Mike Ladd’s decision to release music under his full name caught my attention. It made me wonder: would albums by Shawn Corey Carter, Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, or Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. have carried the same weight without their stage names? But I digress... As someone encountering Ladd for the first time through 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, I was intrigued by comparisons to Kool Keith, Deltron 3030, and MF Doom. However, the album didn’t live up to these lofty expectations. “5000 Miles West of the Future” opens with minimalist beats and jazz-inflected piano loops, creating an atmospheric yet not completely memorable introduction. The chaotic “Airwave Hysteria” follows with distorted beats and erratic samples, leading into the funk-heavy “Planet 10” and the upbeat “Take More Than 41.” While these tracks showcase Ladd’s vast vision, they feel more like scattered experiments than a cohesive statement, leaving me disengaged early on. The album begins to find its footing with “Bladerunners” and “No. 1 St.,” its most accessible hip-hop offerings. These tracks display Ladd’s sharp flow and surreal, seemingly non-sequitur lyrics, offering glimpses of why this album was well received upon its release. The highlight is “The Moon’s Contractor,” a sprawling, largely instrumental piece that shifts between ambient, jazzy passages and glitchy beats. It’s cinematic, hypnotic, and undeniably captivating—though it’s confusing that the album’s strongest moment is one where Ladd’s vocal presence is minimal. The final stretch sees Ladd finally hitting his stride. Tracks like “The Animist” and “Red Eye to Jupiter” balance dense futuristic beats with stream-of-consciousness delivery, evoking the political urgency and poetic resonance of Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. It is shame that they have been placed so late on the album as the album suffers from pacing issues. Welcome to the Afterfuture is cerebral, surreal, and politically charged, weaving themes of Afrofuturism and dystopia through a collage of experimental soundscapes. While its ambition should be lauded, its uneven execution and lack of cohesion make it a missed opportunity. Did/Do I own this release? No. Does this release belong on the list? Probably not. Would this release make my personal list? No. Will I be listening to it again? I may return to a couple of tracks, the album as a whole isbmore of an intellectual curiosity than an essential listen.