On Dec. 2, Leland Tyler Wayne “Metro Boomin” released his highly anticipated second album, “Heroes and Villains.” It was initially set for a Nov. 4 release, but Metro had sample clearance issues. People believed that he didn’t drop because of Drake and 21 Savage’s surprise drop, but he cleared up the rumors. “I would never move my album because of anyone else,” Boomin said to HNH music.

Metro was born and brought up in St. Louis, Missouri, by his mother and has four siblings. His parents split when he was in third grade. In the seventh grade, he got a laptop from his mom and started making beats on a copy of the music production software “Fruity Loops.” At first, he wanted to rap, so he would produce the beats and then rap over them, but he soon realized his potential to become a real producer. “I found Metro when he released Perfect Timing and since then I have been a fan,” junior Jay Gulati said.

Metro attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, studying business management. Metro announced his first mixtape called “13 and Boomin” in 2013, with some commercial success. His first breakout song “Karate Chop” was performed by Future and Lil Wayne on Future’s album “Honest” and became a hit, which prompted him to drop out and pursue music full-time. Another song on the album called “Honest” was a solo track from Future, which is now certified platinum, meaning it sold over one million units. From 2014 to 2017, he produced some of hip hop’s greatest songs like “Jumpman” by Drake and Future, “Father Stretch My Hands Pt.1” by Kanye West and “3500” by Travis Scott: all of these tracks are certified gold. His collab album in 2017 with 21 Savage called “Savage Mode” is what established his name as a top tier producer. The album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard top 200 charts.

Metro released more collab mixtapes and albums with artists like NAV, Offset, Big Sean and 21 Savage. All the albums reached the top 10 on the Billboard top 200. A song off of the “Without Warning” album, “Ric Flair Drip,” reached number 13 on the top 200 and as of now is certified three times platinum. In 2018, he released his first debut album called “NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES” featuring artists like Drake, 21 Savage, Travis Scott and Gunna. The album was a mega-hit and debuted at the number one spot. He continued to defy the sound of hip hop. My favorite tracks from the project are “Dreamcatcher” and “Overdue.”

On June 5, 2022, Metro’s mother Leslie Wayne was murdered by his stepfather, who took his own life shortly after. This devastated Metro as she raised him and he always had high praises for his mom. He took a break from music and came back in August with a message on Instagram talking about how much he misses his mom. On Sep. 16, he announced his second studio album “Heroes and Villains,” which was set to drop on Nov. 4 and eventually dropped on Dec. 2. After the announcement, the features were released and it was a stacked list, consisting of names such as The Weeknd, Future, 21 Savage, Don Toliver, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Gunna, ASAP Rocky, Young Nudy, John Legend, Chris Brown, Mustafa and the late Takeoff. The album had huge success debuting at number one once again. This was different from his 2018 album as it was a different sound and told more stories. Track 10 called “Creepin” was an interpolation of Mario Winans’s “I Don’t Wanna Know,” performed beautifully by The Weeknd and 21 Savage. “I liked the production the most. I also think the transition from one song to another was cool,” junior Rishi Iyer said.

After the success of “Heroes and Villains,” Metro Boomin and Future have teased at another collab project. His success as a producer has gotten him accolades like a Producer of the Year in 2016 and 2017 from the BET Hip Hop Awards. His contribution to the rap game has cemented him as one of the greats.