Heroes & Villains

The album was first teased in November 2021 by Metro's close friend and DJ Holiday.[2]

Metro slowly began revealing the album's features on a series of Instagram posts by showing comic book style covers of the artists.[7] The album was accompanied by a short film that was released on November 30, 2022 starring Metro Boomin and Morgan Freeman.[8]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
Clash	7/10[14]
Mic Cheque	7/10[15]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[1]
Slant Magazine	[16]

Heroes & Villains received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 73 out of 100, based on five reviews.[12]

Robin Murray of Clash wrote, "Indeed, one faultline on the record is that there is simply too much going on. 'HEROES & VILLAINS' bursts with ideas, not all of which land. A record that revels in contradictions, it grasps towards the light while framing itself in darkness." He also summarized, "A bold artist statement from Metro Boomin, 'HEROES & VILLAINS' progresses his arena-level sonic tapestry, while also leaving space to grow. A statement of intent, he utilises one of the finest contact books in American hip-hop to build his rogue's gallery."[14] Writing for Mic Cheque, Hamza R. felt that "it means one must treat Heroes & Villains like a holistic experience, driven by its tight theme, and Metro's muted but irresistible sound that keeps the album's engine running" and "he remains a conductor, waving his wand to summon a trap album that may not be his personal best but is robust enough to upstage most albums of its kind this year".[15] Brady Brickner-Wood of Pitchfork described the album as "an ambitious, detail-rich record that splits the difference between streaming fodder and world-building", adding that "proves that Metro aspires to more than hits".[1] Charles Lyons-Burt of Slant Magazine summarized that the album is "not very ambitious as far as subject matter goes, but the majority of the guests, whose appearances never feel obligatory, at least cursorily touch on the central theme".[16]

Heroes & Villains debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 185,000 album-equivalent units, making it Metro Boomin's third US number-one album.

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies a co-producer
• "On Time" transitions into "Superhero (Heroes & Villains)"
• "Too Many Nights" transitions into "Raindrops (Insane)"
• "Raindrops (Insane)" transitions into "Umbrella"
• "Metro Spider" transitions into "I Can't Save You (Interlude)"
• "All the Money" was originally released on both the original and deluxe versions of Gunna's album DS4Ever (2022), being removed both times.

Sample credits

• "On Time" features an excerpt from the episode "The Only Man In the Sky" from the television series The Boys, as performed by Antony Starr.
• "Superhero (Heroes & Villains)" contains samples from "So Appalled", written by Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Mike Dean, Shawn Carter, Terrence Thornton, Cydell Young, Kaseem Dean, Robert Diggs, Manfred Mann, and performed by West.
• "Creepin'" is a partial cover of "I Don't Wanna Know", written by Mario Winans, Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, Nicky Ryan, Roma Ryan, Chauncey Hawkins, Erick Sermon, and Parrish Smith, and performed by Winans, P. Diddy, and Enya.
• "Walk Em Down (Don't Kill Civillians)" contains an interpolation from the 2007 documentary Hood Affairs, starring Gucci Mane.
• "Feel the Fiyaaaah" contains samples from "Feel the Fire", written and performed by Peabo Bryson.

Musicians

• Metro Boomin – programming
• ASAP Rocky – additional vocals (tracks 1, 8, 9)
• Morgan Freeman – additional vocals (1, 7, 11)
• Johan Lenox – strings (1, 10), background vocals (1), keyboards (10)
• Marza Wilks – cello (1, 10)
• Kevin Lemons and Higher Calling – choir (1)
• Siraaj Rhett – horn (1)
• Peter Lee Johnson – strings (1, 10, 12), piano (5), violin (6), synthesizer (10), bass (12)
• Camille Miller – violin (1, 10)
• Yasmeen Al-Mazeedi – violin (1, 10)
• Delaram – background vocals (2)
• Mario Winans – background vocals (10)
• Travis Scott – background vocals (10)
• DaHeala – keyboards, programming (10)
• Simon Hessman – guitar (12)
• Thundercat – bass (14)

Technical

• Joe LaPorta – mastering
• Metro Boomin – mixing
• Ethan Stevens – mixing (all tracks), engineering (1, 2, 5–7, 9, 11–15)
• Patrizio "Teezio" Pigliapoco – engineering (2)
• Derek "206derek" Anderson – engineering (3, 4, 7, 9)
• Vern Emmanuel – engineering (5)
• Flo Ongonga – engineering (6, 15)
• Bainz – engineering (8)
• Kourosh Poursalehi – engineering (9)
• Isaiah "ibmixing" Brown – engineering (10)
• Shin Kamiyama – engineering (10)
• Eric Manco – engineering (13)
• Hector Delgado – engineering (14)
• Braden Davies – mixing assistance
• Zachary Acosta – mixing assistance
• Rebekka Zeyfiyan – engineering assistance (7, 9)
• Ryan Youngblood – engineering assistance (11)