Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer, record executive, and DJ. He is known for his dark production style and its influence on modern hip hop and trap. He has become famous in the music industry for his producer tag "If Young Metro don't trust you, I'm gonna shoot you", spoken by Future. He has worked with various artists such as The Weeknd, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, and Kanye West.
Raised in St. Louis, Wayne began his music career as a producer in 2009, at age 16; he relocated to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College in 2011 and continued to work extensively with Atlanta-based artists Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane, and Migos. Wayne gained mainstream success after producing the song "Tuesday" by iLoveMakonnen and Drake, which reached number 12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Wayne subsequently produced the U.S. top-20 singles "Jumpman" by Drake and Future and "Low Life" by Future featuring the Weeknd before attaining his first number one with "Bad and Boujee" by Migos. He followed this with "Congratulations" by Post Malone, "Tunnel Vision" by Kodak Black, "Mask Off" by Future, "Bank Account" by 21 Savage and his second U.S. number one "Heartless" by the Weeknd.
Wayne released the collaborations Savage Mode (2016) and Savage Mode II (2020) with 21 Savage, DropTopWop (2017) with Gucci Mane, Perfect Timing (2017) with Nav, Double or Nothing (2017) with Big Sean. Wayne's debut studio album Not All Heroes Wear Capes (2018), and its follow-up, Heroes & Villains (2022), both debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. The latter of which spawned the single "Creepin" alongside The Weeknd and 21 Savage, which reached the top ten in several countries, including the U.S., where it peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Metro Boomin's highest charting U.S. single.
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, he produced five beats a day. Initially, Wayne 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
2009–2012: 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 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. Upon graduating high school, Metro Boomin moved to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College, studying Business Management. 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. Metro has collaborated with artists including Nicki Minaj, Ludacris, Juicy J, Yo Gotti, 21 Savage, Wiz Khalifa, Chief Keef, The Weeknd, YG, Young Jeezy, Meek Mill, Travis Scott, Ace Hood, Young Scooter, Young Thug, Lil Durk, Rich Homie Quan, Trinidad James, Drake, Young Nudy, Lil Uzi Vert, Migos, DJ Khaled, Schoolboy Q, Post Malone, Nav, Rae Sremmurd, Gunna, Lil Wayne, Waka Flocka Flame, Thundercat, and Kanye West. Metro also regularly collaborates with other modern hip hop producers, including Sonny Digital, 808 Mafia, Southside, Zaytoven, Young Chop, DJ Spinz and Tay Keith on Not All Heroes Wear Capes.
Metro Boomin has worked extensively with 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 second album, Honest, the album's lead single, "Karate Chop", and title track, "Honest", co-produced by DJ Spinz.
2013–2016: Rise to fame
In May 2013, Metro 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 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 was to be self-titled and was planned to be released sometime in 2015. Along with the announcement, Metro Thuggin released the collaborative track, "The Blanguage". The 'Metro Thuggin' project was ultimately scrapped. 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 2014, Metro made an appearance on Nicki Minaj's third studio album, The Pinkprint, producing the track "Want Some More".
In October 2014, Metro executive produced Future's Monster mixtape. This spawned the first appearance of the single "Fuck Up Some Commas". Metro 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 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 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.
2017: Perfect Timing, Without Warning, Double or Nothing
On July 14, 2017, Metro and rapper and fellow record producer Nav released two singles, "Perfect Timing (Intro)" and "Call Me", the dual lead singles from their collaborative mixtape, Perfect Timing. The mixtape was released by Boominati Worldwide, XO, and Republic Records, one week later, on July 21. It features guest appearances from Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Offset, 21 Savage, Belly, and Gucci Mane.
On October 31, 2017, Metro and rappers 21 Savage and Offset released their collaborative studio album, Without Warning, as a surprise release. On the same day, "Ric Flair Drip", performed by Metro and Offset was released as the lead single. The album features guest appearances from Travis Scott and Quavo.
On November 3, 2017, Metro and rapper Big Sean released a single titled "Pull Up n Wreck", featuring rapper 21 Savage, the lead single from their collaborative studio album, Double or Nothing. The mixtape was released on December 8, 2017. It features guest appearances from Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, 21 Savage, Kash Doll, Young Thug, and Swae Lee. On February 13, 2018, "So Good", featuring Kash Doll became the lead single.
2018–2021: Not All Heroes Wear Capes and Savage Mode II
In January 2018, Metro Boomin was featured in a Gap campaign with singer 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 stated;
To remix the song, it was really about the track leading the direction, I kept the rhythm of the song more uptempo, more of their style, with that old-school feel. But I put the 808s on it just to have that bounce. It was about mixing both worlds but not really losing the essence of the original.
In April 2018, Metro Boomin announced his "retirement" from rap on his Instagram page, changing his bio to "Retired record producer/DJ". However, he since garnered production credits on Nicki Minaj's fourth studio album Queen, as well as Minaj's labelmate Lil Wayne, on his twelfth studio album, Tha Carter V, which both debuted in the top 2 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 debut studio album, Not All Heroes Wear Capes, for his comeback, which he had been working on since 2015. The album was released on November 2, 2018, and features guest appearances from Gucci Mane, Travis Scott, 21 Savage, Swae Lee, Gunna, Young Thug, Wizkid, J. Balvin, Offset, Kodak Black, and Drake. Not All Heroes Wear Capes debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and number 16 on the UK Top 40 Albums.
On November 27, 2019, he co-produced The Weeknd's fourth Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Heartless", with Illangelo and Dre Moon. The song was released as the lead single from the singer's fourth studio album, After Hours (2020). Metro also helped produce three other tracks on the album, "Escape from LA", "Faith" and "Until I Bleed Out".
On September 29, 2020, Metro and 21 Savage announced their fourth collaborative project, Savage Mode II, a sequel to their EP, Savage Mode (2016). It features guest appearances from Drake, Young Thug, and Young Nudy. On October 13, 2020, the dual lead singles became "Runnin" and "Mr. Right Now", the latter of which features Drake. The album was released on October 2, 2020, and debuted atop on the Billboard 200 chart, earning both artists their second number-one albums, which were also back-to-back for both artists.
2022–present: Heroes & Villains
On November 22, 2022, Metro announced the title of his upcoming second studio album: Heroes & Villains, which released on December 2. On November 30, he released an accompanying short film preview for the album. The film was directed by Gibson Hazard and featured appearances by Metro, Gunna, LaKeith Stanfield, Morgan Freeman, and Young Thug.
The album was released on December 2, 2022 with guest appearances from John Legend, Future, Chris Brown, Don Toliver, Travis Scott, Young Nudy, The Weeknd, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Mustafa, A$AP Rocky, Takeoff, and Gunna. The album was received well by audiences, with many considering it Metro's best work to date and complimenting the production and featured artists' performances.
On December 13, 2022, Metro was confirmed to be working on the soundtrack for the upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse film by screenwriters Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
