It's Joe from Complex.

We're in Atlanta at Alma Menyer with multi-platinum producer Metro Boomin.

What's up, bro?

How you doing?

Good.

Blessed, blessed.

Gonna do some sneaker shopping today.

Gonna see what he's feeling, what he's not, and then hopefully he's gonna buy some sneakers.

We'll see.

Maybe.

We'll see.

Let's go.

Metro, I want to start St. Louis growing up.

Right.

You were like seven or so when Country Grammar came out and like Nelly had the city on Smash, but like for the sneaker culture, Air Force Ones must have been a big thing for you back then.

What was it like when like that song came out and Nelly's like influence?

I mean, Country Grammar was the first album I had, first Dirty album I had.

Okay.

That's the first one I ever had.

Then after that, Nellyville came out with the Air Force Ones, and I feel like, you know, that's something that we popularized in the game.

I'm sorry, New York.

I know y'all feel like y'all started everything, but you started a lot, but you gotta give us that one.

You produced like a bunch with Travis.

Definitely.

He was wearing his shoes.

These 3.8 million submissions on the sneakers app.

Crazy.

Did you guys ever talk sneakers in the studio?

Is it fully music focused or like, did you see what he was doing early on?

I mean, we talked about a lot of stuff, but I feel like Trav just always from day one, he was just always just trying to be tapped in and like, cause really he's a producer at heart.

Like he's an artist too, but I look at him like a producer first, whether that's producing music or producing shoes or producing clothes or trying to produce shows or produce racks or furniture.

He's just one of them where that's always be.

So like where he is right now with the shoes, like it doesn't surprise me anything at all.

Another trip I want to talk about early on, I read, I think it was a nice kicks feature for back in the day.

You go to Los Angeles, you're shopping with Travis, you go to Riff and like you got three pairs of Bapes that kind of escaped you because Pharrell was like such a big influence.

Do you remember like that shopping trip?

I remember the first time when Travis took me, we went to Riff back in the day.

And then we just started always going back, shout out Riff LA.

I remember that cause I remember I had the red Supreme slides I used to always wear.

We went on tour, I would have those and the black ones on.

Man, it was cool, bro.

Like, you know, especially from St. Louis and being here in Atlanta for so long, like

I ain't never really seen no shit like that to where it's like you're just walking in and it's just walls of just shit you never seen like, you know, so just blown away by that at a young age.

It's crazy to like those stores, you know, we shoot at them sometimes, but like those stores, literally any sneaker like ever made something you can get.

Whatever.

Yeah.

Like whatever.

Like they going to have the price tag on it too, but they got whatever you, it don't matter what it is.

Might open up another room and it's like four pair of shoes in here, like get deep.

You're in rare music sneaker history in that you produced Facts, Kanye's diss to Nike and

Jumpman, Drake and Future's Jordan theme.

Never thought about that.

So that's, I was going to ask you, did you ever think about that?

Like those two songs, I remember when Facts dropped and obviously Jumpman.

Did you ever think of like, you know, you are the producer on those two songs that you could say rocked the sneaker world?

It's crazy.

I never, ever thought about that.

Um, especially at that time in my career, like it was just so much stuff and like so many songs dropping every week.

It's like, I never got to step outside of my body and be like, oh, these are shoe songs.

Like they were just dropping.

Got it.

And like, yeah, you're like thinking more so the beat, not like, oh, yeah, exactly.

Okay.

Just like, how's this sound?

Like, you know, really interesting.

And then was there any like stories behind them that like you'd go into the studio and they're like, you know, this is going to be for this or anything like that?

I remember it was my, how old did I turn?

I think it was like my 22nd birthday.

Okay.

And me and Drake was in the studio and, uh, just pulled up a beat and he just started like, I don't know.

It felt like it was something he kind of had on his mind type thing.

Sometimes it would be like that.

Sometimes it's just like a collaborative, like what the vibe is, but, um, yeah, he just had that on his mind.

He just went.

Kind of like chanting.

Gentleman.

Right.

Yeah.

You know what I'm saying?

So that's really how that one came about.

2020.

You were big on like black air force one energy.

I think you even tweeted in the field.

These are.

I had them on yesterday.

Really?

So you're still two years later, but like you even tweeted like in the field, these are my cleats.

So black air force ones, you know, they kind of became a meme.

And I think people were like responding, man, this is when like he doesn't trust you and things like that.

Is it funny to see like that staple become like a meme for like black air force one energy?

Yeah.

It's funny.

I feel like it was already like a ongoing, like joke even before then, like the whole black forces thing.

And you know, we always looked at like black forces, like everybody look at that, like, okay, those are the ones you don't wear, you know?

So I feel like that's a part of, I mean, besides the savage mode to energy.

Exactly.

That was a big thing.

It was that.

Didn't he like just put the black air force ones up?

I had put it on Instagram.

Yeah.

It was just that.

It was the black forces.

Yeah.

So I feel like it was that.

And just I'll feel like, oh, y'all niggas ain't wearing these for real.

So I'm going to wear them like type thing.

Another pair of black air force ones that I saw that kind of like flew under the radar and I was like even surprised by them.

Did Virgil give you a sample of black air force ones and it said like Metro three times on them?

Yeah.

Savage mode too.

Cause we had the whole black forces thing going on.

Virgil had made me a pair and he made Savage a pair and they had like two knives on them and he had our names and stuff on them.

It's crazy.

Cause like those, I don't even know if he wore them.

Like I think there's only two.

No, there's only two.

He only made two of those.

So got those at home.

You still, oh, you have them at home?

Yeah, for sure.

Metro, we have to talk 2016.

You designed like your own new balances.

It was a nine nine eight.

What do you remember about that project?

It was cool, man.

Uh, especially being that young and uh, flying out there, we flew out to the factory.

Like in Boston?

Yeah.

In Boston.

Okay.

They gave me a tour of the factory.

Uh, sat with some of the design team and we just went over pallets and just built fabrics and just everything.

And they, um, really let me just like do whatever and just from top to bottom.

So that was a cool process.

Like I just like to produce and just create stuff.

Like definitely I'm just in love with that.

So just, it was just kind of new and just, you know, it was fun.

We're in like the high fashion section, the Dior section.

I want to talk.

Yeah.

I want to talk about like 2014 Lennox mall, like Mason, Martin, Margiela sneakers, that era.

Talk about that era.

See, it takes you back a little.

Talk about that era.

Yeah, you put me on a time capsule.

Yeah.

What was that like?

And like what you were just going to the mall, like talk about that era.

We just go to the mall, man.

Like really me and Thug, we would go to Lennox all the time and you know, just see what's new.

Get stuff.

A lot of stuff.

We'll get the same stuff.

Like even those Margielas, like the salmon color pair I had before and he had the same pair and we wore them together in the video back in the day, language video.

That's a lot of great times, but it's a great time in life.

Just like the best of times going like to a mall with your boy and just going to the mall.

Like just simple.

Like, you know?

Yeah.

Well, we talked about everything.

Now's the easy part.

Browse the shelves.

See what you're going to take home.

Yeah, man.

I think I, I think I might see some contenders.

All right, let's do it.

Hey, welcome in.

Okay.

Okay.

I've been in the store before.

First time.

Nah, for sure.

Nah, I've been here.

Well, welcome back.

Off top, we're going here.

Yup.

Then we're going to take a stop here.

Okay.

I definitely go with the pink.

Okay.

Vintage Young Metro, babe.

Go with the pinks.

That's a good one.

I know they ain't who I think it is.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

True.

I know they ain't who I think it is.

You never go wrong.

St. Louis classic.

Definitely need 10 and a half.

Yup, we got you.

Every pair you got my size, for sure.

Got you.

Got a little freaky on the laces.

Those are pretty pebbles.

Yeah, but this one my speed.

Yeah, I like those.

Definitely is.

Yeah.

That's a good thing.

You finding everything all right today?

Nah, for sure.

Definitely.

All right, bet.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

I got you.

So, we actually got one more little surprise for you.

Okay.

Put these aside.

We knew you were coming.