Hip-Hop Music producer Metro Boomin, best known for his collaborations with artists like 21 Savage, Kanye West, Future, and Drake to name a few, lost his mother to a tragic act of violence this weekend.
TMZ reports that the body of his mother, Leslie Joanne Wayne, was found by police just outside the city of Atlanta.
The investigation is ongoing, but sources close to the police department confirm that Wayne appears to have been murdered by her husband, who then took his own life. Wayne’s husband is not the producer’s father.
Born Leland Tyler Wayne, Metro Boomin was raised in St. Louis by his mother, whom he’s gone on record crediting with inspiring and encouraging his music career on multiple occasions. In a 2013 article from The Fader, Metro revealed that his mother bought him his first laptop at age 13, on which he downloaded a beat production program and taught himself. In another feature with the magazine, he detailed that she would drive him 17 hours round trip, from St. Louis to Atlanta and back, nearly every weekend to collaborate with active rap artists when he was still in high school.
Metro described his mother as “a warmhearted, protective woman, whose support and care knows no limits.”
Indeed, Metro spoke of his mother highly and often, lavishing her with gifts and public praise. In a December 2019 post on Twitter, he showed off a brand new car and purse he purchased for her birthday, calling her “my biggest inspiration.”
An autopsy will be conducted as part of the ongoing investigation into Wayne’s death before an official cause of death will be released to the public. Understandably, a representative for Metro Boomin says that he and his family request their privacy during this difficult time.