Metro Boomin Explains How 'What a Time To Be Alive' Came Together

He also tells a story about him and Young Thug linking up with Kanye West on the Rap Radar Podcast.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Metro Boomin is having quite a year. The Atlanta-based producer is the mastermind behind two No. 1 albums—Dirty Sprite 2 and What a Time To Be Alive—and continues to push his brand through fire DJ sets. Now that the dust has settled after the release of WATTBA, Metro spoke about the process of recording with Drake and Future for six days in Atlanta, as well as shared some crazy stories about Puff Daddy, Kanye West, Gucci Mane and more on the Rap Radar Podcast. The 22-year-old St. Louis native was open throughout the hour-plus interview, revealing things like how Nelly made him want to rap. He even gave an update on his future releases: his solo project, Metro Thuggin and Esco Boomin.

On how WATTBA came together: “We shot the ‘Where Ya At’ video a few months ago. That same year, it was two times before that that I seen Drake. Like, we’d be in the studio and he’d be like, ‘Yo, we gotta do that tape.’ But he’d be laughing. I don’t know he’d be serious. Like, he would just be talking about me and him. I don’t know what he was talking about. Then we got to the ‘Where Ya At’ video, and the conversation came up again. He was telling Future and Esco, ‘Yeah, I’ve been telling Metro let’s do the tape.’ I was like, ‘Oh shit. Alright, this ni**a is pretty serious.’ He was like, ‘Fuck it, we gonna come to Atlanta.’ And two weeks later, we had the studio [Tree Sound] rented out for like six days.”

On if Drake’s style meshes well with Metro’s sound: “People will always say whatever about anything. Nothing can be perfect and really appease to everybody. Mostly everybody? Like, I’m cool with the majority. I feel like it is just their own world. I feel like this one project, this is their own world, their own planet. It’s not really Drake jumping into Future’s world, Future jumping into Drake’s world.”

On almost linking up with Kanye West: “I was with [Young] Thug one time. We was on the way to Kanye’s house. At this point, I had never met him. I still barely know that ni**a. [Laughs.] I met him one time with Travi$ [Scott] and I seen him one other time. But Thug was there before that. We just recorded ‘Chanel Vintage’ in LA. Thug was out there the day before that. We was supposed to go the next day. Long story short cause I was sleeping in the car. I guess the person driving was speeding or whatever, and we got pulled over. You know, cops always smell weed. Shit like that. Ni**as was smoking in the car or whatever. It gets to the search and they find something and it’s a situation. Thug’s a pro. He stashed a lot. He stashed a whole lot. He really amazed me. It was all good. We made it through the situation but we just had to go straight back to Atlanta.”

On Gucci Mane’s ability to spot talent: “He has a great eye for talent, and he’s such a big influence on all of us. Everybody looks up to him in a way, even as far as rapping or whatever. He was really the only ni**a of his status, like we always looked at him as a legend. [He’s] the only legend to reach down to us.”

You can listen to the entire interview here.

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