Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne, professionally known as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, songwriter, and DJ managed by SAL&CO. Raised in St. Louis, Wayne began a production career while in high school and became known for his successful recordings with Atlanta hip hop and trap artists such as Future, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane, and Migos in the mid-2010s. In 2017, Forbes called him "easily one of the most in-demand hitmakers in the world," while Stereogum described him as "one of the most original, vivid, important voices in rap right now."
Early production success for Wayne came with tracks such as ILoveMakonnen's 2014 hit "Tuesday" and Drake and Future's 2015 single "Jumpman". Since then, he has amassed over a dozen top 20 hits, including "Bad and Boujee" by Migos, "Mask Off" by Future, "Bank Account" by 21 Savage, "Congratulations" by Post Malone, and "Tunnel Vision" by Kodak Black. He has also released full-length collaborations, including Savage Mode with 21 Savage, Perfect Timing, with Nav,Double or Nothing with Big Sean, and DropTopWop with Gucci Mane. His debut solo album Not All Heroes Wear Capes was released in November 2018, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. "Congratulations" by Post Malone featuring Quavo was his first diamond certification, being certified in 2019.
Early life
Leland Tyler Wayne was born on September 16, 1993, in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended Parkway North High School. He has four siblings. After a brief stint playing bass guitar in his middle school band, he turned to making beats in the seventh grade at age 13. This happened when his mother bought him a laptop and he got a copy of the music production software FruityLoops. In high school, Metro churned out five beats a day. Initially, Metro wanted to rap, and started making beats so that he could have music to rap over. However, he eventually turned his full attention toward hip hop production. As he continued to hone his production skills, while still in high school, he began to utilize online social media platforms, such as Twitter, to network with more established rap artists as well as beat submissions for potential music placements.Career
2009–13: Career beginnings
During high school, Metro's mother would often drive him for over eight hours from St. Louis to Atlanta to collaborate with artists he met online. One of the first artists with whom he worked was Bricksquad Monopoly rapper Tay Don which then led him to collaborate with Bricksquad label artists such as OJ Da Juiceman, Gucci Mane, and eventually his frequent collaborator Future, an artist that he continues to collaborate with to this day.Metro Boomin first started traveling to Atlanta in the 11th grade to pursue a career in music. In an interview with XXL, Metro says that Atlanta rapper OJ Da Juiceman was the first popular artist to rap on his beats, a string of collaborations that ultimately led to Metro meeting and working with Gucci Mane during the summer between his junior and senior years of high school. Upon graduating high school, Metro Boomin moved to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College, studying Business Management. Ultimately however, he chose to take a hiatus from school after a semester, because the schedule demands of a full-time music career became too much to balance. Since, Metro has collaborated with artists including Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Future, Juicy J, Yo Gotti, 21 Savage, Wiz Khalifa, Chief Keef, The Weeknd, YG, Young Jeezy, Meek Mill, Travis Scott, Ace Hood, S.A.M., Young Scooter, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Trinidad James, Drake, Lana Del Rey, Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, DJ Khaled, ScHoolboy Q, Post Malone, NAV, Swae Lee, Gunna, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. Metro also regularly collaborates with other modern hip hop producers, including Sonny Digital, TM88, Southside, Zaytoven, Young Chop, DJ Spinz and most recently Tay Keith on Not All Heroes Wear Capes.
Metro Boomin has also worked extensively with popular rapper Future. The two first worked together on a song called "Hard", included on DJ Esco's Welcome 2 Mollyworld mixtape, and have collaborated on numerous songs since, including two singles from Future's sophomore album, Honest, the album's lead single, "Karate Chop", and title track, "Honest," co-produced by DJ Spinz.
2013–17: Rise to fame
In May 2013, Metro formally announced his debut mixtape, 19 & Boomin. Following warm-up singles, featuring artists like Trinidad James, Gucci Mane, and others, Metro released the mixtape, hosted by popular mixtape website LiveMixtapes, on October 7, 2013. The mixtape, all original songs, included "Maison Margiela", featuring Future, and "Some More", featuring Young Thug, both of which were subsequently released as music videos.In March 2014, Metro and Young Thug announced that they would release a collaborative album, performed and released under the moniker "Metro Thuggin". The album will be self-titled and will be released sometime in 2015. Along with the announcement, Metro Thuggin released the collaborative track, "The Blanguage". The 'Metro Thuggin' project was ultimately scrapped, however photographer Cam Kirk claims to have a copy of the complete, finished album. A few leaked tracks from the project were found circulating the internet in late 2015, yet an official mixtape has never surfaced.
In October 2014, Metro executive produced Future's Monster mixtape. This spawned the first appearance of hit single "Fuck Up Some Commas." Metro has also produced the sixth single from Future's Honest, "I Won", which features Kanye West. The song became a single a month after the album was released.
Metro served as executive producer for Drake and Future's collaborative mixtape What a Time to Be Alive released on September 20, 2015. In addition, he produced or co-produced seven of the 11 tracks on the mixtape.
Metro also served alongside DJ Esco as executive producer for Future's 2016 mixtape, Purple Reign. In 2016, he won Producer of the Year at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
In 2016, Metro Boomin was credited with produced charting hits such as "Jumpman" by Future and Drake, "Bad and Boujee" by Migos, "Low Life" by Future and The Weeknd, and the 21 Savage collaboration "X." That year, he also contributed to Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, and he and 21 Savage released the EP Savage Mode. In 2017, he produced charting singles such as "Tunnel Vision" by Kodak Black, "Bounce Back" by Big Sean, "Mask Off" by Future, and "Bank Account" by 21 Savage.
On July 17, 2017, Perfect Timing, a collaborative mixtape by Nav and Metro was released by Boominati Worldwide, XO, and Republic Records.
2018-present: "Retirement" and ''Not All Heroes Wear Capes''
In January 2018, Metro Boomin was featured in a Gap campaign with SZA alongside a self-produced remix of Hold Me Now. The remix was released to digital platforms on the same day as the campaign. In an interview with XXL explaining the campaign with Gap and the remix, he details;In April 2018, Metro Boomin announced his "retirement" from rap on his Instagram page, changing his bio to "Retired record producer/DJ." However, he has since garnered production credits on Nicki Minaj’s album Queen, as well as Minaj’s labelmate Lil Wayne on Tha Carter V, which both debuted in the top 5 of the Billboard 200.
On October 26, 2018, multiple billboards appeared in Atlanta and New York depicting Metro Boomin as a "missing person". It was later revealed to be a teaser for his comeback debut full-length project Not All Heroes Wear Capes, which he had been working on since 2015. The album was released on November 2 and featured appearances from Travis Scott, Swae Lee, 21 Savage, Wizkid, Young Thug, Gucci Mane, Gunna, Drake, and more. Not All Heroes Wear Capes debuted number 1 on the Billboard 200 and number 16 on the UK Top 40 Albums.
In 2019, he produced The Weeknd's fourth Billboard Hot 100 number one, Heartless, with Illangelo & Dre Moon.
Musical style
Specializing in the trap sub-genre of hip hop, Metro Boomin utilities a distinctive mix of heavy bass, rattling synthetic percussion and dark, gothic melodies. Metro Boomin hardly strays from hip hop, although he has remixed pop songs such as Hold Me Now.Producer tags
In early 2016, Metro Boomin received widespread attention for his producer tag. Metro's most prominent and iconic tag "If Young Metro don't trust you i'm gon' shoot you" is performed by Future. The origin of the tag comes from the song "Right Now" by Uncle Murda, also produced by Metro Boomin. The tag was first noticeably recognized by fans in Drake's song, "Jumpman" from the collaborative mixtape What a Time to Be Alive.Metro Boomin has several other producer tags also featuring in his music. Some of these tags include, "Metro Boomin want some more, nigga!", "Young Metro! Young Metro! Young Metro!", "Ayy Lil Metro on that beat", "Metro be boomin!", and rarely "This beat is so, so Metro", a tag recorded with his voice at some point in 2009. Additionally, he often uses a subtle tag of an unknown/unspecified female's laugh, which can be heard at the start of some Metro-produced songs, such as X.