Metro Boomin has had a monumental year.
The St. Louis native 鈥� born Leland Wayne 鈥� has released two chart-topping albums 鈥淲e Don鈥檛 Trust You鈥� and 鈥淲e Still Don鈥檛 Trust You鈥� with his frequent collaborator Future. The duo also completed the 鈥淲e Trust You鈥� North American tour with 27 stops. Though the tour omitted his hometown, Wayne did return to St. Louis in May, when he did a free DJ set at Ballpark Village that included a limited edition Metro Boomin bobblehead for game day ticket holders.
Despite filed in October by a Las Vegas woman accusing the music producer of sexual assault, Wayne has not slowed professionally. His personal mission to celebrate and support single mothers in St. Louis has also continued. To show appreciation for his own upbringing, Wayne started an annual charity drive and party in 2017 specifically for families with single moms. For the last two years, these events have served an additional purpose: honoring his mother, Leslie JoAnne Wayne, who was killed in a murder-suicide by her husband in June 2022.
This year, Wayne 鈥� under the Leslie JoAnne Foundation 鈥� honored nearly 200 mothers and their children at a private Dec. 15 event at Stifel Theater. The evening was dubbed, 鈥淪ingle Moms Are the Real Superheroes Holiday Soiree.鈥�
Wayne told St. Louis on the Air that it wasn鈥檛 until he took his mission on the road by donating money to charities at each city on his tour that he realized how much vitriol single moms face.
鈥淚 never even thought that was possible. I don鈥檛 understand it. How could anybody have a problem with [single mothers]?鈥� he said. 鈥淣o matter what they think or say or what their opinion is, I鈥檓 going to continue to push forward with my mission. That鈥檚 the right thing to me.鈥�
Along with championing single mothers across the country, Wayne鈥檚 back-to-back albums have created waves in the hip-hop community in their questioning who should be trusted with the genre.
Many critics have interpreted 鈥渨e don鈥檛 trust you鈥� as a message aimed directly at Canadian rapper and former child actor Drake, born Aubrey Graham. Graham has recently elicited criticism for suing his own record label, alleging unfair streaming practices amid his ongoing beef with Los Angeles rapper Kendrick Lamar 鈥� another of Wayne鈥檚 collaborators. Wayne, Lamar and Future stunned fans in March with their song 鈥淟ike That鈥� from the album 鈥淲e Don鈥檛 Trust You.鈥� The track sparked said rap beef involving several musicians calling out Drake.
Wayne says there鈥檚 more to being part of hip-hop culture than just claiming it.
鈥淚 feel like you need to be contributing something to [hip-hop]. A lot of people take [and] there's a lot of stuff, the selfish gain,鈥� he said. 鈥淕rowing up I was a huge Tupac fan. People like this moved the culture forward progressively at the time. He was trying to get Black people to vote, speaking out about the injustices against us as well as delivering these timeless bodies of work.鈥�
See photos from Metro Boomin's Leslie JoAnne Soir茅e by STLPR's Brian Munoz:
For more on Metro Boomin鈥檚 take on hip-hop, what it takes to earn his trust and his plans around Kendrick Lamar and SZA鈥檚 stop in St. Louis for their Grand Nationals Tour on June 4, listen to St. Louis on the Air on , , or or click the play button below.
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by , , , and . Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is .
