Metro Boomin didn't invent the foggy, ominous trap sound that has defined Atlanta rap for at least the last 15 years, but he has definitely emerged as its most famous producer, and arguably its best. Even as that sound has become numb and repetitive, Metro has found ways to make it feel exciting. Last year, for instance. Metro and longtime collaborator Future released two albums, We Don't Trust You and We Still Don't Trust You, that reset the balance of power at rap's highest levels. Metro and Future's "Like That" kicked off the Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef, and then Metro got in on it further when his "BBL Drizzy" beat went mega-viral. But on a new project, Metro has forsaken his signature sound to make something much fizzier and more lightweight, something that explicitly calls back to the Atlanta swag-rap style of the late '00s and early '10s.
Earlier this week, Metro Boomin announced his new compilation album A Futuristic Summa, and that album is already out. Metro's last high-profile solo album was 2022's Heroes & Villains, an epic all-star churn. A Futuristic Summa goes in the opposite direction. It's a celebration of light, fizzy, exuberant mixtape sounds, the stuff that Metro loved when he was in high school. The tape has appearances from many of the present-day stars that you'd expect to hear on a Metro Boomin record: Future, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Quavo. But even when those guys show up, there here to indulge in giddy Auto-Tuned melodies and dinky ringtone beats -- that real "Swag Surfin'" stuff.
Metro also brought in Atlanta mixtape all-stars from a bunch of different eras: Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame, Young Dro, Yung LA, Roscoe Dash, Travis Porter, Skooly, Shad Da God, Rocko, J Money, 2 Chainz, T.I. There are certainly some problematic figures in there. Metro himself might be a problematic figure; he was sued for an alleged rape last year. You can't automatically make it 2009 again just by making some very 2009 music. But I have long wondered what's going to break the stasis of big-deal rap music, and 2009 music might be the answer. You can hear A Futuristic Summa below.
A Futuristic Summa is out now on Boominati Worldwide/Mercury/Republic.
