On Dec. 5, 2022, talented producer Metro Boomin released a collection of songs with big names such as Travis Scott, Future, 21 Savage and more. Metro Boomin was the producer for each of the songs while all the others were handling vocals. The album by the name of ‘Heroes and Villains” has 12 million to 64.5 million plays on the songs, so the project has already gathered the recognition it has deserved. From the people who have told me about it, they described it as an incredible experience that may or may not change my life permanently. The album also had a deluxe edition where all the songs had instrumental versions, but I won’t be judging those on this review. 

“On Time” is the first song on Metro Boomin’s latest album. It starts with this acapella singing in the intro, and after is interrupted by Morgan Freeman saying an alteration of Metro’s infamous producer tag of “If Young Metro don’t trust you I’m gon shoot you.” Morgan Freeman appeared on Metro’s previous album as well. The beat switches to a much more ominous feeling, and the song ends with a sample from the show “The Boys,” where the superhero Homelander gives a short speech that the people should be grateful for his existence because he is the only real way to keep them safe. The song is set up in a way that listening to the first song and then immediately going to the next is a seamless transition, which was done so well that I didn’t even notice the song switched until I looked back at the screen. 

“Superhero” is the reunion of Metro Boomin and Future. Future makes a reference to his infamous video where he says if a woman has a Rolex on then it’s one of his, and also says he buys his women cuban chains. The song then gets passed over to Jay-Z and Chris Brown. They called the people who wish for Metro to fail are the true villains, and end it off with the message of “die and be a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.”

“Too Many Nights” features Don Toliver. The song is very good at capturing the feeling of the nightlife, giving it a more relaxed but not exactly the slow and soothing feel you could fall asleep to. Halfway through the song it puts Future back on where he flexes his expensive lifestyle before the song ends.

“Umbrella” has in my opinion the most reliable feature anyone could ever get, 21 Savage. The intro is very pleasing, with some acapella, a piano, and simple drums clashing with each other nicely. The beat changes to a more edgy piano tone and 21 Savage starts calmly saying that he’ll put holes in his enemies face, in typical 21 Savage fashion. Young Nudy is also on this track, saying something similar. The song is simple, but I like it. 

“Trance” sounds very ambient. It is a Travis Scott and Young Thug collaboration that is done greatly. It is almost calming to listen to as the drums aren’t too explosive in sound which is a nice change from the typical sound that the artists may use in their own songs. It’s a song about a woman which is something that hasn’t been very common on this album, with Travis stealing an unnamed man’s girlfriend. 

“Creepin” has 21 Savage on it as well as The Weeknd. As soon as the song started it immediately felt like The Weeknd would be the one practically owning this song. I think the beat was tailored to his style as there was no chance Metro had 21 Savage on his mind for this. The Weeknd’s vocals were mixed in incredibly as most of his vocals usually are. When 21 joined it felt very shoe-horned in but it didn’t subtract from how good the song was.

 The album was a nice breath of fresh air which finally removed me from the pit of listening to the same few songs over and over. All the songs on the album were very enjoyable with a few that managed to make it onto my main playlists which doesn’t happen very frequently. It gives me high hopes for Metro Boomin’s next project. The album gets a very strong 4 /5 overall.