Mask Off

Album: Future (2017)
Charted: 22 5
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Future takes his "mask off" on this track, in which he shares openly about his drug use and addiction. He calls "it how it is."

    Percocets, molly, Percocets
    Percocets, molly, Percocets


    Future repeats throughout the chorus the names of the painkiller "Percocet," and the recreational drug "Molly" aka ecstasy. The drugs fuel his lifestyle even while he's cruising Biscayne Bay in Miami.
  • Metro Boomin's bass-heavy beat samples the hypnotic flute from "Prison Song" by Tommy Butler. The track is from the 1976 musical Selma, in which Butler paid tribute to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  • The song's sampled flute riff sparked a popular meme on social media. The "MaskOffChallenge" inspired musicians to film themselves playing the track with their instrument of choice. The trend saw violinists, cello players, pianists and flutists uploading videos of themselves replaying the flute riff in their own special way.
  • Kendrick Lamar hopped on the song's remix. The Compton MC previously worked with Future on Mike WiLL Made-It's 2014 song "Buy the World" and as a member of Black Hippy, he was part of a remix of Rocko's Future featuring hit "U.O.E.N.O. (You Ain't Even Know It)."
  • Future revealed in his 2019 Apple Music documentary The WIZRD that the song was released before its flute sample had been cleared.
  • The song featured in season 4 episode 4 of Cartoon Network's Rick and Morty during a scene where Rick listens to "Mask Off."
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, the song experienced a resurgence. Future and his FreeWishes Foundation charitable organization launched the "Mask On" campaign to inspire people to wear masks to protect themselves against the virus and provided over 100,000 masks for medical workers and COVID patients.

Comments: 5

  • Guy Who Thinks The Guy... from South CarolinaWill you chill out guy who disagrees with John From South Carolina.
  • Lateefah from Missouri What does Rick James 33 chains mean
  • Makaveli from Zambiadamn! the future killd it.
  • A Guy Who Disagrees With John From South CarolinaSeriously? That’s what you took from that song? You decided it was about shooting someone? It’s a song about duality, mask on/mask off is a representation of that as well as being fake or being real. It’s more of a “started from the bottom” song, not some wild revenge fantasy.
  • John from South CarolinaHe's saying f--k it pulling a ski mask off and shooting someone. Molly percocet is what he's on while he's pulling the robbery. Chasing that check.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Joan Armatrading

Joan ArmatradingSongwriter Interviews

The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."

John Parr

John ParrSongwriter Interviews

John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou HarrisSongwriter Interviews

She thinks of herself as a "song interpreter," but back in the '80s another country star convinced Emmylou to take a crack at songwriting.

Jackie DeShannon - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"

Jackie DeShannon - "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"They're Playing My Song

It wasn't her biggest hit as a songwriter (that would be "Bette Davis Eyes"), but "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" had a family connection for Jackie.

Movie Stars In Music Videos

Movie Stars In Music VideosSong Writing

Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis and John Malkovich are just a few of the film stars who have moonlighted in music videos.