At a time when watercooler moments are arduous to return by, “Like That” — an explosive collaboration between hip-hop heavyweights Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar — dominated the cultural dialog for weeks on finish. Whereas the chatter largely centered on Lamar’s incendiary verse and the very public beef it triggered amongst Drake, J. Cole and himself, the anticipation for “Like That” had been constructing for the higher a part of a yr: Metro Boomin first shared a snippet of “Like That” at an after-party in Brooklyn in 2023.
“The group went loopy off of the beat alone – it was top-of-the-line flips of ‘Eternal Bass’ I’ve ever heard in my life,” says Xiarra-Diamond Nimrod of Republic Information, Metro’s label, in reference to the pattern of Rodney-O and Joe Cooley’s 1986 hit. She posted a brief clip on-line, and the response was quick.
“Earlier than I knew it, fan pages picked it up, blogs and publications ran with it and everybody was asking for the total tune,” Nimrod remembers.
SalXCo’s Ryan Ramsey additionally knew it was particular from the second Metro first performed him the observe. “That beat is simply insane,” he says, “and then you definitely get Future to place his sauce on and let Kendrick do his factor — that’s powerful to beat.”
The thrill solely constructed when Metro Boomin and Future headlined the Rolling Loud California pageant simply previous to the tune’s launch, and Travis Scott personally requested them to play it throughout their set.
“The request wasn’t deliberate, however we made positive content material seize was in place to doc all the key moments,” Nimrod says. The cherry on prime was sending a fleet of Boominati/FBG Rolls-Royces to cruise round New York Metropolis and Atlanta blasting the tune.
With followers primed, the document arrived to a captive viewers. “Ninety minutes after the discharge, it was very clear that ‘Like That’ was a historic second all of us acquired to witness in actual time,” Justin Duran of Future’s label, Epic Information, says of the joint launch. His colleague Jermaine Pegues, who oversaw the prolonged clearance course of, agrees. “It’s essentially the most excited I’ve seen playlist editors.”
Along with beginning a rap battle, “Like That” proved to be each a important and industrial juggernaut — debuting at No. 1 and incomes two Grammy nominations — and a reminder that hip-hop nonetheless shapes tradition. “For 3 weeks each artist stopped to look at what was taking place with this tune,” Duran says.
Epic’s Brooke Marcimo believes the legacy of “Like That” might be seen within the heated conversations it sparked on social media and blogs, in addition to the fiery rebuttals and dis tracks it impressed. “Consumption occurred on a worldwide scale because the world listened to the mission, found and mentioned the featured artists,” she says. “The lyrics have been digested and closely studied. All of us acquired to see what the facility of the pen can do.”
Songwriters: Joe Cooley, Future, Kobe Hood, Kendrick Lamar, MC Ren, Metro Boomin, Rodney Oliver
Producer: Metro Boomin
Labels: Freebandz-Epic/Boominati-Republic
Hitmakers:
•Justin Duran, VP of promoting, Epic Information
•Brooke Marcimo, senior director of economic partnerships, Epic Information
•Xiarra-Diamond Nimrod, senior VP of promoting technique, Republic Information
•Jermaine Pegues, VP of A&R, Epic Information
•Ryan Ramsey, supervisor, SalXCo
Publishers: Hood Muscle Publishing, Common Music Group, Jarjourco Worldwide, Naydavius Maximus Music, Not Publishing, Songs of Common, Y2K Music Worldwide
