Claim: Future is a rapper.

Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn -LRB- born November 20 , 1983 -RRB- , known professionally as Future , is an American rapper , singer , songwriter , and record producer . Born and raised in Atlanta , Georgia , Wilburn first became involved in music as part of the Dungeon Family collective , where he was nicknamed `` the Future '' . After amassing a series of mixtapes between 2010 and 2011 , Future signed a major record label deal with Epic Records and A1 Recordings , which helped launch Future 's own label imprint , Freebandz . He subsequently released his debut album , Pluto , in April 2012 to positive reviews . Future 's second album , Honest , was released in April 2014 , surpassing his debut on the album charts .   Between late 2014 and early 2015 , he released a trio of mixtapes to critical praise : Monster -LRB- 2014 -RRB- , Beast Mode -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , and 56 Nights -LRB- 2015 -RRB- . His next releases , DS2 -LRB- 2015 -RRB- , What a Time to Be Alive -LRB- 2015 , in collaboration with Drake -RRB- , EVOL -LRB- 2016 -RRB- , FUTURE -LRB- 2017 -RRB- and HNDRXX -LRB- 2017 -RRB- all debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 . The latter two made him the first artist to debut two albums in consecutive weeks at the top of that chart . Future has also released several singles certified gold or higher by the RIAA , including `` Turn On the Lights '' , `` Move That Dope '' , `` Fuck Up Some Commas '' , `` Where Ya At '' , `` Jumpman '' , `` Low Life '' and `` Mask Off '' .