Metro Boomin’ – “A Futuristic Summa” review

St. Louis producer, DJ & record executive Metro Boomin’ finally dropping off his highly anticipated 2nd mixtape. Gaining notoriety in the middle of the previous decade as one of the most in-demand beatsmiths in hip hop today, he’s gone on to produce some of the best trap projects of the decade in their entireties including Future’s 3rd album D.S. 2 (Dirty Sprite 2), Gucci Mane’s 53rd mixtape Droptopwop and the Offset/21 Savage collab tape Without Warning. It was until after Halloween 2018 when he put out his solo debut Not All Heroes Wear Capes & the 2022 sequel Heroes & Villains continued an ongoing trilogy by elevating his production game. A Futuristic Summa was announced earlier this month & we’re finally getting it weeks since the current 2-time World Heavyweight Champion Gunther retired WWE Hall of Famer, 4-time WWE world champion, WWE United States Champion & WCW World Tag Team Champion Bill Goldberg at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLI followed by former AEW Women’s World Champion Blake Monroe betraying former 3-time TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace & another former TNA Knockouts World Champion Naomi becoming a 3-time WWE women’s world champion by ending イヨ・スカイ’s 2nd reign as a WWE women’s world champion at Evolution II.

“I Want It All” by J Money after the “Black Migo Forever” intro starts with a decent futuristic swag opener talking about his desire for everything nice whereas “They Wanna Have Fun” by Gucci Mane, Quez & Young Dro co-produced by Zaytoven homages the Cyndi Lauper single “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with Quez’ verse in the middle being my least favorite of the 3. “Butterflies (Right Now)” by Roscoe Dash & Quavo goes for an Atlanta bass vibe so they can talk about doing the crime & time of killing pussy prior to “Take Me Thru Dere” by Quavo & YK Niece inferiorly continuing the themes of lust.

The colorful “Loose Screws” by Shad da God & Skooly blends pop rap & trap with the help of DK Spinz to discuss losing their mind if the baddies they’re seeing move in with them just before the first of 2 Young Dro solo cuts “Stealin’ All the Swag” cloudily talks about wanting his swagger back. “WTF Goin’” combines these pianos & hi-hats shrugging off the haters because they only add flavor to what he’s doing while “Issa Party” by Jose Guapo, Shad da God & Young Dro warmly talks about wanting hoes to hit their line to rock & move with them.

“Clap” has gotta be the most I’ve enjoyed a Waka Flocka Flame song in a minute putting his politics & that corny publicity stunt where he got “jumped” aside while the danceable “Slide” by Young Dro confesses he hasn’t been able to talk the same since meeting this woman he’s addressing. “My Lil Shit” by BunnaB, J Money & Meany throws it back to the ringtone era of late 2000s southern hip hop while “Still Turnt (Forever B$hot)” by Shad da God talks about still being lit to this very day.

J Money, Quavo & Waka Flocka Flame all link up on the synthesizer-woven “Drip BBQ” showing off their sauce as if they’re at a cookout while “I Go” by J Money holds the fort by himself to show off his wealthy possessions. “Make It Make Sense” by Rocko has a darker trap mood to it talking about shit being illogical if it it ain’t making any money while “I Like That” by Waka Flocka Flame & 2 Chainz despite Honorable C.N.O.T.E. producing it wasn’t too bad of a pop rap track.

“Birthday” by Metro Thuggin’ & Skooly uses a bunch of playful metaphors to speak about sex & confidence while “Don’t Stop Dancin’” by Lil Baby & Skooly talks about loving the way their partners dance. “U Deserve” by T.I. & Young Dro throws it back to Grand Hustle Records’ prime in the mid-late 2000s while “Overly Trimm” by Jose Guapo, Quavo, Shad da God, Skooly, Travis Porter & Young Dro made for a mild posse cut.

Future & 21 Savage deliver A Futuristic Summa’s smoothest moment “Partying & Drinking” talking about women who be acting like they’re single when having fun with their friends while “Jerry Curry (Love & Basketball” by Lil Baby & Yung L.A. references TKO Group Holdings co-founder Vince McMahon. The futuristic swag closer “I Need (Where U From)” by J Money, Lil Baby, Roscoe Dash & 2 Chainz sends off the tape with all 4 of them asking the women they’re dating about their sets.

Taking the aesthetics of early 2010s mainstream Atlanta hip hop & putting some modern touches on it, A Futuristic Summa will feel nostalgic to anyone like me who was in middle school when songs like “Lemonade” or “Hard in da Paint” were dominating the airwaves. Metro Boomin’s production easily sticks out as the best part of the whole thing diverting from trap to experiment with futuristic swag, plugg, Atlanta bass & contemporary R&B. However, the guests’ performances are more hit or miss compared to Heroes & Villains.

Score: 3/5

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Southside – “Break the Silence” review

Southside is a 35 year old producer, rapper & songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia notable for co-founding the 808 Mafia with Lex Luger as well as being 1/2 of the duo So Icey Boyz with Metro Boomin’ in addition to the 7 solo mixtapes of his discography. Most notably the Free Agent trilogy & both Trap Ye installments. However for Sizzle’s official full-length solo debut album Break the Silence, he’s having it backed by Epic Records.

“Switch” is a 2-part trap opener with a mostly cloudy sound until the regalia influences come up during the last minute or so flexing that he’s been going strong from the start whereas “Uber” has more of a rage-inducing vibe overall talking about moving on to for a new bitch because he “got bored as shit”. “Bape” hooks up some bells & hi-hats paying homage to one of my all-time favorite clothing brands A Bathing Ape, but then “Excite Me” goes for a grimmer atmosphere saying that the bread excites him.

Meanwhile on “Drive Thru”, we have Southside bringing a psychedelic trap flare to the table cautioning that he can make muhfuckas disappear telling it how it is with everyone on the sidelines hating just before “Hoes” goes hypertrap thanks to TM88 talking about how his new girl being little rather than a hoe. “Break a Promise” works in bells & hi-hats admitting that he promised one of his exes the world only for him to break it leading into the 2 minute “In This Bih” findin’ him stuntin’ in the spot.

“Topp” heads for a cloudier direction instrumentally from it’s titular producer suggesting those who lost their smell of money should be called COVID while the atmospheric trap joint “Broadway” lets the world know that he’s living with his heart again. The rattling “Blockstar” that Smatt Sertified laced with his monitor obviously given the title discusses his status in the hood & shit getting wicked prior to “Run a Mile” drawing from rage scene again feelin’ like people changed on him ever since his bread went up.

Starting the final leg of Break the Silence, the song “Vette Pass By” gives off a morbid flare to the beat to call most out here pussy while the 90 second “Ain’t Nothin’” talks about not seeing numbers first & that makes me happy because neither do I myself. “My Kitchen” is another 2-parter with a Hellish first half going hypertrap for the other declaring that no one knows how to fuck with him out here & finally “No Disguise” interestingly ends on some drumless chipmunk soul shit advising that you ain’t cool ‘cause you rich.

We haven’t heard from Sizzle since the Southside & ChaseTheMoney EP fully produced by the latter & I’d suggest listening to both Trap Ye tapes if you really want to hear what the 808 Mafia co-founder at his best on the mic. As for his first proper solo LP, it’s alright. His distinctly known gangster, bombastic, gritty, rambunctious & menacing trap sound compared to that of his collaborators takes a backseat sticking to regular trap additionally pulling from the rage subgenre which funny enough takes cues from Pi’erre Bourne’s production style & I prefer Pi’erre as a rapper than Southside although both are on the Mt. Rushmore of trap producers with Metro & Zaytoven.

Score: 3/5

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Metro Boomin’ – “Not All Heroes Wear Capes 2: Heroes & Villains” review

This is the 2nd full-length solo album from St. Louis, Missouri producer, DJ & record executive Metro Boomin’. Gaining notoriety in the middle of the previous decade as one of the most in-demand beatsmiths in hip hop today, he’s gone on to produce some of the best trap projects of the decade in their entireties including Future’s 3rd album D.S. 2 (Dirty Sprite 2) as well as Gucci Mane’s 53rd mixtape Droptopwop and the Offset/21 Savage collab tape Without Warning. It was until after Halloween 2018 when he put out his solo debut Not All Heroes Wear Capes & with it’s 4 year anniversary passing by last month, Metro’s looking to make a trilogy out of it by dropping the sequel Heroes & Villains.

“On Time” by John Legend is an incredibly symphonic opener to the album produced with & TM88 singing about how he can’t take no days off prior to a ghostly switch-up sampling Homelander from the Amazon-owned Prime Video original series The Boys as well as a spoken word outro from both Morgan Freeman & A$AP Rocky whereas “Superheroes (Heroes & Villains)” starts off with Future over some triumphant trap production spitting braggadocio until a somber beat switch as Chris Brown asking who the villain really is. “Too Many Nights” by Don Toliver & Future takes a more bassy yet moodier route with the help of Honorable C.N.O.T.E. & Allen Ritter, but then “Raindrops (Insane)” by Travis Scott embraces a cloudier vibe talking about double cupping his pain.

Meanwhile on the piano/trap-laced “Umbrella”, we have real life cousins Young Nudy & 21 Savage linking up to spit some gangsta bars leading into the appropriately hypnotic “Trance” by Cactus Slatt talking about possibly giving this bitch a chance. “Around Me” is a full-fledged Don Toliver solo cut with dance-inspired groove admitting to seeing enough whirls for 1 night just before “Metro Spider” finds Metro Thuggin’ reuniting for a ghoulish trap hit flexing Young Thug’s entrepreneur lifestyle.

“I Can’t Save You” by Don Toliver works in some hi-hats & an incredibly cinematic loop to remind the world that you can’t save a hoe while “Creepin’” by The Weeknd & 21 Savage finds the 2 joining forces for a wavy alternative R&B/pop trap ballad telling their significant others that they don’t want to know about them creepin’ on them if that happens to be the case. “Niagara Falls (Foot or 2)” by Travis & 21 however is another piano/trap hybrid showing off the extravagant way they live while “Walk ‘Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians)” starts off with 21 over some rich chords representing destruction until a powerful beat-switch & Mustafa singing about being done for.

The penultimate track “Lock on Me” by Future & Travis Scott is a shimmering trap cut bragging that they had to switch new foreigns while the closer “Feel the Fiyaaah” by A$AP Rocky & the late Takeoff hooks up a soul sample with some hi-hats asking why they greedy like wolves. “All the Money” by Gunna however serves as a bonus cut with a flute/trap instrumental talking about exactly what he wants this time around.

Metro has always been a top tier producer in the trap subgenre of hip hop in my opinion & this is one of those instances where the sequel album is superior to the predecessor. It’s more conceptual, his sample choices are remarkably well picked & the guests all provide their unique flavor with them sounding actually enthusiastic to be on here rather than phoning it in. If Yung Metro hasn’t earned your respect by now with the evolution he’s shown here, then I don’t know what to tell you.

Score: 4/5

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