Is Metro Boomin Worth the Hype? | Every Metro Boomin album, ranked worst to best
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIK MADIGAN HECK for GQ Magazine
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Out of all of rap’s producers, Metro Boomin is probably the most well-branded. Over the last five years he has become one of rap’s most prolific hitmakers, crafting nocturnal, bass-heavy instrumentals that redefined the genre’s sound and shifted southern trap away from the hyper-aggressive sound of the early-2010s. His quotable, caption-worthy tags from Future and Young Thug have solidified him as a household name (especially if the household goes to Magic City a lot). He’s steadily worked his way up from a buzzing St. Louis beatmaker to a heralded celebrity producer, crafting instrumentals for Travis Scott, Future, Drake, Post Malone, and even Kanye West. While Metro’s stock has risen due to his star-studded resume, he’s also benefited greatly from his brand’s recognition, begging the question: is his music really worth the hype?
Metro Boomin: rap’s most well-branded producer
Born Leland Wayne, Metro Boomin got his first break around 2010 with Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka’s Bricksquad Monopoly imprint in Atlanta. Initially, he followed in his contemporaries’ footsteps, mainly the legendary Lex Luger, piecing together blaring trap with huge 808s and rattling hi-hats — a sound easily labeled as “noise” by suburban parents. His first tag, “Metro Boomin want some more” came from one of these tracks: a blown-out strip club anthem featuring Atlanta upstart Young Thug. But his sound evolved as he established deeper creative relationships with the younger Atlanta artists he worked with, and he single-handedly ushered in a new wave of minimal, synthy, murky trap that accentuated the violent energy of these new counterparts. 21 Savage’s independent debut Savage Mode was a groundbreaking introduction to this dark aesthetic in 2016, and from that point on, Metro Boomin took over hip-hop.
But if we look past the repetitive tags, the attention around the Future and Drake collab, and the residual clout of Future’s 2015 mixtape run, do we still see Metro as an elite producer? It depends on how we view the role of the producer. His beats are simple, formulaic, and sparse. His sound design is probably one of the most low-budget, opting for Omnisphere pads and stock midi pianos instead of collaborating with loopmakers overseas like many of his contemporaries (see Kenny Beats). But what he might lack in musicality, he makes up for in energy and reliability. His positioning as the sole producer on multiple full-length projects has helped to establish his brand as a legitimate producer: someone who’s capable of commanding a studio and bringing the best out of an artist — an elevated version of your typical trap producer that can’t look up from FL Studio.
Judging by the first week success of Savage Mode 2, Metro has done a good job convincing his fanbase that there’s more to his game than some simple drum programming. 21 Savage, Offset, Big Sean, Nav, and Gucci Mane have all gone a round with Metro, but how do these projects hold up against one another? Is Metro Boomin deserving of his position as rap’s most-famous producer, or are his collaborations just another effort to brand himself as something greater than he is? We ranked all 7 albums in Metro Boomin’s discography below to find out.
7. Nav — Perfect Timing (2017)
Long story short, this album is absolutely terrible, and Nav is probably the worst rapper making music right now, if not ever. Perfect Timing is flat, uninspired, boring, and mind-numbingly unoriginal. Nav’s music is effortless in the worst way possible, and his delivery only accentuates the already-formulaic nature of Metro’s beats; it makes them both sound worse. Nav took the literal approach to Metro Boomin’s “nocturnal” aesthetic, meaning you will probably fall asleep listening to this if you can get yourself to stop cringing at Nav’s rapping.
The only potentially redeemable thing about a project like this is the features, and they aren’t that good. “Hit” is the closest thing to a coherent song and (surprise) it’s also not that good. Nav has no idea who or what he wants to be as a rapper, and Metro co-signing an artist this horrible definitely strips some credibility from his elite producer status. For the sake of brevity, I’ll just include the first verse on the opening track of this album and you can decide if it’s something worth thinking about any more. Hard L for Perfect Timing and Metro on this one.
6. Metro Boomin — NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES (2018)
NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES was Metro Boomin’s first “solo” album as a celebrity producer, and all-in-all, it’s underwhelming. Metro’s head got a little too big during the promotional campaign for this one and it became increasingly harder to believe in its importance. First, he “retired,” which at this point is an annoyingly overplayed and pretentious move designed to force white kids on Reddit into a frenzy.
What will music sound like without the greatest producer alive? Thank God we still have Carti.
Then, cryptic billboards popped up around Atlanta and NYC depicting Metro as a “missing person,” despite having post-retirement credits on multiple top-10 albums. Finally, Metro actually dropped his 45-minute “debut solo album,” boasting throwaway features from all his usual companions. This album was his biggest brand play: it was presented as some trap masterpiece, supposedly definitive of the sound that he pioneered, but it was worse than nearly everything else he had released up to that point. The features were bland: it’s quite obvious that if any of these songs were actually good, they would’ve ended up on a real album. The production was showy and hollow: multiple songs start with Kanye-esque samples that are never actually incorporated into the production, as if it’s artistic to copy and paste a pitched soul record before another derivative trap beat. And the tracklisting is up to the brim with fillers: horrible dancehall attempts and lazy interludes that were taken a little too seriously by the Reddit kids.
Overall, NAHWC is the result of having a big ego, and when your primary goal as a producer is to up the stock of your brand, the actual music tends to suffer.
5. Big Sean — Double or Nothing (2017)
Double or Nothing has some okay moments, but no one really listens to this album. Big Sean was dipping in relevancy and Metro was doing bigger and better things around this time in 2017. This overshadowing complex carried into the music: Metro’s production is powerful, creative, fun, and boundary-pushing, and Big Sean is sluggish, a little corny, and predictable. Instrumentals like “Savage Time” are top-tier in Metro’s discography, but Big Sean’s disappointing performance is impossible to overlook, and a huge part of production is picking the right artists for the project, so we have to blame the producer.
Big Sean is definitely not the same level of sleepy that Nav is, but it’s kind of close and that says a lot. Dynamic instrumentals like “Go Legend” and “Who’s Stopping Me” should’ve appeared on Not All Heroes - the sampling is perfect and the energy is undeniable - but they lost their impact in the context of this dull collaboration. Double or Nothing has some redeeming performances from both parties, but it’s probably the most forgettable project in Metro’s discography.
4. 21 Savage — Savage Mode II (2020)
Quite possibly the most hyped-up album that Metro Boomin’s been involved with, 2020’s Savage Mode II doesn’t disappoint, per se, it’s just a little too long. The Morgan Freeman-narrated sequel to 21’s groundbreaking 2016 EP comes in around 45 minutes, and unfortunately, Metro and 21 just don’t have enough influence to hold anyone’s attention for that long. This isn’t me bending over to claims of our generation’s “low attention span” and inability to listen to longer content. Let’s remember that millennials and Gen-Z are target demographics of the podcasting industry - we deserve some credit.
The issue with Savage Mode II is that Metro and 21 pursued too many styles, and while some might appreciate this sonic diversification, it inevitably dilutes the impact and cohesion of the album. Pop cuts (with questionable Drake verses) don’t line up next to 21 and Metro’s typically grim aesthetic. Throwback cuts like “Steppin on N****s” don’t line up next to new-age trap records like “Brand New Draco.” Savage Mode II is good, but it lacks the curation that we count on when entering a Metro project, and this is something that should be expected from someone with the amount of hype he has around every collaboration. While this bloated tracklist may pay off in astronomically higher streaming numbers than the original, SMII’s lack of focus won’t give it the longevity it needs to maintain those numbers for longer than an exciting release week.
3. Gucci Mane — Droptopwop (2018)
Gucci Mane is one of the most prolific rappers of our generation. The Atlanta legend has dropped 13 projects since his release from prison in 2016, the best of which is his sharp, to-the-point collaborative mixtape with Metro Boomin. Droptopwop exceeded expectations. It showed Gucci at his most charismatic since hitting the restart button on his career. He maintained even levels of menace and joy - his newfound freedom is felt on nearly every song with Metro on the boards.
Playful bars and exceptional features from Offset (one of his best verses ever), 2 Chainz, and Young Dolph keep the project lighthearted, but Gucci’s kingpin persona shines nonetheless. Metro’s skills as a true producer stand out as well. Droptopwop showcased his ability to refine and focus an artist who is known to release messy, misguided albums in waves that don’t give listeners much time to digest. The beats are straightforward and simple but the overall sound is pleasingly hypnotic, layering murky synth loops and 808s to create a fitting backdrop for Gucci’s blunt, addictive delivery. Droptopwop is the perfect mentor-mentee collaboration and one of Gucci Mane’s best projects to date.
2. 21 Savage — Savage Mode (2016)
21 Savage’s self-released EP Savage Mode is one of the most intriguing trap releases of all-time. Its dark, stripped-down production defined a new age of Southern rap, and it kickstarted one of hip hop’s most promising new artists. In 2015-16, 21 Savage was mainly known in the Atlanta underground for his villain-like delivery on cuts like “Air it Out” and “Red Opps.” He was an outsider to the mainstream, with lyrics and delivery focused more on inciting fear than energizing a crowd - a stark contrast to the Migos.
Around the same time, Metro was moving away from the sound he crafted on Future’s DS2 and Drake’s What a Time to be Alive, honing in on a new minimalist style of trap: 808-centric and bare. Raw singles like “No Heart” and “X” would carry Metro’s revamped production and 21’s sinister aesthetic into the mainstream. They showed Metro in a new light. He wasn’t only a beatmaker, but a producer capable of carrying an artist out from the underground and crafting a unique sound. Savage Mode was less “two worlds colliding” and more the creation of a whole new world: dark, scary, and under-produced to the tee.
1. 21 Savage & Offset — Without Warning (2017)
On the eve of Halloween 2017, Metro Boomin, Offset, and 21 Savage posted cryptic Instagrams hinting at a new release. At midnight, Metro Boomin’s magnus opus Without Warning dropped, providing his fans with fully-realized horror-film rap: something unlike anyone’s ever heard on a high-profile rap album. In 2017, Offset was riding the Migos’ monumental Culture wave, “Bank Account” had established 21 Savage as a legitimate trap superstar, and Metro was cashing in on the “If young Metro don’t trust you” meme circulating on Twitter. All of their celebrity statuses had skyrocketed by that time, and Without Warning legitimized their growing influence on pop culture.
Clocking in at a brief 33 minutes, the album is his most cohesive and concise project ever - every song sounds like it could’ve been featured on the Halloween score. It’s a brooding reinterpretation of gangster rap that legitimized much of the hype around Metro’s name in the last half of the 2010s. From the first menacing note of “Ghostface Killers” to the reverberated 80s synth progression that ends “Darth Vader,” the album’s creeping sequencing keeps you on the edge of your seat. At its lightest, it sounds like late nights in the studio, and at its darkest, it sounds like someone following you a little too close. “Ric Flair Drip” single-handedly launched Offset’s solo career, and minimal features left a lot of the heavy-lifting up to 21 Savage, who proves himself worthy of carrying an entire project on his back. While some of Metro’s projects have felt oversimplified, Without Warning is undeniably an art-rap album, pushing nearly every mainstream aesthetic aside and opting to create a truly unique listening experience within the oversaturated landscape of modern trap. If you’re only listening to this, he certainly does deserve the hype.
So, was Savage Mode II worth the hype?
While it may have been good, this brings us back to the essential question: does Metro Boomin deserve his acclaim as one of the best producers? Short answer: probably not. While his high-points with Gucci, Offset, and 21 Savage have been definitive for a new trend in trap music, Metro’s overall appeal is entirely dependent on the word trend. When we boil it down, all of these projects are one-dimensional: sparse, 808-driven trap with minimalistic production that could easily be labeled as lazy by an uninterested listener. Of course, creating your own sound is a remarkable feat as a producer, and not every record has to be perfect, but when you’re willing to accept any rapper into your world because you know the result will be greater fame and recognition as an “album producer,” are you really doing the job right? The only way to think Metro Boomin is worthy of legendary status is to obsessively love trap — to be so involved in the sound that you can only contextualize it within itself. If trap music is your world, then Metro might be a legend, but if it isn’t, is it even possible to view him as someone pushing music forward when his sound has been the same for five years on seven albums?
It’s challenging to iconize a producer doing 15 tracks with a rapper as uninteresting as Nav or as lackluster as Big Sean, and if the goal of the producer is to curate — to bring the best out of every artist they work and to know when to say “no” — then Metro failed on the majority of these projects. While albums like Without Warning and Savage Mode are nearing canonical status in the trap world, Metro’s reliance on that specific sound and willingness to attempt it over and over again knocks him down a few pegs on the producer tier list. The shameless repetition of his production model devalues his contribution to music as a whole. He truly is great at what he does, and we see his potential as a legitimate producer when that’s fully-realized, but when he falls flat on projects that lack purpose like Perfect Timing, Metro’s longevity and quality control really come into question. The real test will be to see what Metro does when listeners no longer crave his stripped-down trap music. If he can pivot and translate his sound into something genuinely new then maybe we can hold him up with the greats, but if he continues to haphazardly cash in on trends as a means to grow his brand, then it seems like we’re nearing the point where his music and career simply go out of style.