One of the top rappers in the game right now is Future. I'm not going to sit here and act like I was a fan of his since day one because that wasn't the case. I didn't like him or dislike him. I just never paid his music any attention. The way I listen to music is that I'll be stuck on a artist or group for a month or 2. Like right now I'm in this Juvenile and Dom Kennedy phase so I'll probably play their music for a month then move to something old or new. It took a night in Las Vegas for my baptism in holy water known as Future Hendrix music to finally be saved. I played "Future Back" off the Astronaut Status mixtape over and over and started to repent for my sins. I didn't know I was sinning for this long. All praises to the most high for her forgiveness. I eventually went back to hear his old tapes and his debut album then he dropped his 2nd album "Honest." It was weak. I was very disappointed. I just went back and kept playing Astronaut Status and then Future reminiscent to the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning came back from the dead and released Monster, Beast Mode, 56 Nights, Dirty Sprite 2, What A Time To Be Alive. I was like holy shit how can this many blessings come from one human? He arrived as the hottest rapper in 2015.

As I was listening the soundtrack to god's life known as Future's mixtapes and albums. I always felt his come up reminded me of someone else but I could never figure it out. I felt like I've seen this before and then it hit me. Future reminds me of Max-B. Odd comparison right? It might be but the more I thought about it, the comparison didn't seem too farfetched. Max-B was Future without the huge come up back in 2007-2009.

The year was 2007. I was in college, Niggas was wearing Ed Hardy, long ass colorful polos, and Uncle Jesse from Full House Chains on their pants. It was the "Niggas shopping in Hot Topic" Era. Young Dro was the best rapper on the planet. Seriously that Young "I can turn time a day back, June The 1st I can whip up and bring May back(Maybach)" Dro was in my top 5. I had 3 chicks in rotation. I was young, partying every night, life was pretty fucking great. How could it get any better? My homie D Will always had the good line on the mixtapes. He'd always tell me what to check out. I found out what Datpiff was because of him that year. He was playing Max-B Million Dollar Baby mixtape, The Hustlin freestyle to be exact, and I was like "Ain't this ol boy from the Jim Jones album (Harlem: Diary Of A Summer)?" The music was so weird. I wanted to call it wack but I couldn't. It was something about what I was hearing that drew me in. Future music had the same effect on me. I didn't know what the fuck I was listening to at first then it just stuck and I understood. I was officially on the Max-B surfboard after hearing that mixtape. He was just one of those rappers that had the "It" factor. He helped write Jim Jones biggest hit "We Fly High." The off key singing. The hooks. The lazy and sometimes harlem drawl flow. It was a style that was his and original. If you ever wondered why did people love Max Biggavell(Biggavell = Biggie, Makavelli, and Jigga all in one) so much I think those are the reasons. You had people say he's not "hip-hop" because he doesn't have a traditional style and isn't a super lyrical guy. You know that uppity "If it's not 80's or 90's hip-hop it's weak" mentality. Everything has a lane. Max had his and that's how I viewed it. Max-B was to Harlem back then what Future is to Atlanta now.

Literally months later after I started fucking with Max music, Max had a falling out with Jim Jones and honestly this lead to just a onslaught of classic material from The Silver Surfer aka The Prince Of Tides. I was sad about it honestly because Byrd Gang was a unit that would've fucked the industry up. After Stack Bundles was murdered everything just fell apart. They literally had the dream team. Max had the hooks, Stack was lyrical, Jim was the CEO, Mel Matrix was the gangsta. It was just a perfect crew. Million Dollar Baby 2 dropped and it was a certified classic in the streets. Niggas was playing "Why You Do That" "Blow Me A Dub" and "Grand Cru" on repeat daily. He had all the hoods saying "Wavy" or "Wave," people are STILL saying wave/wavy today because of Max. People were doing his signature "Owwww." I was THEE only nigga in St.Louis drinking Remy Grand Cru because of the Biggavell. I had homies asking me what type of liquor it was. I still fuck with it today. There was Million Dollar Baby 2, Public Domain 2 & 3. Public Domain 3 was his best complete body of work to me personally, that's when I knew this guy was that nigga. The Wavy Crockett Tape, Quarantine tape. He had the streets in New York on smash but he couldn't drop an official album because Jim Jones wouldn't let him out his contract so Max just kept doing shows and dropping tapes. He also had the murder charge hanging over his head and he was out on bail while making all the wave. Max-B buzz was just like the Astronaut Status Future at that time. Offers from other labels were knocking. People wanted that official album badly.

The classic interviews helped him too. Every time Max had a new interview on a blog you would stop what you're doing and listen to The Wavy One. Whether it was him dissing Jim, beefing with other rappers, doing that funny ass laugh he does, telling you no one is wavier than the boy, how many bitches he fucking, Counting money, talking shit, you paid attention. A guy talking fly shit with $1500 dollar shades on every time you seen him. The nigga was just hilarious. He just had this star quality that was infectious. He was made to do this rap shit. He had that Harlem hustler mentality and mixed it with his comedic side and people were just drawn to his personality.

Another thing he doesn't get credit for is introducing A LOT of people to French Montana. I knew who French Montana was since 2006 he used to be a battle rapper on Fight Club (A lot of people don't know that), he ran his own dvd series called "Cocaine City" basically it was like Smack Dvd it just didn't have battles at the end of them. French had a real straight forward gutter flow when I first seen him then he started fucking with Max-B and he started melodizing more. I'm not saying Max-B is responsible for French's success. French had a buzz from the dvd's and definitely put his work in that's why I respect him but Max-B had a HUGE influence on his flow. Max buzz helped French especially after they did their joint mixtape "Coke Wave" and that gave French a lot of new fans. I can't tell you how much it hurt my heart to see French have success while Max sat in jail. I was happy for French but I knew if Max was out, the world would've seen how special Max Biggavell was. I just wished he could've been out of jail to enjoy that with his homie.

Just how rappers started rapping like Future today and using his lingo. Max-B had rappers doing the same during his buzz. I just can't help but think as I hear producers like Metro Boomin, Southside, TM88, and think damn Max-B would be perfect for these beats. Max is currently serving a 75 year sentence for murder and it's a shame we saw a street legend never get that shot in the industry. He's influenced so many rappers today from A$AP Mob to Wiz Khalifa, and even Jay-Z shouted him out on a song. One of my favorite movies is "A Bronx Tale" and what Lil C's pops always told him was "There's nothing worse than wasted talent." Max talent was wasted but never will be forgotten. Did Max-B really have what it takes to takeover like Future is now? All we can really do is just wonder. I dedicate this to one of my musical influences Max Biggavell Aka The Silver Surfer. Free The Wave.

- BENNY