Desiigner is certainly riding the wave of his No. 1 single, “Panda.” But he’s also garnered criticism for sounding too much like Future. However, Mike Dean, who is Kanye West’s longtime collaborator, says don’t be so quick to write off the Brooklyn rhymer just yet.

The veteran producer revealed in a Billboard interview that he’s executive producing the G.O.O.D. Music signee’s debut album. He also stated that Desiigner sounds nothing like Future.

"He’s a lot more of an artist than you think he is," Dean attests. "He’s not just some Future knockoff. He talks like that -- he sounds like he’s got Auto-Tune on his voice in real life. He talks like Future raps, which is weird."

"I don’t know where he got his music influence. Just like that old s--- that I had, the shit with A$AP Rocky and Yams and all that s---," he added. "Like Yams said they grew up on that music on the Internet. Me and Plain Pat were talking about Desiigner. To older people, listening to music is like soul music or old rock music. To Desiigner though [what’s out now] is all the music he knows."

It remains to be seen if Desiigner can separate himself from the Future comparisons and be recognized for his own vocal and lyrical ability.

Desiigner has been causing a stir on the internet lately with his stage performance. Last week, while performing "Panda," the 19-year-old rapper puked onstage. Then just the other night, Desiigner was performing at New York's 1Oak club and got so hyped that Justin Bieber had to flex on him. Apparently, Desiigner was stomping on the Biebster's shoes so much that the pop singer had to check him.

What do you think? Is Desiigner a Future knockoff or nah? Tell us in the comments below.

More From TheBoombox