Who but Metro Boomin, the trap wizard of Not All Heroes Wear Capes And Heroes & Villainscould edit the soundtrack of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? The album, which is part of a wave of successful soundtracks (see the cases of Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé who respectively handled the music of Black Panther And The Lion King), changes the meaning of the term spider-verse content in the title thanks to a lot of spider-bars shot by Offset, A$AP Rocky, 21 Savage and Future, plus an equally strong cast of melodic contemporary rappers.
sunflower by Post Malone and Swae Lee, which was the main theme of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse of 2018, recently went 18th platinum, becoming the fastest-selling single in the history of the Recording Industry Association of America’s history. It is therefore not surprising to find Swae Lee in this sequel alongside Lil Wayne and Offset in Annihilate and with Nav and A Boogie wit da Hoodie in calling. However, the great puppeteer Metro Boomin has not attempted to hit another pop blockbuster like sunflower. She prefers to paint for the Brooklyn wall-crawler a backdrop of synths and melodic hip-hop created by some of the trendiest artists in the genre.
Maybe it’s from the days of the soundtrack of Batman of Prince that superheroes didn’t sound so cool. There are also excerpts of dialogue taken from the film that take up some of the themes addressed in the lyrics: finding one’s guiding star while facing inner battles (calling), but also homesickness (Home) it’s love (Link Up). AC/DC and the Ramones were too dated for Peter Parker’s misadventures in Spider-Man: Far From Home of 2019. Metro Boomin’s soundtrack for this teenage Afro-Latino Spidey is definitely more apt, especially when it resonates in the classrooms of Brooklyn Visions Academy. Moreover, the original version of Silk & Cologne by Ei8ht and Offset was used months ago as background in a Fortnite lobby, it all comes back.
The only anomaly is represented by Nas. The 49-year-old dean of hip hop crashes his own Nas Morales at the party just as it’s about to end. His verses are hardly singable, unlike those of his colleagues, and are reminiscent of the hip hop-stuffed soundtracks of the 90s. Perhaps his presence symbolizes the wisdom gained by the hero, who eventually learns (again) that with great power comes great responsibility. And, judging by this soundtrack, Metro Boomin gets it too.
From Rolling Stone US.
