The FADER grabbed hip-hop's hottest young producer Metro Boomin for its new cover story, and the wide-ranging interview gave us some great new insights into the St. Louis native's career. He stressed throughout the interview the role his mother had played in the development of his career, driving him to early recording sessions with OJ Da Juiceman and always supporting his music.
Along the way, Metro dropped some interesting tidbits about working with Kanye West on his new album The Life of Pablo. “This nigga ‘Ye was talking about a lotta shit. He said he was in some country I never heard of. I was like, ‘What you doing there?’ He’s like, ‘I’m in a IKEA,'" he recalled. He noted that Kanye had told him “we really should do a production group together," although he didn't give any more information whether or not that awesome possibility would actually be happening.
In terms of the sense of competitiveness between his two "brothers" Future and Young Thug, Metro had this to say: “You can’t have either one of them feel like you fucking with the other one more than them. Either one of them would be offended... Atlanta, man—everybody’s a male, there’s a lot of ego. Somebody gotta be number one. Neither one of them are the type to settle for number two. I feel like they both motivate each other, and it’s good for the culture and the music—just as long as it stay at that.” He even aspired to bring the two artists back together in the studio to make more music.
He also touched on the death of his friendBankroll Fresh, who was shot and killed in Atlanta back in March. “It’s surreal to me,” Metro said. “People die, people get murdered all the time. But Fresh? How can somebody so live die? He’d be at my house like, ‘Man, once I start getting my show money up, I’m pulling up right back here, I’mma just start giving you money. Ten thousand dollars, fifteen thousand dollars—boom boom boom!’” It's clear that the loss affected him, and he even revealed that he had started carrying a gun due to concerns about his own safety.
Metro also discusses his come up, the making of What a Time to Be Alive, and more. You can check out the interview in its entirety here.
