Too Much Sauce

Atlanta-based producer DJ Esco crafts trapped-out, Dirty South beats similar to contemporaries like Zaytoven, Mike WiLL Made It, and Metro Boomin. After years of mixtape releases, he broke into the mainstream in 2016 with his radio hit "Too Much Sauce" featuring Future and Lil Uzi Vert. His debut full-length Kolorblind was issued in 2018 and hit the Top 20 on the U.S. Rap chart.

Born William Moore, Esco made a name for himself as DJ for rapper Future, whom he met in 2008. Also serving as Future's A&R man, Esco has collaborated with Yo Gotti, Rae Sremmurd, Jim Jones, Young Scooter, Plies, Gucci Mane, and Waka Flocka Flame. His notable mixtapes include No Sleep and Ball Like Me, but his 2015 effort with Future, 56 Nights, takes the crown for notoriety. Conceived during the nearly two months that Esco spent in a Dubai jail from late 2014 into 2015, 56 Nights also features production by 808 Mafia. In 2016, Esco released another effort with Future, Project E.T. ("Esco Terrestrial"). Also inspired by his stint in Dubai, Project E.T. featured "100it Racks" (with Drake, 2 Chainz, and Future) as well as the single "Too Much Sauce" (with Lil Uzi Vert and Future), the latter of which entered the Billboard Hot 200 in late 2016. The Kolorblind project arrived in spring 2018 and featured guests like Young Thug, Rich the Kid, Nas, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, O.T. Genasis, ScHoolboy Q, Ty Dolla $ign, and Future, who appeared on each of the album's 11 tracks. In 2020, he teamed with rapper Doe Boy for the collaborative album 56 Birdz, which included the single "Pop It." ~ Neil Z. Yeung

Chart-topping and influential rapper Future is known for a uniquely fluid and melodic yet mumbling vocal style. He busted out of the South at the dawn of the 2010s with a flurry of mixtapes, high-charting albums, certified platinum singles, and contributions to several other hits as a featured artist, then continued to hover at the top of his game, both commercially and creatively, in the years that followed. After he scored his first hit via a guest spot on YC's "Racks" (2011), Future quickly became a key factor in Atlanta's grip on the Billboard charts, often with production support from fellow ATL natives and dwellers such as Metro Boomin, Mike WiLL Made-It, Sonny Digital, and Southside. By the end of 2017, Future had amassed 32 Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hits as a headliner and featured artist. Meanwhile, 11 full-length projects -- including an all-platinum run of DS2 (2015), Evol (2016), and Future (2017) -- debuted within the Top Five of the Billboard 200. Future capped off the 2010s by adding to his Top 20 tally with the Grammy-winning "King's Dead," co-producing a remake of Super Fly, and hitting the top of the Billboard 200 again with The Wizrd (2019). He has since returned to the throne with several projects, including High Off Life (2020), WE DON'T TRUST YOU/WE STILL DON'T TRUST YOU (with Metro Boomin, 2024), and Mixtape Pluto (2024).

Born Nayvadius Wilburn, Future grew up in his city's Zone 6 section with roots in the ATL's Dungeon Family, who dubbed him "the Future." Mentored by cousin and fellow Dungeon Family member Rico Wade of the revered Organized Noize, Future released his first mixtapes in 2010 and early 2011, which left him poised for a mainstream breakthrough. A few months after the January 2011 release of his third mixtape, Future was featured on YC's "Racks," a single that bubbled up to the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Shortly thereafter, the rapper signed with major label Epic, and "Tony Montana," his proper debut single, subsequently peaked just outside the Top 20. Its parent album, Pluto, landed the following April and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, supported by the number two R&B/hip-hop hit "Turn on the Lights," which earned Future his first RIAA platinum certification. No new studio albums were released in 2013, but Future's year was productive as a guest artist. He appeared on four Top Ten R&B/hip-hop hits that went either gold or platinum: Lil Wayne's "Love Me," Ace Hood's "Bugatti," Rich Gang's "Tapout," and Rocko's "U.O.E.N.O." He also appeared on a remix of "Body Party" by Ciara, who became his fiancée that October.

Future's second full-length album, Honest, was issued in April 2014. It earned both critical acclaim and popular success and peaked at number two. Two singles from the album, "Move That Dope" (featuring Pharrell, Pusha T, and Casino) and "I Won" (co-produced by frequent collaborator Metro Boomin and featuring Kanye West), went gold. A few months after the album's release, Future and Ciara's split was made public. Late 2014 and early 2015 brought three mixtapes and another hit single, "Fuck Up Some Commas." They primed Future fans for third album DS2, which debuted at number one in July 2015. Only two months later, What a Time to Be Alive, a mixtape collaboration with Drake, reached the same spot.

In early 2016, Future released Evol, which arrived unannounced but still debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Its single "Low Life," a collaboration with the Weeknd, quickly went double platinum. In November of that year, Future issued another Drake-assisted hit, "Used to This," from his Beast Mode 16 mixtape. The roll continued through 2017 with a pair of full-lengths, Future and HNDRXX. Issued during consecutive weeks that February, the two albums kept Future's streak of number ones intact, while the former, featuring the Top Ten pop hit "Mask Off," became the rapper's third consecutive platinum solo full-length. Later that year, he hopped onto Ty Dolla $ign's "Don't Judge Me" with Swae Lee before issuing Super Slimey, a joint effort with Young Thug.

Future followed with a pair of soundtrack contributions in 2018. First, he joined Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, and James Blake for a hit single from the Black Panther soundtrack, "King's Dead," and a few months later released "No Shame" from Superfly. He not only contributed to the soundtrack but presented it as well, and was among the film's co-producers. Future started 2019 with the release of his seventh album, The Wizrd, which became his fifth solo chart-topper (and sixth overall). The set featured appearances by Young Thug and Gunna, while Travis Scott assisted "First Off," one of its three charting singles. Less than a month after the release of that album, Future won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance for his contribution to "King's Dead." He returned later in 2019 with the darker and more pained Save Me, a seven-track EP that reached number five.

Future got an early start on the new decade in January 2020 with "Life Is Good," another Drake collaboration. The single became his second Top Ten pop hit as a headliner and reached quadruple-platinum status by the time he issued High Off Life in May. Originally intended to be titled after the preceding hit -- Future opted to go with a less contentious title due to the COVID-19 pandemic -- High Off Life entered the Billboard 200 at number one. Among its follow-up singles were "Tycoon" and "Trillionaire," the latter featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again. Before the year was over, Future teamed up with Lil Uzi Vert for the collaborative album Pluto x Baby Pluto. The record was released in November 2020 and debuted at number two on the Billboard chart.

Future remained relatively quiet in 2021, but he returned in 2022 for his ninth solo LP, I NEVER LIKED YOU, which once again topped the U.S. charts. WE DON'T TRUST YOU, Future's first album co-billed with longtime producer Metro Boomin, appeared in 2024, and was another chart-topping success. Three weeks after it was released, it was followed by WE STILL DON'T TRUST YOU, a distinct album and not a deluxe edition of the first collaboration. Once again, it reached number one. The feature-free Mixtape Pluto became Future's third chart-topping release of 2024. ~ David Jeffries & Andy Kellman

Lil Uzi Vert consistently plays with the boundaries of commercial rap, pushing the limits of the artform with experimental flows, production twists, and genre-bending albums. They grew up on the beats of Marilyn Manson and Kanye's 808s & Heartbreak, first emerging from North Philadelphia with a relaxed style that connected the dots between Young Thug, Chief Keef, and the A$AP Mob. After contributing a featured verse to Migos' number one hit "Bad & Boujee," they broke through on their own with three consecutive chart-topping LPs, 2017's Luv Is Rage 2 (capped off by the groundbreaking trap-pop anthem "XO Tour Llif3"), 2020's Eternal Atake, and 2023's multi-genre outing The Pink Tape. The rapper's fourth album, Eternal Atake 2, appeared in 2024 with a guest spot from boy band Big Time Rush.

Featured on some DJ Diamond Kuts tracks, Uzi kicked their career into high gear in 2014 when they dropped "Dej Loaf," a dedication to the Detroit vocalist. Don Cannon hosted their mixtape The Real Uzi that same year, and DJ Drama helped broker a deal with Atlantic Records, which released the Luv Is Rage mixtape late in 2015. Don Cannon was back for the early 2016 mixtape Lil Uzi vs. the World, which also featured beats from Metro Boomin and Maaly Raw. Two of its tracks -- "You Was Right" and "Money Longer" -- crossed over and reached the Billboard Hot 100, while the mixtape itself broke into the Billboard 200 Top 50. Months later, The Perfect Luv Tape was issued, peaking at number 55. By the end of the year, their collaboration with Migos -- the viral hit "Bad & Boujee" -- began its ascent to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, hitting number one at the start of 2017. Later that year, Uzi issued the single "XO Tour Llif3." The track climbed into the Top Ten of the Hot 100 and would be the first song from their chart-topping debut LP, Luv Is Rage 2. The LP featured guests like Oh Wonder, Pharrell Williams, and the Weeknd.

Uzi's success continued in 2018, as they landed another hit with the non-album single "New Patek," which was featured alongside Kanye West on Travis Scott's hit "Watch." "That's a Rack" and "Sanguine Paradise" appeared early the next year. In March 2020, their second studio album, Eternal Atake, arrived. It debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and was streamed more than 400 million times in its first week alone. One week after the release of Eternal Atake, a deluxe version featuring an album's worth of outtakes and extra tracks was released. The collection, Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World 2, featured many more outside contributions than the proper album. Special guest spots included cameos from NAV, 21 Savage, Future, Gunna, and several others. Uzi and Future also collaborated on the album Pluto X Baby Pluto, which arrived in November 2020. In October 2021, Uzi released the single "Demon High."

Work on a third studio album stretched out as the years following Eternal Atake went on, and Uzi periodically leaked details about upcoming album The Pink Tape as fans waited for its arrival. In July of 2022, they released the nine-song EP Red & White as anticipation for The Pink Tape grew. Red & White was Lil Uzi Vert's first entirely solo project since Eternal Atake and debuted at the number 23 slot on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

A standalone track, "I'm Not Human" with late rapper XXXTentacion, arrived in June of 2023 as Uzi began sharing material from third album The Pink Tape in advance of its June 2023 release date. The Pink Tape included guest features from Nicki Minaj, Bring Me the Horizon, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, and others, and found Lil Uzi Vert bringing elements of rock, metal, and hardcore in alongside an already experimental rap palette. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, making it the rapper's third studio album in a row to do so. Their fourth album, Eternal Atake 2, appeared in November 2024 and found Lil Uzi Vert working with a bevy of producers including Cashmere Cat, Brandon Finessin, Henney Major, and others. Along with the featured track "Chill Bae," it included the song "The Rush," featuring the boy band Big Time Rush. ~ David Jeffries & Neil Z. Yeung