A Metro Boomin and Future collaborative album has been long overdue. The duo of dynamic producer Leland Wayne — commonly known as Metro Boomin — and Atlanta-born trap superstar Nayvadius Cash — commonly known as Future — go together and have been a staple of the past decade of hip-hop.

Metro Boomin is the architect behind some of Future’s most popular records ever, including “Low Life,” “Diamonds Dancing,” “Jumpman,” “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” and “Mask Off.” The pair met when Metro was 17 years old, and their first collaboration together dates back to 2013’s “Karate Chop.”

The first part of Metro and Future’s official collaborative album project, ”WE DON’T TRUST YOU,” released March 22, and the second and final part, “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU,” released Friday. For the past two weeks, both of these projects have been at the forefront of discussion within the hip-hop community. 

As is the case with any Metro Boomin project, the production on these albums is top-tier. Future’s voice and flow feel as if they’re made for Metro’s trap beats, and the chemistry between the two allows for them to have variety while never sacrificing quality or cohesiveness.

The somber, techno-influenced track, “Young Metro” with The Weeknd, and the more melancholy “Runnin Outta Time” and “Right 4 You” have their own identities on the albums but don’t feel out of place in comparison to the more aggressive and trap-oriented tracks, such as “Everyday Hustle” with Rick Ross, “Seen it All” and “All My Life” with Lil Baby. 

Metro and Future experiment with a plethora of different sounds while never straying from the trap foundation that ties the album together.

“Cinderella”and “Ain’t No Love” were some of the biggest highlights of “WE DON’T TRUST YOU.” “Cinderella” is one of two collaborations with Travis Scott on the album — and by far the best one. 

Travis Scott’s influence on the production of this song is prominent, as it mimics the melodic nature of some of Scott’s songs, such as “I KNOW ?” and “BUTTERFLY EFFECT,” while still maintaining a core sound that feels like something Metro would make. “Ain’t No Love” is the best out of the songs that are strongly rooted in trap. It’s one of Metro’s best beats on the album, and Future floats effortlessly on it.  

As for “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” — “All to Myself,” “This Sunday,” and “Show of Hands” were the bright points. His verse on “Always Be My Fault” comes close, but The Weeknd’s verse on this song is the most memorable of his four contributions to the project. The combination of his ad-libs and signature angelic vocals over a serene beat create a song that almost feels majestic.   

“This Sunday” is one of the most inventive disses on the album. The hook of the song is inspired by Drake’s “Feel No Ways,” which Future has writing credits on. The track feels like a bit of a middle finger to Drake — almost as if Future is insinuating that he can do one of Drake’s more iconic verses better than him. 

In an album that’s somewhat hindered by its repetitiveness, “Show of Hands,” with A$AP Rocky, distinctively stands out on “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU.” As the man who settled down with Drake’s dream girl, Rihanna, A$AP was definitely one of the most anticipated rappers on this project, and he takes advantage of his time in the spotlight. 

A$AP seems to taunt Drake over the catchiest hook on the album and beat that rides on strings that feel reminiscent of certain styles of Arabic music. The style of the beat allows the song to separate itself sonically from the rest of the album in a way that other songs are unable to. This, in conjunction with the shade that A$AP throws in some of his bars, comes together to make one of the most memorable tracks on the project.

The biggest surprise on these albums is also the largest hit. “Like That” with Kendrick Lamar dominated social media discourse the second the album hit streaming platforms. The inclusion of Lamar, one of the most iconic rappers of the modern generation who is infamous for his sporadic track record when it comes to releasing new music, was already bound to drum up a lot of excitement, but it’s also the most packed song on the album in terms of polish and creativity.

“Like That” is easily the most electric song on either of the two albums. It’s the highlight of the project and the most hostile diss towards Drake out of either of the two projects. The beat is tenacious; it switches multiple times on the song, inviting a level of energy and aggressiveness that exceeds that of any other song on the album. 

These elements, in unison with the use of vocal sampling from Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It” and beat sampling from Lil Wayne and Birdman’s “Pop Bottles,” come together to create a sound so uniquely imaginative that it feels like something only Metro Boomin could make. 

Future’s hook and verse are both satisfying, but Kendrick is the highlight of the track. The lyrical savant comes onto his verse with a level of sheer aggression that feels rare to see from him anymore to brutally diss Drake and J. Cole. K-dot pulls no punches, rapping, “Motherfuck the big three … it’s just big me,” referencing a line on Drake and Cole’s “First Person Shooter,” where Cole hails himself, Drake and Kendrick Lamar the “big three” of modern rap.

While for the most part, “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” and “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” are albums that thrive off of their consistency, there are some disappointments. Metro’s innovative beats weren’t enough to save the albums from a little bit of Future-itis — some of the songs, while not necessarily bad, are repetitive. “Slimed In,” “One Big Family’‘ and “Overload”  are easily forgettable after the first listen.

“Type Shit” with Travis Scott and Playboi Carti was especially a letdown. For a collaboration between a man who pioneered an entire subgenre of hip-hop, a man famous for having the most electric production out of any modern rapper and one of the most unique voices in rap, this song feels like a record that any combination of artists could make. It’s still a little catchy, but considering the potential it had to be one of the album’s best, it falls painfully flat. 

“WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” also suffers more than the first from this sense of repetitiveness. Part of this is because of how similar it is in sounds to “WE DON’T TRUST YOU,” but it’s also made worse by the fact that the album is significantly longer, being 25 tracks total as opposed to 17. More songs felt forgettable or as if they blended in with one another in comparison to “WE DON’T TRUST YOU.”

While it has a couple of skips, “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” is a hit in most regards, and is up there with 21 Savage’s “american dream” as one of the best hip-hop albums of 2024 so far. “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” is weaker, but still not necessarily a bad album. The duology was solid, but with how much the latter album drags on with forgettable tracks, there’s question for the necessity to split the project into two releases when the best parts from both albums could’ve made a masterpiece.