Consider playing the following sequence of images in your mind:
Cold air whooshing against your face, the night is restless as it groans with promises of sinister forces at work. You’re standing on the top floor of your lavish headquarters, a tangible result of all the blood, sweat and tears you’ve shed throughout the years. However, you’re nowhere near the end of questioning what exactly draws the unreasonably fine line between the makings of a hero and a villain. The path laid out for you is impossible, but you know you’re the only one that can do it. Against the sky that only seems to get darker with each passing second, a bright orange fire threatens to blow open the remains of a freshly defaced building. The flames are blistering and unforgiving, and your inner turmoil takes a backseat when you see a familiar figure emerging from them.
You were somewhat of an urban legend, a superhero so overwhelmingly successful in your endeavours that the city was willing to worship the very ground you walked upon. But tonight, your people needed a hero more than they needed that legacy.
Metro Boomin, producer extraordinaire, bases his latest album “Heroes and Villains” on this concept. One of the most ambitious projects rolled out in the latter half of 2022, it serves as the second instalment of the trilogy that was kickstarted with 2018’s “Not All Heroes Wear Capes”. From the get-go, it’s glaringly apparent that this set of 15 tracks was the precipitation of a precise and passionate vision, with its carefully sculpted narrative accompanied by a thrilling short film by Gibson Hazard. The ingenious promotional tactic of using 80’s superhero comic-inspired posters to announce all of the features on this album also worked wonders for the album’s world-building.
I think it’s safe to say this vision knocked the socks off the music industry’s metaphorical feet.
For many listeners including myself, Heroes and Villains is a throwback to trap music at its full glory. Featuring artists like Future, 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Gunna, Don Toliver, Mustafa and Young Nudy, the album is loyal to this lineup throughout its duration. A recurring roster of artists usually fosters monotony, but if there’s anything “Young Metro” (as one of his producer tags famously dubs him) is good at, it would definitely have to be making an artist own a track.
Another contender for what Metro Boomin does best would be his stylistic choices production-wise. Many music enthusiasts claim his work has contributed immensely to the hip-hop/rap industry’s growth in the last ten years. With sleek, ice-cold synths, rich basslines and incredibly catchy hook-refrain patterns, his work is often impossible to not recognise. Think of Congratulations by Post Malone, Heartless by The Weeknd, and Mask Off by Future as chart-topping demonstrations of Metro’s style.
Coming to the tracklist, the album has some hard hits, a few misses, and a few “helper” tracks that continuity wouldn’t be established without, but ironically feel incomplete when played by themselves. This is because it was designed to form a contrasting narrative with the features singing about increasingly ambiguous themes. Was he the hero, or the villain?
I believe Heroes and Villains should be judged the way one would initially judge a movie: by the quality of the actors’ performances.
Metro plays it safe with the features but not without a few minor twists. Longtime creative partners 21 Savage, Future, and Travis Scott are given a significant portion of “listen time” (like say, screen time :]), while Don Toliver, Mustafa, and A$AP Rocky act as capable vessels for keeping the psychedelic influences afloat.
All of the rappers being well-seasoned players in the industry mostly do not disappoint with the flows and deliveries on their parts. However, special credits to Travis Scott and Young Thug must be given where they are due. It’s been a hot minute since Travis Scott has been associated with his art and not legal scandals, and his tracks remind you of the insane atmosphere he is capable of bringing to the table. “Raindrops” and “Niagara Falls” are where he manages to peak and deliver some of his best verses to date. He succeeds in spinning his old flows and his signature cadences into a more modern package, and also manages to (re)set the bar high for his upcoming album.
Young Thug is one of those artists I always keep an eye out for because of his consistent versatility. He manages to contribute a huge deal to “Trance” alongside Travis Scott and play into the “trance” the silk-smooth melody and heavy 808s send you into. On “Metro Spider”, he blazes through with cut-throat delivery, and the contrast in energy levels compared to “Trance” is mesmerising to experience. Combined with the seamless shift to “I Can’t Save You”, this section of the album is my personal favourite as it combines excellent production, powerhouse delivery and a satisfactory ode to the concept being delved into effortlessly.
Future did full justice to his verses, they were quite enjoyable to listen to and appreciate his professional longevity. “Superhero”, with its brash funeral horn motif, manages to capture the sheer genius of his bulldozer-style delivery whilst also fading into something much darker at the end. 21 Savage, while also skilled, fails to bring out the range one requires for repeated features to not turn into listening fodder. This is accentuated by verse placement, like for instance, on hit track “Creepin’” featuring The Weeknd. There is nothing shoddy about 21, he always shines with his slash horror-inspired lyrics and eerie, shady delivery on most of his personal projects. But a 21 verse struggling to flow sandwiched in between The Weeknd’s siren-like vocals? Ouch. Despite this, 21 peaks on “Walk ‘em Down” with Mustafa, a raw, sombre track on being trapped in a lifestyle of violence.
Don Toliver is a delight as he glides on the melodies, switching from laid-back song-rap to heavier verses without skipping a beat. “Too Many Nights” is an auditory feast for this very reason. Gunna is well adjusted on bonus track “All The Money”, and A$AP Rocky along with the late Takeoff succeeds in making “Feel the Fiyaaaah” (that’s exactly how you spell it) one of the most memorable tracks on the album.
Overall, Metro’s latest project is undoubtedly an idea executed right. With mind-boggling transitions (something I geeked out over), a lore-rich narration, and strong performances from the features, it is certainly worthy enough to have charted the way it did. Whether you’re a hip-hop enthusiast, an action movie buff, or someone looking for new kinds of music to explore, there’s something for everyone in Heroes and Villains. Let me know what you thought of the album in the comments!
(P.S. please listen without shuffling, do Not miss those transitions.)
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