It’s essentially a cover of Mario Winans’ 2004 smash “I Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring P. Diddy and Enya.
A-listers abound on the new Metro Boomin album, HEROES & VILLAINS, which has been dominating the Genius Top Songs chart since it dropped at midnight. But it’s hard to beat the star power of The Weeknd and 21 Savage, who team with Metro on the LP highlight “Creepin’.” The track quickly surpassed 50K Genius pageviews, and it’s holding steady at No. 1 on the charts.
Millennial listeners will immediately recognize “Creepin’” as a remake of R&B singer Mario Winans’ 2004 hit “I Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring P. Diddy and Enya. That song samples new-age goddess Enya’s 1987 song “Boadicea,” which The Fugees also sampled on their 1996 hit “Ready Or Not.” In a 2004 interview, Winans recalled first hearing “Boadicea” in the 1992 film Sleepwalkers and wanting to use the track. The Fugees beat him to the punch, but Winans didn’t let that stop him. And luckily for him, he asked for permission, unlike The Fugees, so he actually kept some of the royalties.
In a recent interview with Ebro Darden for Apple Music, Metro Boomin revealed that his manager, Cash, was the one who suggested recording a new version of “I Don’t Wanna Know” with The Weeknd. Apparently, The Weeknd is a huge fan of the original, and it just so happens that Metro is tight with Winans. In fact, Winans helped to produce several songs on HEROES & VILLAINS. He can even heard singing backing vocals behind The Weeknd on “Creepin’.”
Produced by Metro Boomin, DaHeala, Johan Lenox, and Peter Lee Johnson, “Creepin’” opens with the instantly recognizable Enya sample and moves quickly to The Weeknd, who borrows both of his verses, plus the hook, from “I Don’t Want to Know.” He sings from the perspective of a guy who’s getting played but doesn’t care. He’d rather his lover secretly betray him than end their relationship. The chorus tells you everything you need to know.
Although the music has been updated slightly, what truly makes “Creepin’” different from “I Don’t Wanna Know” is the third verse. Instead of P. Diddy, we get frequent Metro Boomin collaborator 21 Savage, who abandons his usual tough-guy posturing and plays the wounded character the song demands.
For the life of him, 21 can’t figure out why this girl is cheating on him. After all, he buys her crazy-expensive custom jewelry and designer handbags. Maybe it’s got something to do with the other girl he’s seeing in the Bay Area—the one with the clever nickname?
However warranted it may be, the infidelity is messing with 21’s mind. He might be too freaked out to snoop through his girlfriend’s phone. And he’s having trouble at work.
In his Apple Music interview, Metro told Darden that HEROES & VILLAINS is the second installment in a trilogy that began with 2018’s NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES. Fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath for part three. “I’m going to see how this flow, because I really want to shoot a lot of videos to this one, and I’ve put a lot of time into this body of work,” Metro said of his latest project. “So I really want to stretch it, and not just throw out the third one.”