Metro Boomin

The producer who made producers into headline artists, with four number one albums under his own name.

Based	St. Louis, then Atlanta
Producer tag	If young Metro don't trust you, I'ma shoot you
Known for	Future, 21 Savage, Migos, Drake, The Weeknd, Travis Scott

Early life and origins

Leland Wayne was born in St. Louis and started making beats as a teenager, travelling to Atlanta while still at school to place them. His mother drove him back and forth. He moved to Atlanta properly for college and left almost immediately once the placements started landing.

The Future partnership

His work with Future through the mid 2010s is the foundation of everything since. The run of mixtapes that rebuilt Future's career in 2014 and 2015 — Monster, Beast Mode, 56 Nights — was substantially his, and the two have kept returning to each other for a decade.

The tag

"If young Metro don't trust you, I'ma shoot you", voiced by Future, is the most recognisable producer tag in rap. It turned a credit into a brand, and every producer who has since built an audience around a vocal drop is working in territory he defined.

Albums under his own name

Not All Heroes Wear Capes (2018) topped the Billboard 200, as did Savage Mode II with 21 Savage in 2020 and the Grammy-nominated Heroes & Villains in 2022. Producer albums had existed before; producer albums that go straight to number one had not.

Spider-Verse

He assembled and largely produced the soundtrack to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in 2023, working with James Blake, Mike Dean and Dr. Luke among others. A rap producer being handed a major studio animation soundtrack was new.

The 2024 albums

We Don't Trust You with Future arrived on 22 March 2024 and went to number one, with "Like That" — carrying the Kendrick Lamar verse that reignited his conflict with Drake — also reaching number one. We Still Don't Trust You followed three weeks later as a separate album rather than a deluxe edition, and also topped the chart.

A Futuristic Summa

The August 2025 mixtape is a tribute to 2010s Atlanta rap, hosted by DJ Spinz and featuring Travis Porter, Roscoe Dash, 2 Chainz and Waka Flocka Flame. "Take Me Thru Dere" with Quavo, Breskii and YKNiece reached the top of Rhythmic Airplay.

What his production sounds like

Cinematic, minor-key, heavily orchestrated by trap standards, with a lot of low-end space and dramatic string and synth work. He arranges rather than loops, and his records are identifiable inside four bars without the tag.

Boominati Worldwide

His imprint operates through Republic and gives him ownership of the projects released under his name. Producers historically worked for hire; his career is the clearest argument that they need not.

Notable credits

"Bad and Boujee", "Jumpman", "Mask Off", "Congratulations", "Tuesday", "Creepin'", "Like That". Across Migos, Drake, Post Malone, 21 Savage, The Weeknd and Future, his catalogue is a fair map of what rap sounded like between 2014 and now.

21 Savage

Savage Mode in 2016 and Savage Mode II in 2020 are the clearest demonstration of what he does with a single voice across a full project. The second went to number one and carried narration from Morgan Freeman, which is either absurd or perfect depending on your tolerance.

Drake and the 2024 conflict

Kendrick Lamar's verse on "Like That" arrived on a Metro Boomin record and set off the largest rap conflict in twenty years. Metro had his own public falling-out with Drake in the same period, and his production choices across both 2024 albums were read as taking a side.

Working method

He arranges rather than loops, layers a great deal, and mixes with far more low-end headroom than most trap producers leave. Engineers who work with him describe unusually detailed sessions for a genre built on speed.

Why the producer-as-artist model worked

Producers had released compilations before and they generally underperformed. His albums succeeded because they are curated rather than assembled — a consistent sonic world with guests serving it, rather than a collection of placements. Every producer-led album since has been measured against that.