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Rb Hip Hop

Metro Boomin Addresses Kendrick Lamar & Drake Feud: ‘Stan Culture Makes It Kind of Weird’

Metro produced the Hot 100 No. 1 hit "Like That" for Future and Kendrick, which lit the fuse of the beef.

Metro Boomin attends the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Kickoff Party at The Andrew J. Brady Music Center on Sept. 23, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Metro Boomin attends the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Kickoff Party at The Andrew J. Brady Music Center on Sept. 23, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Metro Boomin has addressed the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud. While speaking at the Forbes Under 30 Summit on Monday (Sept. 23), Young Metro talked about his role being in the middle of rap beefs as a producer.

Metro believes the competition is ultimately a positive for the art form, but thinks the internet culture can take things out of hand when two sides are at odds.


“I feel like the competition is great for the game. Hip-hop has always been a competitive genre. Even if just keeping it on music it’s not serious how everybody tries to make it,” he said. “Also with hip-hop, there’s a lot of ego involved. You’re supposed to feel like you’re the best.”

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Metro continued: “When two of the top dogs in the game and you both feel like you’re the best, it’s like, ‘OK, now we gotta have a showdown.’ We saw it with Jay-Z and Nas before. I feel like more today it’s more stan culture makes it kind of weird. Back in the day, Jay-Z and Nas went at it, I was a fan of both of them. Most people were. It was like, ‘OK, it’s OK.’ It’s not like, ‘I had this side. I hate this side.’ The internet makes it a little too wild now.”

At the end of the day, Metro Boomin looks at the feuds as purely “entertainment” and believes with hip-hop’s innate competitive nature, it’s on artists and producers to “help push” the genre forward.

“As far as me being diplomatic, it’s just entertainment,” he added. “I have love and respect for all my collaborators. I just want to see everyone do the best and help push this forward. We’re all here to deposit in and uplift this genre.”

Metro Boomin played an integral role in the Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud. He produced We Don’t Trust You‘s “Like That” featuring a nuclear assist from Kendrick, which lit the fuse for the battle after the hit topped the Billboard Hot 100.

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Drake returned fire weeks later when he dissed Metro on “Push Ups,” and continued to take shots by calling out his government name later on “Family Matters.”

Watch the discussion below:

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.

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Executive of the Week: Justin West of Secret City Records on the Secrets of Independent Music Success​
Record Labels

Executive of the Week: Justin West of Secret City Records on the Secrets of Independent Music Success​

The man behind of Canada's most successful indie labels talks about the late-blooming success of French-language streaming record-holder Patrick Watson, why he builds long-term relationships with artists, and why it's important for the indie sector to work together.

Justin West is a leader and advocate in Canada’s independent music scene, but he didn’t plan it out that way. When he started his record label Secret City Records in Montreal in the mid-2000s, it was out of necessity. He had met an artist he loved and wanted to build a career with, and the label was a means to do it. That artist was Patrick Watson, and 20 years later he — and Secret City — are more successful than ever.

West — a multiple time Billboard Canada Power Player – leads one of the biggest indie labels in Canada while also advocating for the sector on multiple boards both locally and internationally. When we speak to him for this Executive of the Week interview, he’s just returned from Banff for the National Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Culture, and is a central figure in discussions around the Online Streaming Act and collective negotiations with online streaming platforms.

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