Metro Boomin Teaches How To Make Beats In 5 Steps
“I’m a producer who doesn’t rap, so I have to speak through like the production of it. It’s not even like a lot of those beats don’t start out like that in the beginning. A lot of them will just be like skeletons of stuff like… ideas, just to get an idea going.
Then an artist might do some ideas on it and I’ll go back in and f**k with it some more. Have an other producer come back and f**k with it some more then have the artist come back in” - Metro Boomin on the Full Send podcast (5:32)
In this clip from Metro Boomin, we see one of the cornerstones of the process that’s made the St. Louis born, ATL-molded producer into a modern day great, the consistent and persistent living of an age old proverb…
#1 Patience is A Virtue
A prodigy who crafted his first beat at just 13, Metro’s grasp of the sonics that elevate the work of rappers to unforeseen heights is so acute that The Fader’s 2016 piece which labeled him “the most trusted man in rap” has proven to be anything but an exaggeration.
“Future treats our like ears like they’re his”, he told Forbes. “We’ll mix a whole album and he won’t even hear it but he knows we’ll have it in the right place.”
A pioneer in the trap lane, Metro may have started with youthfulness on his side, but it didn’t come with the impetuousness that’s expected of teenagers. From the outset of his career as a beatmaker on fruity loops through to acquiring his most iconic placements, Metro has been fixated on producing the best work possible.
As a result, he’s mindful of the fact that quality work, let alone music which becomes beloved by the masses, can’t be manufactured to a stringent timeline and sometimes, a bit of back and forth can be pivotal to create a hit.
Undaunted by the process of devoting hours, if not days, to a track, Metro garnered his unimpeachable reputation as one of the game’s finest producers through putting in the work to give his finest beats a distinct, iconic flavour that not only allowed him to convey what he wanted to say, but were the perfect, often person-specified templates for the MC’s to build off.
As a result, Metro didn’t shy away from taking two years to curate his latest project, Heroes & Villains, alongside an all star cast of artists,
And on the subject of the MC’s that Metro has made into his closest co-conspirators over the years, this brings us to the next key step in Metro’s rise to the upper echelons of the production world.
#2 Become Synonymous With A Movement
“Going to Atlanta, what did that do to your sound, like, going over there and f******g with the vibe there?
Metro- Well, when I was younger, around that age, when I first started going to Atlanta, I was like 15… I feel like I was already heavily influenced, Gucci Mane has always been one of my favourite rappers. Um, so many. Tip, Jeezy. So, going down there, Don Cannon had reached out through somebody who used to manage me called Caveman,
He put me with [OJ Da] Juiceman. I was just a working man, moving around, trying to make a name. Eventually Juiceman introduced me to Gucci and then from there, I just kept going. That’s establishing those relationships from 16 to 28. I was down there when Flocka was coming out. But yeah bruh, It was a blessing, just soaking up all that game. It didn’t just influence my sound.” - Metro on Million Dollaz Of Game -(10:02).
Although he was an outsider to the ATL, Metro’s propensity to deliver some of the hardest trap beats imaginable meant that he was a seamless fit during the embryonic days of the scene that would go on to dominate hip-hop in the 2010’s decade.
As he explained to Wallo 267 and Gillie The Kid in the clip above, his decision to consolidate his efforts on becoming an integral part of the ATL’s rap sphere not only meant that he got plenty of practice honing his craft, but also made connections that would later facilitate some of his biggest hits.
By keeping his ear to the ground and fraternizing with the legends that he grew up listening to, Metro’s services became a hot commodity and meant that no ATLien’s career was complete without a beat from the Boomiverse headquarters, And over time, his position of being tapped into Atlanta meant that when new talents such as 21 Savage emerged, he was on hand to help to guide them. Unsurprisingly, leaving an indelible imprint on one city’s sound was a conscious decision on his part-
“I plan on making my mark on the legacy of hip-hop, period” he told Forbes. “but, also in Atlanta production because there’s a lot of history there.”
Now, if you yourself are an artist or a producer who would like to create classics directly with artists in a seamless, collaborative fashion the way Metro Boomin has been describing, be sure to pick up our free video course “The Top 20 Songwriting Secrets of Professional Rappers” where you’ll get 20 free tips on how to make a full-time income from writing and producing rap songs directly from people who’ve done it by clicking HERE.
With that said, let’s hear Metro dive even deeper on how to go from “local to global” when thinking of how to leave your legacy on Hip-Hop:
#3 Serve the Song
“A lot of times when I make beats, it’s just like back when I was in high school. I was just makin’ em. A lot of times when I was making em’, you might get an idea like ok, so and so might sound good on this. Or like, when I’m in the mode for an actual album, it’ll be like ok, what do we need, what are we lacking, what do we need more of and we just go in on that, more focused. But generally, just making beats. I just make them and think oh, this could be cool for so and so. Or i might be in the studio with somebody and make something on the spot” - Metro on the Full Send podcast (6:23).
In this excerpt from Metro’s career spanning chat on Full Send, his message to budding producers is loud and clear- don’t overcomplicate the process.
A lot of times, the presumption is that once the stakes are higher and more eyes are on you, it’ll be wise to deviate from what brought you to the dance. But here, we see that even as the platinum plaques mounted up, Metro still felt an innate kinship with the young man that started out with nothing more than a dream.
For Metro, the keys to his success are the same as ever. Rather than forcing it, Metro simply let the beat happen organically. Don’t shoehorn in features where they don’t belong, nor collaborate with an artist simply based on prestige or their perceived buzz at the time.
As at all times, Metro is aiming to add to his pedigree and leave something behind that he can be proud of. When constructing Heroes & Villains, he envisioned Don Toliver portraying a role akin to what Nate Dogg did on Dr Dre’s landmark record Chronic 2001.
And while this may seem lofty, if not bordering on arrogance, if you don’t think your art can be that impactful, then why should anyone else?
Whatever you’re making and whomever you’re doing it with, it’s on you to make it memorable. And, as Metro’s next words of wisdom will illustrate, always, always do what’s best for your beat.
#4 Do What’s Best For Your Beat
“In the past, there’s been times where certain people have had a beat or people want to do this. Sometimes, an artist might have a beat and I haven’t heard what they did or they haven’t really said anything about it and it might come out somewhere else or else they’re like I was gonna use that.
Well, like, you gotta let me know that.If you don’t say anything, this s**t gotta move. When I was younger, anytime i knew somebody had rapped on a beat or even had it, I wouldn’t send it to anybody else. Then a song would never come of it and it’s like I just wasted that s**t. I did that for years” - Metro Boomin on Full Send, (7:56)
They say that all is fair in love and war and as Metro illustrates, that undoubtedly applies to the music industry.
A lesson learnt that he unfortunately learned the hard way, being too courteous can have a damaging effect on your own forward momentum and, in extreme circumstances, could even lead to a beat being squandered entirely.
Alongside your creative output, Metro’s words speak to the need to be mindful of time management.
There are occasions where a beat, which is always going to be somewhat indebted to the contemporary era of the time by its very nature, will only have so long of a shelf life.
Even if you aren’t chasing trends, things only have so much time. So, it’s important to strike while the iron is hot before the gleam comes off of it.
As if Metro has had such a high success rate, the fact that tracks have simply collected dust logically means that there’s untold plaques and classic tracks that never saw the light of day.
While he understands that there is a degree of momentum that’s required, it should be noted that the world’s most popular producer also doesn’t approve of the concept of trying to pursue virality.
Instead, he believes in letting the song engage with the public on its own terms and when you consider how many hits he has, it’s evident that he’s onto something.
“The kids, one thing I’ve learned, after I heard Pharrell say it in an interview, is that the kids are always gonna sniff out the good s**t. Always. So, like if you just focus on that and bringing the shit and like, TikTok is where the kids is at. So, you put out a good album, it’s just going crazy on there bruh, versus you tryna like, cater, kinda like fake. Y’know what I’m sayin?” Metro on Full Send (53:50)
Rather than trying to manufacture a “hit”, Metro sticks to his guns to create the music that he feels best represents his capabilities and what the genre can be. A key element of his philosophy, this bleeds directly into our final teaching from the book of the Boomiverse and that is —
#5 Don’t Settle
“Even more so in the beginning like, I’mma let you know what I think and over the years, like the past decade, I’ve grown from more of a beatmaker role to more of a real producer role. To where like giving you feedback, I might give you some bars, I might help you start this off, I might let you know like yo, this was hard, but you started to lose me halfway through.
Let’s just fix that up I feel like that’s just as important if not more important than making the beats. I can’t just sit there in the studio and you’re just rapping on it and I might not like it and I’m just going with it like, ok. F**k it. No, we gotta try to make something out of it.” -Metro on Full Send– 9:14
In this excerpt, Metro refutes the notion that producers are only there to provide a backdrop for an artist to express themselves.For him and others like him, the concept of putting his name to a beat means that there’s an onus of responsibility on the artist to live up to their standards of quality control.
Even when you’re starting out, having this sort of dialogue with the artists who will execute their own craft over your production can be hugely beneficial as if they uphold their end of the bargain and the track is a hit, then it’s only going to benefit you both.
As touched upon earlier, production bleeds into your own self expression, not just the rappers’.
As a result, don’t be afraid to have your say and don’t feel compelled to allow your beat to be used for anything that doesn’t align with your own sensibilities.
Ultimately, that will skew the perception of both your work and you as an artist. In Metro’s eyes, this coaching aspect is vital to maximize the potential of his work and it’s an ethos that any producer or artist worth their salt will feel a strong connection to.
As he made clear in a recent interview with GQ, Metro feels a sense of obligation to create the best music he can.
“As the ambassador-representative of what’s going on, i look at it like a real responsibility”, he declared.
No matter what degree of acclaim you have, you should always approach your work as though it may one day be looked at as a sacred document of the genre. As if it worked for Metro and enabled him to make hit after hit, then it’s certainly good enough for you.
