“We the best in the business, there is no competition for us.” This quote is one of many strewn throughout We Don’t Trust You, the latest collaboration between rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin.
A production of Wilburn Holding and Boominati Worldwide, under the umbrella of Epic Records and Republic Records, We Don’t Trust You released on March 22, conveniently cushioned between release dates for Y$, Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s Vultures 1, dropped Feb. 9, and Beyoncé’s highly anticipated Act II: Cowboy Carter, due at the end of March.
The release strategy is not a minuscule detail. Music, as of late, has been sluggish, with many hip hop and R&B fans developing a palette for something different and opting to listen to African and Caribbean projects. Meanwhile, an entire plethora of rappers have popped on the scene causing a saturation of noise even for the veteran artists with loyal fanbases. Apparently, Future and Metro Boomin sensed the invasion of their genre, as evidenced on the 17-track album.
The power duo make sure to cover the bases — drugs, women, and the “Everyday Hustle” — but two things stand out more than anything, Metro’s untouchable production and Future’s lyrical stance on garbage rap.
From the very beginning of the album, the two crash out with “We Don’t Trust You,” the introductory track that starts with Future rap-singing, “Fake friend all over you / Hate written all over you,” just before a sample of The Undisputed Truth’s 1970’s hit, “Smiling Faces Sometimes,” enters the conversation. Future provides enough context clues to give listeners an idea of who he’s referring to, and it gets messy as he mentions the person enjoys “pillow talk” and “sneak dissing,” and might be a little upset about “sharing” women with the Atlanta rapper.
If listeners were still clueless on the target of Metro and Future’s rage, the very second track, “Young Metro,” features The Weeknd! Still not connecting the dots? K. Dot, also known as Kendrick Lamar, eats on “Like That,” an amazing production that samples E-40’s “Look At Me” and Slim Thug’s “Thug,” which sampled the infamous Eazy-E’s Eazy-Duz-It. Future transitions between familiar cadences, willingly navigating the song to a crescendo marked by Kendrick’s passionate and urgent delivery.
Kendrick raps, “N***** clicking up, but cannot be legit, no forty water / F*** sneak dissin’, first person shooter, I hope they came with three switches / I crash out like f*** rap, diss Melle Mel if I had to / Got 2TEEZ with me, I’m snatching chains and burning tattoos, it’s up / Lost too many soldiers not to play it safe / If he walk around with that stick, it ain’t Andre 3K / Think I won’t drop the location? I still got PTSD / Mother—- the big three, n—-, it’s just big me / N—-, bum, what? I’m really like that / And your best work is a light pack / N—-, Prince outlived Mike Jack’ / N—-, bum for all your dogs getting buried / That’s a K with all these nines, he gone see Pet Sematary.”
The searing lyrics play on Drake’s For All The Dogs and aims at the Canadian rapper’s allegiance with J. Cole, who joined Aubrey on the song “First Person Shooter.” Kendrick effortlessly uses double entendres as he references Drake’s producer 40 (Noah Shebib), Drake’s business moves with Nike, and also the time when Kanye exposed Drake’s address in the heat of a hip hop battle. But, Kendrick took special issue with J. Cole, who rapped he walks around with a stick, calling the man great and second best at the same time, in so many words.
Get the point? There’s no letting up for Metro and Future, who are clearly on a crash out mission, choosing violence and seeking revenge. They address envy on the fast-paced “Ice Attack,” master the art of unpredictability with the Travis Scott-assisted songs “Type Shit” and “Cinderella,” and curate the perfect gamer music experience with “GTA.”
Sonically, We Don’t Trust You is a masterful collaboration that highlights the star quality of both Future and Metro — they’re complementary, not one outshining the other. The message of the project, a passionate petition for rap to return to its alpha status as the pioneering genre of choice, makes the partnership all the more necessary. We Don’t Trust You is condescending, overconfident, and unapologetic in its long overdue call to action for the rap game to detox.
We Don’t Trust You is available now on music streamers.
