Producer Tags Explained: Who Actually Says "Metro Boomin Want Some More"

Two different tags open Metro Boomin's beats. "Metro Boomin want some more" is Young Thug's voice, cut from their 2013 song "Some More" by engineer Alex Tumay. "If Young Metro don't trust you, I'm gon' shoot you" is Future, lifted from an Uncle Murda session.

That corrects the most repeated error in rap trivia, so let us show the work first.

What is a producer tag?

A producer tag is a short sound at the top of a song that tells you who made the beat. It can be a spoken phrase, a sung name, a sound effect or a piece of melody. It is not an ad-lib. Ad-libs come from the artist and live inside the vocal take, which is why Rick Ross's grunt and Gucci Mane's shiver are a different category. A tag arrives baked into the instrumental, and the rapper has no say in it. The practice traces to 1990s mixtape culture and exploded alongside trap.

Why producer tags exist

Reason one: theft. A beat sent to an artist who has not paid for it is a file that can walk. Drop your name across the first four bars and it is worthless to whoever did not license it, like a watermark on a stock photo. Murda Beatz told Variety: "In the beginning, I was doing it to protect myself. But then I found out that the branding is helping me."

Reason two: credit died with the CD. Liner notes used to carry production credits. Streaming replaced the booklet with six-point type nobody scrolls to, so the tag is the only credit that plays out loud. Engineer Alex Tumay told Red Bull Music Academy Daily that 99 percent of the beats submitted to him arrive tagged, and that he leaves them alone because "that tag is their own version of insurance."

Reason three: it is a hook. Trevor Jerideau, then an RCA executive, told Variety: "Signature tags are hooks. This is about artistry." A great tag makes you feel something before a single bar arrives.

The Metro Boomin fact-check

"Metro Boomin want some more" is Young Thug. Alex Tumay told Red Bull Music Academy Daily: "I created the 'Metro Boomin want some more' tag out of the song 'Some More' with Young Thug." Metro's own reference entry traces the tag to that record, and The FADER posted the song on November 27, 2013, produced by Metro, TM88 and Sonny Digital for Metro's 19 & Boomin tape. The line was a lyric first. Tumay carved it into a stamp.

"If Young Metro don't trust you, I'm gon' shoot you" is Future. Metro explained it to DJ Drama on StreetzisWatchin Radio: "We had did this song with Uncle Murda one time, and one of the lines that Future said in there was, 'If young Metro don't trust you, I'm gon' shoot you.'" The take came off Uncle Murda's "Right Now," surfaced on "Jumpman" in 2015, and went planetary when Kanye West opened "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1" with it. Future is not on that Kanye song.

Two tags, two voices, one producer, and a decade of confident people getting it backwards.

Who actually gets paid for saying it

Almost nobody, and that is starting to matter. Most tag vocals are not commissioned; they are lifted from a take that already existed, the way Tumay described. The producer gets a permanent brand asset. The voice on it usually gets a handshake.

In January 2024, musician Jamal Britt filed a lawsuit claiming he recorded the "Run that back, Turbo" tag and was never notified, credited or paid royalties. It is a claim rather than a finding, but it is the first serious test of an arrangement the industry has run on trust.

The 24 most recognizable producer tags

The Neptunes — the four-count

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo never needed a voice. Their signature was a four-count musical figure that told you what kind of record was coming, and it is cited among the canonical examples of the form. Worth remembering before you assume a tag has to be somebody yelling: the Neptunes signed records the way a painter signs a canvas, and half the tags below are louder versions of that idea.

Just Blaze — "Just Blaze!"

Justin Gregory Smith, born January 8, 1978 in Paterson, New Jersey, took his name from Blaze Fielding in the Streets of Rage games. His tag was never a pre-recorded drop. It was rappers shouting his name mid-song because his beats demanded it, and Revolt associates the phrase's spread with Joe Budden's "Pump It Up." Roc-A-Fella's architect of chipmunk soul got the rarest kind of tag: an unpaid one, delivered live.

Don Cannon — "Cannon!"

Donald Cannon, born August 2, 1979 in Philadelphia, co-founded Aphilliates Music Group in 2003 with DJ Drama and DJ Sense, ran A&R at Def Jam, and launched the Atlantic imprint Generation Now in 2015. Revolt reports the drop is sampled from NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall in Madden audio; Cannon has not published his own account, so treat that as reporting. A football announcer barking a surname over an 808 is a happy accident.

Jahlil Beats — "Jahlil Beats, holla at me!"

The only tag in rap that is also a business card. Revolt traces it to Lloyd Banks's "Jackpot." Most producers use a tag to announce that they have arrived. Jahlil used his to announce that he was available, which is either the least cool or the most honest move in the history of the form. It worked. He got the calls.

Zaytoven — the church organ

Xavier Lamar Dotson, born January 12, 1980 in Frankfurt, West Germany, grew up in church bands because his father preached when he was not working for the army. He gravitated to piano and organ, moved to Atlanta for his senior year, and produced Gucci Mane's "Icy" in 2005 before becoming the in-house sound of 1017. His real tag is the first four notes of any Zaytoven beat.

Lex Luger — the synth crescendo

Lexus Arnel Lewis, born March 6, 1991, co-founded 808 Mafia with Southside in 2010 and left the following year. His signature is a synth crescendo, that rising orchestral swell before the drop, which is a name written in sound. He made Waka Flocka's "Hard in the Paint," Rick Ross's "B.M.F." on Teflon Don, and eight beats for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. All in 2010. He was 19.

Southside — 808 Mafia

Joshua Howard Luellen, born February 2, 1989 in Southeast Atlanta, runs an arsenal: a pitched-up voice saying his name, the 808 Mafia group stamp, and a newer one built from the theme to the TV series Ironside, composed by Quincy Jones. Credits run from Waka Flocka's Flockaveli through Watch the Throne to nine of the ten tracks on Future's 56 Nights. Branding trap with a Quincy Jones cue is an outrageous flex.

Mike WiLL Made-It — "Mike WiLL Made-It"

The best-documented tag origin in rap, and nobody knows it. Mike WiLL told Red Bull Music Academy Daily that Gucci Mane freestyled the phrase on "Star Status Freestyle," rapping "Mike Will Made It / Gucci Mane slayed it." Mike WiLL then turned to his sister: "Yo Heysha, man, can you just say Mike Will Made-It?" A rapper wrote it and the producer's sister performed it.

Sonny Digital — "Sonny Digital"

Flat, unhurried, two words, no theatrics, and it works precisely because everything around it is screaming. Revolt associates the tag's wider spread with ILOVEMAKONNEN's "Tuesday." He also co-produced "Some More" alongside Metro Boomin and TM88 in 2013, putting him in the room for the session behind somebody else's far more famous tag. Rap is a small business run by about forty people.

Metro Boomin — "Metro Boomin want some more"

Young Thug's voice. Engineer Alex Tumay built the tag out of the 2013 song "Some More," recorded for Metro's 19 & Boomin tape and produced by Metro, TM88 and Sonny Digital. Metro's earliest tag was a different one, "This beat is so, so Metro," used across 2013 and 2014. "Want some more" went viral in early 2016 and never left. If somebody says it is Future, send them this paragraph.

Metro Boomin — "If Young Metro don't trust you, I'm gon' shoot you"

Future, taken from a session for Uncle Murda's "Right Now" and repurposed as a beat tag. It surfaced on Drake and Future's "Jumpman" in 2015 and became inescapable after Kanye West used it to open "Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1." Eleven words, delivered by a man not on the song, for a producer who was 22. Nothing about it should work.

London on da Track — "We got London on da track"

London Tyler Holmes, born March 27, 1991 in Memphis and raised in Atlanta, gave beats away free early to build relationships. His first record to get radio play was Rich Kidz's "Pieon." Revolt credits Skooly of Rich Kidz with coining the phrase, though London has not published his own account. He went from free beats to Rich Gang's "Lifestyle" to Ariana Grande's No. 1 "Positions."

Mustard — "Mustard on the beat"

Dijon Isaiah McFarlane, born June 5, 1990, named himself after the condiment, which tells you everything about his sense of humor. The tag is YG's voice, taken from the end of an early collaboration called "I'm Good," and the full line has one more word we are not printing. It has ridden everything from "Rack City" to "Not Like Us," his first Hot 100 No. 1 and a five-Grammy evening.

Murda Beatz — "Murda on the beat so it's not nice"

Shane Lee Lindstrom, born February 11, 1994 in Fort Erie, Ontario, told Variety a Toronto rapper named Hardbody pushed him to start tagging his work. Revolt traces the line to Baka Not Nice's "AKA," though Lindstrom has not published a definitive account of whose voice is on the recording, so we are flagging that rather than asserting it. The tag fronts "Motorsport" and "Nice for What," which is a career.

Wheezy — "Wheezy outta here!"

Wesley Tyler Glass, born October 26, 1992 in Vicksburg, Mississippi before settling in Atlanta. Future voices the tag. Glass landed his first major placement on Rich Gang: Tha Tour Pt. 1 in 2014, worked on Barter 6, then executive produced Gunna's Drip or Drown 2 and Wunna. He also made "Yes Indeed" and "Going Bad." The tag is cheerful in a way trap tags never are, which is why it lands.

Turbo — "Run that back, Turbo"

Chandler A. Great, born August 9, 1994, executive produced Drip Harder in 2018 with Gunna and Lil Baby, including a diamond-certified title track, and later steered DS4Ever and A Gift & a Curse. In January 2024, musician Jamal Britt filed a lawsuit claiming he recorded the tag and was never notified, credited or compensated. Whatever the outcome, the case makes visible what everyone in this article depends on.

Pi'erre Bourne — "Yo Pi'erre, you wanna come out here?"

Jordan Timothy Jenks, born September 19, 1993 in Columbia, South Carolina, sampled the line from an episode of The Jamie Foxx Show. XXL describes the scene as Foxx waiting a table and calling for a fake French chef. Foxx confirmed it is him, telling Uproxx "I thought that was great, man," and adding that his teenage daughter refused to believe it. It sounds like a door opening because it is.

Tay Keith — "Tay Keith is too hard"

Brytavious Chambers, born September 20, 1996 in South Memphis, had two tags: the clean one above and the famous one, his name followed by an instruction we are not printing. It attached to him during BlocBoy JB's "Look Alive" run in 2018, the year he also made Drake's "Nonstop" and co-produced "Sicko Mode." Revolt credits the tag vocal to an artist named Lil Juice; no authoritative account is public. Chambers died June 18, 2026 at 29.

jetsonmade — "Oh Lord, Jetson made another one!"

Tahj Morgan, born July 27, 1996 in Columbia, South Carolina, which makes two enormous producer tags out of one mid-size city. Revolt credits the voice to the artist Reek Popii. The tag rode DaBaby's "Suge" to No. 7 in 2019 and Jack Harlow's "Whats Poppin" to No. 2 in 2020. The genius is the exasperation. Most tags announce greatness. This one sounds like a man being informed of it.

Conductor Williams — "Conductor, we have a problem"

Denzel Williams built his reputation in the Griselda orbit, producing for Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Boldy James and Rome Streetz before working with Drake, Tyler, the Creator, JID and J. Cole. Revolt traces the drop to a subway meme clip, though no first-person account has been published, so treat that as reported. It sounds like an emergency announcement over dusty soul loops.

Cash Cobain — "And this beat from Cash, not from YouTube"

Cashmere Lavon Small, born March 31, 1998 in the South Bronx, is the architect of sexy drill and the author of the sharpest tag in a decade. The voice belongs to rapper Big Yaya. Read what it does: a joke about beat theft that works as an actual anti-theft device, the only tag that explains the whole concept while performing it. Play Cash Cobain landed August 23, 2024.

BNYX — the distorted stamp

Benjamin Saint Fort, born April 23, 1995 in Delaware, is the producer most responsible for how the last five years sound blown out and beautiful. Credits include Yeat's Up 2 Me, Drake's "Search & Rescue," three tracks on Travis Scott's Utopia, eight on For All the Dogs and four on Kid Cudi's Insano. His tag is heavily processed, and no public account names the voice, so we are not guessing.

ATL Jacob — the name drop

Jacob Denzal Canady, born December 10, 1998 in Atlanta, put seven songs on Future's The WIZRD at 20, then made Kodak Black's "Super Gremlin" and Future and Drake's "Wait for U," a Hot 100 No. 1 and a Best Rap Song Grammy nominee. His tag is a straight name announcement in the Sonny Digital tradition. As with BNYX, no published account names the voice, and we are flagging that gap.

DJ Khaled — "Another one"

The endpoint of the entire form. Khaled's drops are cited among the canonical producer tags, and somewhere along the way the tag stopped serving the record and the record started serving the tag. That is a diagnosis, not a criticism. He proved a producer's voice could be worth more than a producer's beat, which is what every tag on this list was quietly hoping for.

The rule underneath all of it

A tag has to survive a phone speaker, a car with the windows down, and a listener who is not paying attention. Everything that clears that filter shares three properties: short, weird, impossible to confuse with anyone else.

Which, as our guide to rap ad-libs lays out, is the rule that governs the grunts too. Rap solved branding before the branding industry noticed.