Metro Boomin wants not to be predictable

Most record producers will freely admit their aspiration to be a performer before settling for production work. There are only a handful who quickly realise their special talent is in the studio rather than on stage.St. Louis native Leland Tyler Wayne fits neatly into this category. The 25-year-old is better known now as Metro Boomin. As a child, young Leland found production was much more enjoyable than rapping.“I got into the idea of being a rapper through Nelly’s Country Grammar album. Nelly was also from St. Louis and listening to his songs made me want to be the next big-name rapper from our city.“I was already into playing music. I played bass guitar in seventh grade band class at school. I got into production after my mom bought me a computer for Christmas. Friends told me about this FruityLoops software which was a free download and could be used to create songs.“The problem was I needed some beats to rap over and didn’t have the money to buy any. I started trying to make my own beats and found this was a much more interesting and fun way to spend my time rather than trying to rap.”He soon realised there were far more people who wanted to rap than wanted to produce. These prospective rappers needed beats and he could provide them. In high school, he was creating four or five beats virtually every day.“Everything was going well but my mom had an academic career planned out for me. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to convince her my future lay in music production. I put together a document filled with what I’d already achieved and the online research I’d done on the artistes I wanted to work with. Mom gave me her blessing so long as I stayed in school.“Atlanta’s hip hop scene had really taken off at that time. I’d used social media to connect with those southern rappers who were looking for beats. My mom could see I was really starting to make it in production and drove me between St. Louis and Atlanta, about 17 hours, so that I could work with these artistes on weekends. I was in the studio on weekends with people like OJ Da Juiceman and Gucci Mane and then back in high school on Monday morning.It was OJ Da Juiceman’s enthusiasm for his work which effectively gave Leland his professional name.“I’d called myself Metro. That came from the name of a bus line in St. Louis. But OJ kept saying my beats were booming. I liked the idea of having two names rather than just the one so I changed from Metro to Metro Boomin.In 2012, Leland gained a place at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He was now on hand to work with local artistes but still emphasised his education by only working in the studio during his free time. Things came to a head when Karate Chop, his collaboration with Future, became a big hit.“I made the beat when I was still in St. Louis. I didn’t particularly like it. Future actually did the rap for Karate Chop when I wasn’t in the studio with him.“He played me the track and I still didn’t like it even with the lyrics. He kept playing it for everyone who came to the studio. It didn’t grow on me, no matter how many times I heard the song. I was very pleased that so many other people had a completely different view.”The ever increasing demand for Leland’s beats prompted a difficult phone call to his mother.“I’d go to the studio after class, not just at weekends. I would often be working long after midnight and then have to get up early to go to class. Add in all the homework and it was just too much.“I knew I had to choose between college and music. I called my mom and told her I wanted to take a semester off. She was not happy. At the time, it was just going to be a semester rather than completely leaving college so that didn’t sound so bad. But mom has always been my biggest supporter and I’m so happy to be able to give her all the things she deserves.”He is able to do so because, nearly six years later, Metro Boomin is acknowledged as hip hop’s premier producer. He has worked with almost every major name in the genre. Drake, Kanye West, The Weeknd and Travis Scott are just a few of these artistes.He has also released music under his own name. But apart from the 2013 mixtape, 19 & Boomin, everything has been in collaboration with other artistes. He enjoyed a pair of massive hit albums on the Billboard 200 last year. But Without Warning was a collaboration with Offset and 21 Savage while Double or Nothing was with Big Sean.Now though, Metro Boomin has finally released his debut solo album. Not All Heroes Wear Capes has proved hugely successful. It debuted at number one on the Top Rap Albums chart, the Top R&B / Hip Hop Albums chart and the Billboard 200.Although he has co-written and produced or co-produced every track, it does seem a little incongruous to describe the album as a solo record. As with so many other producers, Metro Boomin relies on a collection of artistes to provide vocals for each song.Not that he is concerned about how the album is described. His only objective is to keep producing quality material.“I always want to keep moving forward. People probably won’t understand this but I’ve never really felt like I’ve made it. I just think I’ve made a good start to my career but there is still so much more to do. I always try not to be predictable. I try to be versatile and to keep breaking new ground in the field of production. I want to create songs which will live forever.”Ariana GrandeAriana Grande might be having a rough time in her personal life at the moment but her professional life could hardly be much better.The singer, songwriter and actress is enjoying her first Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper with Thank U, Next, the lead single and title-track from her forthcoming fifth studio album. The song debuted at number one becoming the 32nd single to do so on the Hot 100. It matched this feat on the UK chart and became Ariana’s first track to top the Canadian chart.Thank U, Next also established new records on Spotify. It initially broke the record for most streams in a single day by a female artist. But the mark of 8.19 million streams set on November 5 was surpassed four days later when the song registered 9.6 million streams. It then hit 100 million streams just 11 days after release becoming the fastest track to that number in Spotify history.Although Thank U, Next is Ariana’s first number one on Billboard’s Hot 100, it set a new record as her seventh song to debut in the top ten. Lady Gaga and Rihanna had previously shared the record with Ariana.She also extended her record of debuting in the Hot 100 top ten with the lead single from all five of her studio albums.Surprisingly, there is no official video for Thank U, Next. One should surely be available soon but fans currently have just an official audio at www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OeR5XBEahU, a lyric video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhZAHZQyf4 and a live performance on the Ellen De Generes show at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX_vx_s6Gr0Cardi BMusic stars can become extremely wealthy but it takes a while for the money to reach them when they start out in the business.So, it is that only now has rap star Cardi B been able to enjoy what she described as the happiest day of her life. Her delight came about from buying a dream home in New York for her mother.Cardi shared her joy with fans by posting a video on her Instagram page showing a walk-through of her mother’s new house.“I was so thirsty to buy a house for my mom last year,” she said. “But the kind of house I wanted her to have wasn’t in my price range at the time. I worked and worked to make the extra money and now I’m here. Thank you to everybody who supported me to make my childhood dream come true.”In other news, Cardi’s income received a considerable boost from the sales of her first clothing collection. She teamed with the Fashion Nova company to create 82 pieces which proved so popular that they sold out in minutes. The sales reportedly earned Cardi $10 million.“Fashion Nova gave me the opportunity to design whatever I liked,” she stated. “I wanted people to look good and high end but at an affordable price.”