebandz Epic	CD digital download	^[44]
United Kingdom				^[45]
Canada	April 17, 2012			^[46]
United States				^[47]

References

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