Metro Boomin called 21 Savage his pickiest collaborator in a conversation with fellow producer Timbaland for Rolling Stone. Metro mentioned how he and 21 Savage butt heads when Timbaland inquired about asking artists to redo their vocals.
“Me and [21] Savage get into that sometimes,” Metro said. “It’s the same thing you said with you and Missy [Elliott]: He’s the pickiest artist I’ve ever worked with, with the beats. I’ll play this man 35 or 40 beats before he wants to get in the booth. And it can be draining: He’ll go, ‘Next one, next one, next one, next one.’ But in return, I’m like, ‘OK, you’ve gotta overly bring it on this one. I’m not taking any OK s###, n####.’”
Metro still named 21 Savage as his favorite artist to work with despite their disagreements in the studio.
“He’s definitely my favorite to work with,” Metro told Timbaland. “We’ll get on each other’s nerves, go back and forth all the time. But at the end of the day, we make each other better. If I play him 20 beats and he’s not really feeling them, I’m going home and cooking up. You need that.”
Timbaland peppered Metro with questions to learn about the younger producer’s creative process. Metro reflected on how developing a reputation that allows him to make bolder choices as a producer.
“After so many years, I feel that with a lot of trial and error and so many times it has worked, I think there’s a level of trust developed,” he said. “If I go to one of my frequent collaborators and go, ‘Let’s try this,’ and it’s way outside of what they’ve done, it’s not as much of a fight, because I’ve told them crazy s### before and it’s worked.”
Check out Metro and Timbaland’s entire chat below.
