A densely layered multimedia project that combines music, comic book art, holograms and mini-movies, Metro Boomin’s “Heroes & Villains” is wildly ambitious. That scope and vision comes through in the music.
“Superhero” sets the tone for the album with its propulsive beats and “The Dark Knight”-referencing Kanye West sample, while “Creepin’” finds the producer rebuilding Mario Winans’ 2004 classic “I Don’t Wanna Know” from the ground up. Pulling together disparate sounds and influences is Metro Boomin’s superpower, used to full effect on “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” featuring Future and Chris Brown, which first surfaced online in 2021.
“We did the song probably a couple of years before it dropped,” Metro remembers. When the sweeping track reappeared in late 2022, it had a new outro and a clip of Jay-Z ruminating on living “long enough to see yourself become a villain.”
The Batman-referencing line stems from West’s “So Appalled,” which Metro Boomin revisited by chance. “I was in the car one day and I was listening to [West’s 2010 album] ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,’ and it came on,” he says. “I heard the line and it stuck out to me.”
Allen Ritter, one of the song’s co-producers, calls the sample “foundational” for the whole project. “It’s not just a sample,” he says. “It’s a foreshadowing of the album’s tone and narrative.” Ritter contributed to the new outro of “Superhero.” He played Metro a sample during a studio visit, and it caught the producer’s attention.
The next time Ritter heard “Superhero,” his piano keys and bass line were present. “It was amazing to see how he integrated my part into the track,” he says. “It felt like the music was narrating a scene where the hero, after defeating the villains, is on his way back to the cave.”
The origin story for “Creepin’,” a collaboration with the Weeknd and 21 Savage, is filled with just as many twists and turns. DaHeala, who produced the original demo and co-produced Metro Boomin’s over-haul, remembers that the idea for giving Winans’ hit a modern makeover was planted back in 2018.
“During the creation of [the Weeknd’s 2020 album] ‘After Hours,’” DaHeala says, “Abel [Tesfaye] brought up the idea of redoing a version of ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ and including Mario somehow. Fast-forward to 2021: Metro was halfway through ‘Heroes & Villains’ and was working on getting Abel on a song, which led to Abel sending the rough demo of what we had started in 2018. Metro brought the whole thing together from that point on.”
DaHeala knew the track was in the most capable hands. “Metro is a genius when it comes to turning a demo or idea into a song that transcends generations.”
It helped that Metro had a long-established working relationship with Winans, who provides background vocals on the song. “Mario’s been my brother — a mentor-type figure in my life and my career,” he says. Metro turned to Winans for guidance on the record. The end result was one of the biggest singles of 2023. “It resonated so well because it’s an anthem among anthems,” Ritter says. “It aligns perfectly with the album’s theme of superheroes and villains, providing that gritty, high-energy superhero sound.”
And just when that song had run its course, Metro Boomin hit them with the battle-tested “Creepin’” — a one-two punch, just like from one of the heroes who populate the album.
SONG: ‘Creepin’’ by the Weeknd and 21 Savage
SONGWRITERS: Chauncey Lamont Hawkins, Erick Sermon, Parrish Smith, Michael Jones, Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, Roma Ryan, Nicky Ryan, Mario Winans
LABEL: Republic
SONG: ‘Superhero (Heroes & Villains)’ by Metro Boomin featuring Future and Chris Brown
SONGWRITERS: Nayvadius Wilburn, Leland Wayne, David Ruoff, Allen Ritter, Chris Brown, Eli Klughammer, Mike Dean, Manfred Lubowitz, Terrence Thornton, Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Cydel Young, Kasseem Dean, Robert Diggs, Shawn Carter, Alexis Andrea Boyd
LABEL: Republic
HITMAKERS:
DaHeala, co-producer
Allen Ritter, co-songwriter and co-producer
DAVID x ELI (David Ruoff and Elias Klughammer), co-songwriters and co-producers
Amir ‘Cash’ Esmailian, manager
Romel Lherisson, director, commerce, Republic Kerri Mackar, EVP, brands and ventures, Republic
Xiarra-Diamond Nimrod, VP, marketing strategy, Republic
Marleny Reyes, EVP, marketing strategy, Republic Records/co-president, Uptown Records
