Metro Boomin has returned in full force with his sophomore studio album, Heroes & Villains.
The celebrated producer’s follow-up to Not All Heroes Wear Capes—his star-studded, chart-topping 2018 release—features a who’s who list of collaborators like The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, and the late Takeoff. 21 Savage, Travis Scott, and Future all boast four appearances; Don Toliver shows up three times, and Young Thug twice. Also included on the 15-song project are Gunna, Chris Brown, Young Nudy, John Legend, and Mustafa the Poet.
Metro took a creative approach in announcing their involvement, sharing comic book-style illustrations while playing up the “heroes and villains” theme by asking fans, “Which side do you think he’s on?”
Metro Boomin teased fans on what was to come this week with an action-packed short film. Directed by Gibson Hazard and co-written by Hazard and Van Courtney, the near-six-minute clip stars Metro alongside Young Thug, Gunna, LaKeith Stanfield, and the legend Morgan Freeman, who previously worked with Metro by narrating his 21 Savage collaborative album Savage Mode II.
Included in the creative rollout for Heroes & Villains was a digital comic book featuring artists that appeared on the album. But that wasn’t all. Metro also partnered with Spotify and Proto to showcase a hologram of himself making a beat at locations in Los Angeles and Miami. Additionally, a Batman-like signal of Metro was projected in Paris, London, Sydney, and Toronto.
While it’s been four years since Not All Heroes Wear Capes, Metro has stayed busy, working on the aforementioned Savage Mode II with 21 Savage, connecting with Offset on multiple songs for Father of 4, contributing to a number of tracks on The Weeknd’s After Hours—including “Heartless,” which went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100—as well as collaborating with Drake (“Knife Talk”), Solange (“Stay Flo”), and Coldplay (“Let Somebody Go”). The latter record earned him his first Grammy nomination as Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres was nominated for Album of the Year.
Metro—who Complex named Best Hip-Hop Producer Alive in 2015 and 2016—is looking to again prove one why he’s one of the most consistent producers of our generation. Grab Heroes & Villains on Metro’s website here, see official visualizers for the songs on YouTube, and stream the record—which got a Heroes Version on Monday that includes the instrumentals for all 15 tracks—below.
