After such a long time in the game, Metro Boomin is a producer who needs very little introduction. He’s been one of hip-hop’s most essential supporting players for over ten years, achieving household name status as someone who has let his beats do the talking for him. Metro was arguably the most prolific hip-hop producer of the 2010s, and a bit of a master of reinvention at the same time. He tirelessly honed his craft and refined his sound, going from making trunk-rattling bangers in a similar lane as 808 Mafia's Lex Luger and Southside to putting his own spin on the foundation they laid and growing into a pillar of the modern day. In many respects, he’s helped shape the sound of contemporary rap music almost as much as his collaborators, namely Young Thug, Future, and Migos.
Metro Boomin’s status as hip-hop’s most in-demand producer has carried into the 2020s. Metro's now-iconic tag is a universally understood signal that, more often than not, the listener is in for something that won't soon leave their rotation. Beyond that, his pristine, dramatic style continues to be what rappers who aspire to be on the radio seek when they need a beat. Whether it's something from Metro himself or someone else attempting to emulate him. As he recently released a love letter to his roots in the early-2010s Atlanta hip-hop scene in the form of A Futuristic Summa, we are taking a look back at the other work he’s done this decade. These are the 11 most iconic Metro Boomin beats of the 2020s… so far.
11. Gunna & Drake - “P power”
“P Power,” from Gunna’s 2022 album DS4Ever, is certainly one of the most infamous tracks on this list. The original version of the song featured a prominent sample of Donna Summer’s moans on “Dance Into My Life.” When the song leaked, fans questioned whether it was a real created decision made. It was. Sample clearance issues prevented Summer from making the final version of the track, but there is still a similar motif.
It’s a smooth cut as well, with Metro giving Gunna and Drake a pretty straightforward beat (by his standards), featuring a muted horn loop and thumping bass. The two rappers skate on the beat, delivering verses about their love lives and luxury purchases. They sound at home over the production, and do not leave any questions about what the “P” in the title stands for. Overall, "P Power" may not be as complex as some of the other beats from Metro’s first half of the decade, but it caused some heads to turn and spawned a hit single.
Read More: Gunna "DS4EVER" Review
10. Future & Metro Boomin - “Cinderella”
Future and Metro Boomin's "Cinderella" is a standout track on their collaborative album, We Don't Trust You. The song sees Future in his introspective, melodic bag, with Metro providing a lush, atmospheric backdrop that perfectly complements Future and guest Travis Scott’s laidback reflection. The production is a lesson in subtlety and mood-setting, as Metro crafts a soundscape that feels both grand and intimate, with ethereal synths and a softer sound that almost feels like the background music one might hear in a dream. It's a testament to Metro's ability to do what feels right for a song, instead of sticking to one sound because it may be familiar for both him and his collaborator.
Lyrically, "Cinderella" is about as Future as it gets, melding braggadocious bars with a dejected delivery that effectively conveys the feeling that his life may not be as great as he wants you to believe. It’s that contrast that has long allowed Future’s music to resonate so deeply with his fanbase. "Cinderella," with its spacy, dreamlike beat, is a moment of reflection that still covers familiar Future and Travis Scott ground. Moreover, it's a display of strong chemistry between three people who’ve been in each others' orbit for years and will forever know how to play to each other’s strengths.
9. The Weeknd - “Heartless”
Several of the biggest, most culturally relevant moments from The Weeknd’s 2016 album Starboy either featured Daft Punk or took direct inspiration from the style they helped bring to the mainstream in the late 1990s (and again in the early 2010s). “Heartless,” the lead single for After Hours, is a complete departure from the electropop sound that produced tracks like “Starboy” and “Die For You.”
Over a trappier, bass-heavy Metro Boomin beat, The Weeknd slips fully back into his older, much more hedonistic persona. “Never need a b***h, I’m what a b***h need,” he opens the verse, reveling in excess, lust, and emotional detachment like he was transported back to 2011. It still feels fresh, as the sound itself does not quite feel like Weeknd wanted to directly rehash House Of Balloons. It's a polished production that does a lot with a little, with sleek hi-hats and a droning sound that gives it a futuristic, almost cyberpunk-esque feel. It worked tremendously well as the sound palette for Abel to re-establish himself as music’s preeminent “toxic king” and is, of course, far from the last time the two have worked together since.
8. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - “Runnin”
Savage Mode II, the long-awaited follow-up to the 2016 project that began 21 Savage’s ascent into near-ubiquity, features some truly remarkable production moments. “Runnin,” with its haunting, cinematic feel, is among the most impressive. Metro Boomin gives 21 a looped sample of Diana Ross’s 1976 single “I Thought It Took A Little Time (But Today I Fell In Love).” 21 slides on the beat, in which the sample takes on an entirely new context in this situation.
Metro sheds the cautiously optimistic balladry of the original Ross track and shifts it into the backdrop for a man who threatens his foes with lines like “chopper go fow-fow, shoot up your pow-wow, n***as tryna make y’all bleed,” with the signature dispassionate, unaffected sneer he’s known for. The chorus, "Runnin', runnin', runnin', all my opps be runnin'," is simple but not any less chilling. 21’s deadpan delivery, combined with Metro turning a love song into a street anthem, makes for one of their most impressive outings, and a near-flawless flip of a song that completely subverted expectations.
7. “Metro Spider” (with Young Thug)
Metro Boomin and Young Thug's "Metro Spider" has the dubious distinction of being the first Thug-Metro collaboration to be released while Thug was in jail, but it also stands as one of the most compelling tracks on Heroes & Villains. It's one that doubles as a showcase of their history together, with Metro crafting a dark soundscape that perfectly complements Young Thug's typically dynamic vocal performance. The production is one that’s befitting of the album title, with Metro building a beat with a prominent bell loop that gives it a bit of an unsettling edge. A low, rumbling bassline and a vocal sample that almost sounds like a more uncomfortable version of children playing. It's a beat that feels like it's straight out of a villain's lair, and for the sake of the track, Thug is the villain in question.
Thug's contribution is equally captivating, as he delivers his liveliest verses in years. The lyrics are a blend of his typical boasts and more abstract, stream-of-consciousness rhymes, which is a feature of almost every Thug verse. The self-proclaimed “King Spider” is the perfect match for what Metro pulled off instrumental. "Metro Spider" is a track that captures two of Atlanta's most innovative artists at their most creatively aligned. It's an unquestioned banger that shows why the next step in their longtime musical relationship should probably be a joint album.
6. “Creepin’” (with The Weeknd & 21 Savage)
“Creepin’” is part cover, part tribute. It also does not quite match the vibe of the rest of Heroes & Villains, which works to its benefit, as it is the only explicitly R&B cut on the album. It’s a modernized version of Mario Winans’ classic track, “I Don’t Wanna Know,” with The Weeknd playing the role of Winans on this updated take. Weeknd delivers an excellent vocal performance, and Metro’s take on the beat brought the track from 2004 to 2022, with 808s and a bassline underscoring what is ultimately the same melody as the original.
Mercifully, it is not a complete beat-for-beat remake of the Winans track, as 21 Savage does not deliver the same mediocre verse that Diddy did all those years earlier. Instead, 21 plays the role of a scorned ex-boyfriend, who recalls all of the good (albeit superficial) things he did in their relationship just to still end up in a loveless union. All in all, “Creepin’” showed the world a different side of Metro Boomin, as he does not typically make slower, R&B tracks, and it resulted in one of his most unique moments of the entire decade so far.
Read More: Metro Boomin's 7 Best Beats
5. Drake, 21 Savage, & Project Pat - “Knife Talk”
Certified Lover Boy is emblematic of the post-2018 malaise that Drake has found himself stuck in most of the time since then. But every once in a while, he strikes gold. On CLB, the gold was “Knife Talk,” which feels out of place when put next to the rest of the songs on the album. "Knife Talk" also speaks to Metro Boomin’s adaptability as a producer. A St. Louis man who broke out by producing for some of the hottest acts in Atlanta, briefly took a detour in Memphis for what could double as a look into what a modern-day Three 6 Mafia song might sound like. Drake, along with Memphis legend Project Pat (whose scene-setting intro/verse is far too short) and 21 Savage, over a sinister beat. The cold piano loop and minimalist 808s give Drake and 21 a lot of space to deliver some slick bars.
21 calls himself “Mr. Body Catcher,” while Drake raps about checking the weather and it being “real oppy outside.” The verbal game of tennis the two play on the track feels like the precursor to what they’d deliver on Her Loss, the Grammy-nominated joint album they dropped the following year. Across its runtime, “Knife Talk” is the most fruitful collaboration on the entire album, and it would not have gotten its horror film-inspired point across quite as well if Metro had not been the main behind the boards.
Read More: Drake "Certified Lover Boy" Review
4. 21 Savage & Metro Boomin - “Glock In My Lap”
Metro Boomin’s ear for sound can almost always be described as “cinematic,” and for good reason. If “Knife Talk” felt like a horror film (complete with a Hitchcockian music video to accompany it), “Glock in My Lap” is a crime thriller. The beat is intentionally unnerving, with a two-note piano loop, an orchestral sound that feels like the musical manifestation of a chase scene, and a bassline that brings the rest of the track together.
When 21 Savage enters, he’s as stone cold as ever, telling listeners exactly how he’s going to leave his opps without much in the way of real emotion behind each line. “.45 on me, it’s a Kimber / AK knockin’ down trees, like timber,” he raps early, setting the tone for the rest of the track and most of Savage Mode II going forward. It’s a haunting track, one that evokes the same feelings as some of the other big tracks these two have done together, namely “No Heart.” But as a much improved version of himself, 21 brings the killer edge necessary on such an icy Metro beat, resulting in one of the most successful endeavors of their near decade-long partnership.
3. Future, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott, & Playboi Carti - “Type S**t”
“Type S**t,” the Travis Scott and Playboi Carti-assisted track from Future & Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You has an ominous undertone about it. The biggest factor that goes into achieving that sound stems from the flourishes that Metro adds to the track. Metro’s beat, with bells that feel almost funeral-like in their darkness and one of the hardest basslines on the entire album. Future delivers his verses like he’s The Man in his city, with an energy that would almost sound lackadaisical if anyone else tried to pull it off.
He makes a series of declarations, saying he “lives like Ted Turner” in Atlanta and that he’s “taking down Meg Thee Stallions by the group.” Travis Scott then slides in with atmospheric vocals for a hypnotic hook, over a synth-heavy beat without any of the same quirks as the one used on the verses. Playboi Carti closes the track with a surprisingly tamed vocal performance that completely matches the energy of Future’s output. "Type S**t” is a highlight from We Don’t Trust You and another impressive showing for the quartet.
2. “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” (with Future & Chris Brown)
Heroes & Villains opens with “On Time,” a gospel-inspired cut featuring John Legend that quickly takes a dark turn. In the last 40 seconds, the beat switches to something much eerier, with horns that feel like they would not be out of place at a funeral. The last words we hear on the track are from a monologue that Homelander (from hit series The Boys) delivers shortly before committing to using his superhuman abilities to take over the world. The punctuating line, where Homelander calls himself the "real hero," feels like the album’s true opening.
It then transitions seamlessly into “Superhero,” featuring Future and Chris Brown, using a similar beat to the end of “On Time,” with added bass and menacing drums. Future delivers a verse that ranks favorably among the best on the entire album, while Chris Brown’s more optimistic ending to the track (following a Jay-Z vocal sample from “So Appalled”) plays a necessary foil to the more low-key performance from Future. “Superhero” is a great track, one of Future and Metro’s best showings of the 2020s so far, driven in large part by what Metro is able to provide Future on the track.
1. Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar - “Like That”
It would be fair to say that no one could have possibly expected a single song to completely alter the mainstream hip-hop conversation in 2024. Let alone one from We Don’t Trust You, an album that most fans expected to be nothing more than a solid endpoint after nearly ten years of waiting for a collaborative album between one of hip-hop’s most consistently high-quality duos. “Like That” did just that. The track wouldn’t sing without Metro Boomin’s especially bombastic approach to this beat. Big bass and West Coast tributes via samples from Rodney-O & Joe Cooley’s “Everlasting Bass” and Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It.” From the moment the synths (lifted directly from “Everlasting Bass”) came in, it was clear that something major was about to happen. Future sets the stage with one of the most animated and effortless performances he puts forth on the entire album.
Of course, it’s Kendrick Lamar’s guest verse that elevates “Like That” from a “good song” to an unforgettable moment in hip-hop history. In a few short bars, Lamar rebuked the “Big Three” narrative, dismissing Drake and J. Cole by name-checking their collaboration “First Person Shooter” and calling himself the Prince of hip-hop to Drake’s Michael Jackson. Lamar ends with a direct reference to For All The Dogs, leaving no ambiguity as to which half of “First Person Shooter” he really wanted to engage with. The verse sparked the biggest rap battle since Jay-Z and Nas, between two industry titans that had been engaged in a Cold War with one another for over a decade. Still, it’s Metro’s beat that allows for the verse to thrive, resulting in not just Metro’s most iconic beat of the 2020s, but one of hip-hop’s most impactful productions ever.
