What I’m listening to: Metro Boomin’s Spiderverse soundtrack

Date: 6/20/2023

It is easy to determine if a movie’s soundtrack is a cynical cash grab or a thoughtful reflection of the film’s themes. In many instances, the executive producer can often say a lot about what type of project we are getting. Do the collaborators make sense, or did the mastermind just pool random artists together for manufactured streams?

When the right artist overlooks the process, the synergy between the album and film is palpable. It only made sense for Future to executive produce the soundtrack for 2018’s Superfly, since his typical extravagance and hedonism perfectly played into the film’s opulence. That same year, the Black Panther movie explored the richness and depth of Black culture, so it was only right to tap Kendrick Lamar for its soundtrack since the venerable rapper has been incorporating those themes his entire musical career.

I was very excited when I heard Metro Boomin was helming the soundtrack for “Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse” because I knew he would approach the content with a similar scrupulousness as those artists.

The St. Louis super-producer has been the leader of his own justice league for the better part of the last decade. During that span, he not only created his own superhero escapades with projects like Not All Heroes Wear Capes and Heroes and Villains, but his orchestral style also shaped the sound of some of the biggest rappers on the planet like Future and 21 Savage.

It is no surprise, then, that executive producing an entire movie soundtrack comes naturally for Metro since he has been curating his entire life.

But beyond that, the Spiderverse soundtrack works because the 29-year-old understands there is more than what meets the eye when it comes to our favorite caped crusaders. In the movie, our protagonists Miles Morales and Gwen Stacey experience how tragedy, isolation, sacrifice and yearning can puncture one’s adolescence.

The soundtrack is usually at its best when you can feel Metro and his collaborators relating to the characters and these themes in sincere ways. On “Am I Dreaming,” which features a longing violin and Metro’s galvanizing drums, a little-known artist named Roisee sings about persevering through the lowest of lows as if she is a phoenix rising through the ashes while A$AP Rocky imbues his own personal touch growing up in New York like Miles and Gwen did.

“‘Cause I was born, bred to go in, toast read/And swing by 410, beef patty, cornbread/In the concrete jungle, where my home is.”

In other instances, Don Tolliver, Lil Uzi Vert and Coi Leray effectively touch on the movie’s idea of isolation during their respective songs. On “Home,” Tolliver’s chorus, which feels like is sung in some type of windowless confinement, makes Metro’s nocturnal drum pattern feel more haunting — while Leray’s dejected melodies on “Self-Love” pitter patter across a despondent instrumental while her lyrics exude the feeling a forlorn teenager far from home.

“Oh my, she’s a long way from suburban towns/Came to the city for the love, got her hurtin’ now.”

While none of these tracks capture the allure of “Sunflower,” the 2018 megahit from “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” there are still some heartfelt tracks about love that are too cute to feel mawkish. There are James Blake’s angelic vocals on “Hummingbird,” which fills the walls of Metro’s spectral beat with a bit of a lovelorn bent.

A song later, Swae Lee, the architect behind “Sunflower,” teams up with NAV and A Boogie with a Hoodie for “Callin’,” where Lee’s youthful chorus and Nav’s adorable verse carry just as potent of a heartbeat as Metro’s effusive string sections on the back half of the track.

“I’m not materialistic, but I got a thing for you/Treat the world like my guitar, I’m pulling strings for you.”

Despite these apparent highlights, the album does suffer from a similar corporate sheen that plagues many other big-name soundtracks. There are obvious lyrical restraints for a soundtrack dedicated to a movie for all ages, and while this is not an issue most of the time, those restrictions bring lackluster content during fleeting moments. On “Danger (Spider)” and “All the Way Live,” repetitive choruses from Offset and Future present a catatonic landscape where it seems like space just needs to be filled, while the inclusion of Nas on the finale “Nas Morales” feels like an awkward obligation.

And while Swae and Metro’s propellant contributions to “Annihilate” make for an action-packed, web-slinging adventure, I find Lil Wayne’s Spidey references lacking the cleverness found in some of his best verses.

Despite these quibbles, Metro’s curatorial prowess is once again on full display, as a combination of longtime collaborators and newly-found artists create a formidable and expressive reflection of what “Across the Spiderverse” looks to accomplish.