Metro Boomin’s second studio album ‘Heroes & Villains’ is the long-awaited sequel to his first album ‘Not All Heroes Wear Capes.’ Released on December 2^nd, 2022, this album is a collaborative piece featuring artists like The Weeknd, Travis Scott, John Legend, Future, and many others. ‘Heroes & Villains’ was produced by Metro, and though he does not do the singing, his heavy influence on the album makes it uniquely his.

With this album, Metro tells a story that follows someone who turns down a dark path and is redeemed at the end. We see this path clearly as the opening tracks feel powerful and strong, then as we reach the middle of the album, the songs slow down and get sadder, finally ending with a rebirth towards the end of the album. This story is made clearer by periodic narration of the legendary Morgan Freeman.

This album opens with the song ‘On Time,’ which features beautiful, gospel-like singing from John Legend. However, halfway through, the beat switches to something more sinister as Freedman says Metro Boomin’s famous producer tag.

The beat continues to play eerily as the voice of Homelander from the show ‘The Boys’ begins to speak. Homelander, who is the main antagonist of the show, starts talking about how powerful he is, and how people should bow down to him. This intro is extremely enticing and sets the dark tone of this album.

The eerie beat continues playing as Homelander finishes his speech, and even continues to play into the second song of the track ‘Superhero.’ This song is one of the best songs on the album, featuring Jay-Z, Chris Brown, and some Future’s best rapping. That same creepy beat continues throughout, making the whole song feel off.

After a few filler songs, the next noteworthy song is ‘Trance’, featuring Travis Scott. This song is where the tone shifts to something more melodic and slower. Scott’s cadence makes it sound like Scott is in a trance, giving this song a unique and appealing sound.

‘Creepin’’ comes at the halfway point of the album and is by far my favorite song on the album. ‘Creepin’’ has this amazing melancholy and emotion filled sound that works perfect with the Weeknd’s beautiful voice.

Hearing the stunning but pain filled voice of the Weeknd as he cries out “I don’t wanna know, If you’re playin’ me, keep it on the low, ‘Cause my heart can’t take it anymore” gives a feeling unlike anything else on this album. After a beautiful chorus, 21 Savage raps the verses, and is able to keep the tone of the song melancholy by rapping slower and with sadness. The sheer emotion of this song is unmatched and makes it by far the best ‘Heroes & Villains’ has to offer.

The last song on the album (If you don’t count the forgettable bonus track) is ‘Feel the Fiyaaaah’ which creates an upbeat vibe through the sampling of ‘Feel the Fire’ by Peabo Bryson. This song represents a rebirth of our Villain, with A$AP Rocky’s opening lines “Why we greedy like wolves? Adam, Eve with the fruit, Why we need new new?” showing a selfless view of the world.

This song is another one of the best on the album, with its upbeat and happy tone and beat in stark contrast to the songs before it. It also feature a great verse from Takeoff, which would turn out to be one of his last before his tragic death. Thundercat also coproduced this song, which helped it have a more unserious and fun feel.

I love all of the songs above, and if the album only contained these it would receive a 10/10 from me. However, there are a lot of forgettable and downright bad songs that clog up this album and the story it tells.

The storytelling with Morgan Freeman, along with some truly great songs makes this album worth the listen for fans of artists like Future and Travis Scott. However, the lows of this album are low, and it could have done without some of the filler songs. Overall, this album gets 7/10 stars.