American record producer Metro Boomin and American rapper and singer Future released two explicit collaborative albums titled “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” and “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” through Republic Records, Epic Records, Boominati Worldwide, and Freebandz.
“WE DON’T TRUST YOU” was released on March 22 of this year and consists of 17 tracks that have a runtime of 59 minutes and 37 seconds. Released with no leading singles, it was the first collaborative album that the artists have released, and was highly anticipated by fans for a long time. Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, and Playboi Carti were featured on this project, with Kendrick Lamar being featured on a song for the first time since his remix on “AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM” with Beyonce.
Out of the seventeen tracks, there were six that stuck out to me. Firstly, the self-titled song, “We Don’t Trust You.” Metro Boomin is one of the best producers in the game as he creates beautiful beats that can transcend time. This beat felt very artistic and I enjoyed it a lot. This song was masterfully crafted, which set a precedent for the entire project. Future flows beautifully on this song, I give it 9/10.
The second song that resonated with me was “Ice Attack”, the third track on the album. The beginning of the song flowed smoothly, and then the beat switched very powerfully, derived from a sample of American rapper La Chat’s explicit song, “Yeah, I Rob.” “Ice Attack” was a pleasant surprise on my first listen, and this song has had immense replay value for me due to this fact. Additionally, the transition between this song and track four, “Type (Expletive),” is seamless and satisfying, which elevates the listening experience for this album. I would rate this song a 8.5/10.
Speaking of transitions, “Type (Expletive)” captivated me as it features both Travis Scott and Playboi Carti. The song starts out powerfully, but as the beat switches, Travis Scott comes in with some ethereal vocals that greatly enhance the song. Immediately after, Future is back with Playboi Carti, rapping back and forth. This leads to another beat switch with a full Carti verse that had me absolutely hooked.
Carti has had major success this year with his feature on the song “CARNIVAL,” which was on Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s “VULTURES 1,” which landed him a number one hit for the first time. Both the Carti and Travis features on this song gave it so much more dimension, and I was delighted to hear their voices when I first listened to the track. Solid 8.5/10.
Arguably the best but most definitely prominent track on this album is track six, titled “Like That,” which featured Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar. This song has so many layers to it that it deserves to be explored in detail. Future did a splendid job on this song, his voice flows perfectly on this beat.
The track has two major samples, the first being the explicit “Everlasting Bass” by Rodney-O and Joe Cooley, a song from 1988. It can be heard throughout the entire song and is masterfully utilized by Metro Boomin throughout the song. The second sample Metro used was “Eazy-Duz-It,” an explicit 1989 song by Eazy-E. I personally really enjoyed both samples in this song, as “Eazy-Duz-It” was used by American rapper Logic in his song “Under Pressure.”
The second sample kicks in with Kendrick’s verse that changed hip hop. This verse became a major highlight of this album for many people, but not only for Kendrick’s amazing lyricism and flow that flows as smooth as butter. In his verse, Kendrick takes shots at rappers J. Cole and Drake in multiple lines.
“(Expletive) sneak dissin’, first person shooter I hope they came with three switches, I crash out, like, (expletive) rap… If he walk around with that stick, it ain’t Andre 3K. Think I won’t drop the location? I still got PTSD, (expletive) the big three, (expletive), it’s just big me…(expletive) bum, ‘fore all your dogs gettin’ buried That’s a K with all these nines, he gon’ see Pet Sematary,” Kendrick said.
“First Person Shooter” is a song on Drake’s latest album “For All the Dogs,” where J. Cole said that him, Drake, and Kendrick were the big three of rap. This kickstarted a cascade of clapbacks. J. Cole took a shot back at Kendrick on his song “7 Minute Drill,” the last track on his latest album “Might Delete Later.” Cole later apologized for his dissing Kendrick at the Dreamville festival in North Carolina.
“Part of that (expletive) that make me feel like man, that’s the lamest (expletive) I ever did in my (expletive) life…Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest (expletive) to ever touch a (expletive) microphone. Dreamville, y’all love Kendrick Lamar correct as do I so I just want to come up here and be like publicly be like bro that was the lamest like goofiest (expletive)…” Cole said.
Drake also fired back at Kendrick, Future, Metro, and Rick Ross in his song “Push Ups,” which had so many disses that I personally couldn’t quote them all. Drake also had a song titled, “Taylor Made Freestyle” where he took more shots at Kendrick Lamar. However, he used AI to mimic both American rapper Snoop Dogg and late American rapper Tupac Shakur, or 2Pac’s voices. 2Pac’s estate sent Drake a cease and desist letter due to the use of his voice, and threatened to take further legal action. Drake has since removed the song from all of his platforms.
“Like That” created so much competition in the rap game that has many fans hooked, myself included, and the song is very addictive in general. It spent three consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a good reason. 10/10.
Another very masterful hit on this album is track nine, “Cinderella,” a highly anticipated song that features Travis Scott. The song was originally leaked and was speculated to be on Travis Scott’s album “UTOPIA,” and many fans awaited the official release. I loved this song, it was smooth and dreamy, and the synths created the perfect amount of sparkle that this song needed. Additionally, the seamless transition from Future to Travis Scott was impeccable. This song has a lot of replay value, it was a beautiful experience and I really enjoyed it. 10/10.
The final song I have chosen is song number thirteen, “Everyday Hustle” which featured Rick Ross. I love this song so much. The beat was a beat I was able to vibe to so fast. Additionally, I loved the sample that Metro used, which was the song “I’ll Wait for You,” a 1969 song by soul artist Alfreda Brockington. This album really did transitions right, as once again, the transition was flawless. Future and Rick Ross had great chemistry on this song, and Rick’s verse was beautiful. 9/10.
I have listened to the full album multiple times, both for enjoyment and for the purposes of this review. Though the album has only been out for a month, I can confidently say that it is absolutely worth the listen. Overall I give this album a 8/10. It was an amazing experience that was very well crafted.
The sister album “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” is also out on all streaming platforms and consists of two discs with twenty-five songs that are also very much worth the listen.
After the release of both albums, the artists announced their “WE TRUST YOU” tour this year. A stop on that tour is in Columbus, Ohio at the Schottenstein Center on August 10 of this year. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster. Additionally, merchandise is available now for both albums.
Future and Metro absolutely crushed it with their first collaborative albums. They will be in my rotation for a very long time.
