Metro Boomin just turned 22 in September, and he's already racked up one of the most enviable discographies in modern hip hop. Everyone from Gucci Mane to Drake to Nicki Minaj has called upon the St. Louis-via-Atlanta beatsmith for some work, and it's no surprise that he's been able to find success with such a wide range of artists. He began his career as a strict Lex Luger disciple (although there are some weird exceptions like SL Jones' "Spaz"), but he's considerably expanded his musical palate, taking cues from genres as far-flung as psychedelic, industrial, video game soundtracks, goth, gospel, smooth jazz and even hair metal when crafting his tracks. Hell, he might even flip an Adele track.
All of this comes courtesy of a tireless drive. Just ask his friend and frequent collaborator Southside, who told me earlier this year that Metro used to call him from high school to try to get his foot in the door of the ATL scene. To make a long story short: it worked. Just today, he made the unlikely pairings of Joey Bada$$/G Herbo and Future/Lil Bibby sound incredible, and did the unthinkable and flipped Bill Conti's iconic "Rocky" theme into a trap anthem. Those would be career highlights for literally any other producer in the game, but for Metro, there are scores of other achievements from this year that could top those.
Today we've dug back into his vaults to find the 20 beats that could stand on their own as amazing pieces of music. They're not chosen for the vocals, and we tried to limit it to tracks that Metro made with one or fewer collaborators (so for one, Travi$ Scott's five producer extravaganza "3500" is out). As always, let us know your favorites, and tell me why I'm a fool for my choices.
Tay Don "My Momma's House"
Release date: July 2010
While not nearly as technically impressive as the other beats that follow it on this list, "My Momma's House" is an important milestone in Metro's career, as it seems to be the first time that he deviated from he trap blueprint laid by 808 Mafia on Flockaveli. Instead of walloping us over the head with horns and huge 808s, Metro opts for spacey UFO synths, a sound that would end up being a recurring element in his music. That, combined with his inventive snare patterns, showed us his ambition from an early age.
OJ Da Juiceman "Narley"
Release date: July 2012
After working with various Brick Squad underlings, Metro's first big co-sign came from OJ Da Juiceman, still buzzing off of "Make The Trap Say 'Aye'" at the time. Working with someone as vibrant and confident as OJ made him branch out and try some new sounds on Trap Muzik 2, and nowhere is that more apparent than "Narley," a track built around a sample of Van Halen's '80s anthem "Ain't Talkin Bout Love." Flipping the electric guitar into a turnt masterpiece, Metro also caught the ear of Young Thug, who later rapped over the beat (thanks to Calum Slingerland for the tip). For another Cook Muzik 2 highlight, check out the Houston homage "DJ Screw."
Future "Karate Chop"
Released: January 2013
"Karate Chop" marked a few firsts for Metro. It was his first track to hit the charts as an official single, and his first of many collaborations with Future. An absolute doozy, the instrumental is equal parts trippy and hard, and it laid the groundwork for what is currently one of the most fruitful rapper-producer partnerships in the game. A maelstrom of whirring synths, twinkly piano, oppressive bass and descending 808s, "Karate Chop" succeeded in being the aural equivalent of the martial arts move itself.
Peewee Longway "Intro"
Released: March 2013
Opening up Gucci Mane and Peewee's MPA tape, this track benefited from a more reserved approach from Metro. Metallic keyboards bleed into a bright cloud of melody that perfectly compliments Peewee's sing-song flow, with light keys and choral backing vocals barely noticeable on the first listen, but revealing themselves after the volume is cranked. The trap producers that have fallen by the wayside are the ones who have turned out one aggressive, maximalist beat after another, and the ones who have survived have done so by offering some nuance and variety. For Metro, that all started here.
Waka Flocka Flame "Activist"
Released: May 2013
Foreshadowing the vibe that TM88 would perfect on Future's "Codeine Crazy," Metro gave Waka a track that was built to shows both the pros and cons of sipping lean. For one, the chopped n screwed homage sounds wavy as fuck (courtesy of a Triple 6 Mafia sample), almost begging to be heard on drugs, but there's a nightmarish tone underneath, hinting at the toll the substance has taken on the lives of many. Trap's rarely been this chillingly psychedelic. It's just a shame that Ben G comes through and kills the buzz at the end of the track.
Rich Kidz "Gangsta Party" (co-prod with TM88)
Released: November 2013
Metro and 808 Mafia's TM88 have proven to be a dynamic duo over the years, and this lurid Rich Kidz beat is where it all began. Taking 8-bit video game sounds and applying it to a straightforward beat, the two ATL producers showed that they were willing and able to get weird.
Yo Gotti "Ion Want It"
Released: November 2013
This is war music. Listening to "Ion Want It" is like watching a scene in which air raid sirens herald the arrival of a fleet of enemy bomber planes (during the hook), and then die down while you observe the wreckage and chaos (during the verses). Trap has always been the place to find auditory chaos, but rarely has it ever sounded as terrifying and real as this.
Rich Homie Quan "Real" (co-prod with DJ Spinz)
Released: November 2013
Taking some simple bell sounds and detuning them into a cacophonous symphony is one of the most effective tactics in trap production. Here, Metro mixes them with some bass you can really feel in your chest, as well as some warm melodic synths that provide an interesting contrast. Although it sometimes seems that he's just throwing random sounds into a blender, Metro always has impeccable control over them, mixing, cutting and mastering until all the discordant elements gel.
Future "Maison Margiela" (co-prod with DJ Spinz)
Released: December 2013
The holy triumvirate that danced on top of roofs in the "Where Ya At" video (DJ Esco, Future & Metro) basically came together on Esco's No Sleep tape. Nowhere was that more glorious than on "Maison Margiela," a track that surprisingly never became a hit. The same delicate piano technique Spinz would later employ on "Fuck Up Some Commas" shows up here, and sounds positively baroque when paired with strings and Metro's go-to UFO synth.
Young Scooter: "Roadrunner 2"
Released: January 2014
Although Scooter will never get as big as Future, Metro still saves some of his best beats for the FBG affiliate. "Roadrunner" alternately recalls old-school West Coast rap and straight up classical music (if it was rendered by synths rather than strings), and still stands as one of Metro's most unique beats to date.
Migos "Peek A Boo" (co-prod with Zaytoven)
Released: February 2014
As was proved on DS2, Zaytoven's church music flourishes sound great on top of almost any existing trap beat. This No Label 2 highlight sounds like it began as a bare-bones Metro beat and Zaytoven just did his usual thing over it, but the chemistry is superb. This thing stops on a dime, reveals new melodies every few bars and ultimately matches the rapid-fire flows of the Migos.
YG "1 AM"
Released: March 2014
Before this, Metro had shown that he could pay homage to styles other than trap, but with "1 AM," it became clear that he could imitate any regional sound without once sounding stale. On one of the strongest tracks of one of last year's strongest albums, he delivers a nocturnal take on classic L.A. rap, making it sound more cinematic and terrifying than ever. What's more, he doesn't seem to have attempted anything else that sounds like this since.
Metro Thuggin: "The Blanguage"
Released: March 2014
Just as easily as he can imitate old-school sounds, Metro can also take existing beats and flip them to fit his own indelible style. Taking Boi-1da, Allen Ritter and Vinylz's haunting "Language" beat from Drake's Nothing Was The Same, Metro tailored it to fit Young Thug's lanky, out-of-control frame-- Which basically meant blowing out the synths to absurd proportion, adding synths to match, and concocting a piano line stately enough to accompany the line "I fucked her then washed off my dick on the curtains inside of the Phantom" with the dignity it deserved.
iLoveMakonnen: "Man Of The Party"
Released: May 2014
Makonnen has the swaggiest honk of a voice you'll ever hear, and for this track, Metro matched his silly exuberence with an almost comical trumpet-led beat. "Man Of The Party" sounds like the music that would play during a victory parade that took place after Earth was conquered by a race of Dr. Seuss creatures.
Travi$ Scott "Mamacita" (co-prod with DJ Dahi)
Released: August 2014
Give these two producers credit for getting Scott, Thug and Rich Homie to rap over a psych rock guitar riff. Dahi and Metro keep it unbelievably swaggy on "Mamacita," deftly blending sounds in seemingly-impossible configurations, all the while letting that beat skitter off into the horizon.
Kid Ink "Like A Hott Boyy" (co-prod with DJ Spinz)
Released: January 2015
By this point, Metro couldn't be further from the booming, ignorant trap beats that began his career. "Like A Hott Boyy" is a carefully-constructed funhouse mirror of sounds, the aural equivalent of the ever-expanding hallucinations one sees on a mushroom trip. Him and Spinz always seem to perfectly complement each other; unlike Metro's work with Zaytoven, it's often impossible to tell who contributed what.
Two-9 "Full House"
Released: February 2015
Remember back in the introduction to this list when I mentioned smooth jazz in the list of genres Metro's experimented with and you said "Psh, yeah right"? Well, here it is. He makes a Lite.FM guitar line boom like you wouldn't believe, bringing to mind a house party that goes down with the Weather Channel on full volume. We don't recommend attempting that at home; chemistry this advanced is best left up to professional beat scientists.
Future "Where Ya At"
Released: July 2015
If we're being real, pretty much any Metro-produced DS2 track could be on this list, but we chose "Where Ya At" because it sounds like little else in his discography. The Japanese-sounding instrumental prompted me to demand that the video be shot in a Zen garden, and although the actual (Zen garden-less) video is great, I still stand by that.
Travi$ Scott "Pornography" (co-prod with Sonny Digital)
Released: August 2015
Over most beats, T.I.'s space age monologue on this song would be utterly ridiculous. Here, with Metro and Sonny's earth-conquering sounds providing the backing, it's only a little bit so. "Pornography" begins 75% atmosphere and 25% actual beat, with Martian dust storms of synths and zero gravity piano setting the scene, before a menacing drum pattern (yes, those can in fact be menacing) takes us home to Atlantis.
Young Thug "Be Me See Me"
Released: September 2015
More impressive than anything Metro did on WATTBA, "Be Me See Me" once again shows how great he is as blending seemingly incompatible elements. We start off with distorted, bitcrushed synths before going to a triumphant horn fanfare seconds later. These two elements never meet head-on, with the gap effectively bridged with a bubbly synth line that splits the difference between their respective moods, and everything follows Thugger's melodic lead. As he says on the hook, "Bro gave me control," and at the end of the day, that may be Metro's greatest strength: letting rappers guide his compositions into becoming truly collaborative pieces.