Future and Metro Boomin are out for blood in these collaborative PROJECTs.
After the release of 2022's HEROES AND VILLAINS, Metro Boomin capped off an insane run of songs, albums, and projects that solidified him as one of the most reliable hit makers in modern rap. Producing the soundtrack to Across the Spider-Verse was just the victory lap. Pair him with the iconic trap artist Future, and you have a recipe for a successful trap album that 2024 has been desperately missing.
WE DON’T TRUST YOU may be far from these two’s first collaboration, but an entire joint project from these two highlights their strengths. Future’s minimalist hooks float over Metro’s icy melodies and hard hitting 808s.
Some people may look at a song like Type S*** or Claustrophobic as repetitive, or use an outdated term like “Mumble Rap.” But these songs are prime examples of minimalism executed at its finest. You can really feel every rhyme and take in the instrumentals. And, to be honest, not much needs to be said in these songs. This project thrives off of its subject matter- a throwback to a time of competition.
The theme of competition is prevalent throughout the runtime of the project. The first song, the eponymous WE DON’T TRUST YOU lays it out clearly.
Future and Metro’s positions in rap have been solidified, and they know it.
The features do their best to add some variety to the project. Travis Scott gives two features on the songs
Cinderella and Type S***. While Cinderella is a standout track, Travis brings a slight change in sound and
not much else. Another artist who’s derived much inspiration from Future over the years is Playboi Carti, who’s also recently returned from a hiatus. While I actually feel quite positively towards his new direction and sound in his recent music, his verse isn’t one of his best, being a bit too loose and aimless.
Rick Ross also makes a surprise feature on the song Everyday Hustle. The song is a very nice throwback to an older sound in hip hop, with a pleasant soul sample and some powerful verses from Rick Ross highlighting his wealth and position in life.
But, when it comes to the features, the one with the most buzz has to be Kendrick Lamar’s surprise feature in the song Like That.
In under a minute, Kendrick took the rug out from some of the biggest names in hip hop.
Despite being mostly absent for the better part of five years before the release of 2022’s Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar is still regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time and had to remind his competition lest they get too comfortable.
With shots thrown directly at J. Cole and Drake, the responses from both rappers initially only fueled the fire of Kendrick Lamar and his fans. There were a few Instagram captions from Drake, and a diss track and mixtape from Cole that he immediately apologized for and took back. Yikes.
But, following the release of WE DON’T TRUST YOU, the trajectory of stories in hip hop this year have dramatically switched focus.
Not only did the pair drop the sequel WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU only three weeks after the release of the original, but this time they turned the heat up and threw several new twists in the saga. Why is J Cole making an appearance after being dissed? And why’s he going after Drake now?
ASAP Rocky also makes an appearance on the track Show Of Hands, where he also has some words for the Toronto rapper.
It seems everybody has some sort of problem with the highest streaming rapper in the game.
While Drake’s response was initially weak, a few days ago an entire diss track was leaked onto the internet.
When it was recorded and how it was leaked is currently unknown, but the message is clear: Drake can hold his own. Reminiscent of his 2015 hit Back To Back, the leak is three minutes of verse after verse tearing down his entire competition.
Unfortunately, outside of the mess that the project has made in the industry, the music of WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU doesn’t hold up near as well as the first. Production wise, the RnB focus is a great shakeup, and Metro has a talent for making simple but gorgeous sounding tracks. However, Future doesn’t hold up his end of the deal. While I appreciate the minimalism, he’s really stretching how far he can take his usual style, and it creates some really unpleasant vocal performances.
At two discs and 25 tracks, the project also contains way more filler and fluff like Drink and Dance and This Sunday in between genuinely great songs like the title track, Show of Hands, and Always be My Fault. While the first album was on the longer side, each track was unique and belonged on the track list. But with the sequel, you could honestly leave out about ten tracks without any major effect to the record.
Overall, I think this dual release has driven an interesting wedge in the broader discussion of modern Hip Hop. While the first album isn’t anything particularly new or unique, and the second takes the opposite approach for worse results, this project is the type of major release the year needed.