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Metro Boomin was one of the many celebrity guests, business leaders and CEOs, who spoke at the Forbes Under 30 Summit, which is being held in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Summit is an annual four-day business networking event, scheduled between September 22 and September 25.
The Grammy-nominated producer kicked off the event with an hour-long live set performing hit records from 2023's Heroes and Villans album as well as popular songs from his Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack.
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On Monday, one night after his performance at the Summit, Metro sat down for a live audience interview with Forbes’ Matt Craig, where the producer took attendees through his creative process, the mindset behind several projects he's worked on, as well as speaking on the extremely viral "Drake vs Kendrick Lamar" beef.
"I think the competition is great for the game. Hip-hop has always been more of a competitive genre... Also with hip-hop, there's a lot of ego involved, so you know, it's really like you're supposed to feel like you're the best" - Metro Boomin said.
With clips from Boomin's Forbes interview going viral across social media, fans and critics have taken to platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to share and comment on re-posts of Metro's statements on the current state of hip hop and the 2024 rap beef.
One user was found comically suggesting that Metro played a pivotal role in what transpired between Kendrick and Drake this year. This claim appears to hint at Boomin's involvement in producing the Like That record, featuring Lamar and Future, which went viral for the rapper's aggressive lyricism targetting Drizzy.
Several more reactions followed, with netizens highlighting Metro Boomin's involvement in "instigating" the Kendrick-Drake rap battle, with many users claiming his statements at the Forbes Under 30 Summit were him "back peddling" on the 2024 rap beef.
"Bro this is back peddling. You gotta stand on what u was doing" - Stated one user.
"Metro Boomin KINDA had a hand in handing Kendrick the matches and the gasoline. Absolutely love this response though" - Said a fan.
"What an interesting perspective coming from him, but it's very vague at the same time because he seems to be not choosing sides. But at the beginning it was clear who he was siding with" - Another chimed in.
"Nah, metro gotta stand on business. He wanted the beef and told everyone to pick a side and stay on it. Now he backpedaling. Lame move" - A critic stated.
"Sir you made a whole beat and competition disrespecting dude. Stand on that!" - Said another.
"Bros the ultimate instigator" - Another user stated.
Social media users were seen referencing Metro Boomin's BBL Drizzy instrumental response when highlighting their confusion at hearing the producer's statements at this year's Forbes Summit. The record was released in the midst of the 2024 rap beef on May 05, 2024.
"Saying this after he made bbl drizzy is crazy" - A user stated.
"MF be lying! He started the beef and then made a diss beat about Drake. Tf he talking about?" - Said another.
"didnt this n---a diss drake w a beat" - Another chimed in.
Netizens were also found defending the criticism against Metro Boomin, suggesting the producer intentionally went for a more politically correct, diplomatic response when questioned about the 2024 rap beef.
"Bro he’s at a Forbes event not a Adam 22 podcast this n---a gone say what’s needed" - Said one user.
"As far as being diplomatic lol metro being as political and polite as possible" - Said another.
"This man is at a FORBES event tf yall expect him to say. It’s a different crowd over there" - A user claimed.
How is Metro Boomin connected to the "Drake vs Kendrick Lamar" beef?
Metro Boomin and Drake, although previously collaborated on records like Jumpman and Knife Talk, have been beefing with each other via social media posts, stories, and more, since 2023.
Their beef escalated upon the release of Metro Boomin and Future's first collaboration album, We Don't Trust You, which featured several artists who were at the time publicly feuding with Drake and took shots at the rapper during their features on the LP.
Included on this album was a single titled Like That (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) which immediately went viral amongst fans and the hip-hop community, rising to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart.
Several bars within Dot's verse alluded to his relationship with Drake, J. Cole and the entire music industry, delivering aggressive lines like:
"Lost too many soldiers not to play it safe / If he walk around with that stick, it ain't André 3K / Think I won't drop the location? I still got PTSD / Motherf--k the big three, n----a, it's just big me"
This song was the catalyst for the 2024 beef, given that after its release several rapper's like Rick Ross, Kanye West, and more, dropped their own diss tracks taking shots at Drake.
Less than a month after We Don't Trust You hit streaming platforms, J. Cole dropped a fresh mixtape titled MIGHT DELETE LATER. Included in this project was the now-deleted track titled 7 Minute Drill, where Cole spent the entire record taking shots at Kendrick Lamar by responding to the Compton rapper's verse on Like That.
Metro Boomin and Future then released their follow-up collaboration LP titled We Still Don't Trust You, which like its predecessor topped the Billboard 200 album charts on its debut. This project included more subtle disses aimed at Drake from artists like The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky.
Metro Boomin and Future also included a surprise collaboration from J. Cole, who at the time had stepped away from the beef after publicly apologizing to Kendrick Lamar for 7 Minute Drill during his performance at the 2024 Dreamville Festival.
Fans pressuring Drake for a response allegedly led the OVO CEO to initially leak Push Ups the same night that We Still Don't Trust You dropped, before officially releasing the diss track to all streaming platforms on April 19, 2024.
"What the f--k is this, a twenty-v-one, n---a? What's a prince to a king? He a son, n---a / Get more love in the city that you from, n---a / Metro, shut your ho a-- up and make some drums, n---a / Yeah, I'm the 6ix God, I'm the frontrunner" - Drake raps on 'Push Ups'
Two weeks later, the 2024 rap beef was now in full swing with Kendrick Lamar and Drake dropping multiple diss tracks back to back.
In the middle of Kendrick and Drake's highly volatile feud, Metro Boomin uploaded an instrumental diss track titled BBL Drizzy on social media platforms, asking fans and the music community to use the beat to create and remix their own records for a cash prize.
Although the rap beef and attention around the rappers involved in the feud has died down, Kendrick Lamar's Watch The Party Die was released a week ago which includes bars addressing his beef with Drake.
Kendrick's Watch The Party Die was uploaded to the rapper's Instagram at the same time as the 40th anniversary of the MTV VMAs was airing. The new record officially follows up on his Billboard No.1 diss track Not Like Us, which was delivered to streaming platforms on May 04, 2024, under an exclusive license to Interscope Records.
