It was only last summer that Travis Scott released Days Before Rodeo, a mixtape designed to give listeners a taste of who Kanye West once called “my younger self.” West, who had proclaimed himself as the “greatest living rock star” (and funnily enough himself “the next Nelson Mandela”), knew that the pressure was instantly applied to Scott, now clearly his rising protégé. His talent on Days Before Rodeo, needless to say did impress. It gave listeners a chance to experience the moody tone and pounding acerbic drums, which opened up the door to Scott as one of the upcoming stars in rap music. It does however only provide a small snipped into Scott’s world. He once announced “I am not a rapper“. Is this a subtle boast from the young 23 year old? I think so.
Scott is not shy of limits. His concerts are entertaining to watch, his natural talent for performing shines through, making crowds scream and lose their mind with endless mosh pits. He seems to thrive on this energy, since he encouraged fans to throw punches in a punk style pit at the Fool’s Gold Day Off concert in L.A. On occasion, he does go off the rails. At an Arizona tour stop earlier this year, he insulted the crowd for not getting hyped enough. “I ain’t cool with none of you faggots who just sitting here looking like a bunch of queers,” he said which resulted in a heavy backlash and remorseful Twitter apology. “At my shows I get a lil’ turnt up. Sorry for that but never will I disrespect that community,” he wrote. Thankfully, the quick redemption allowed him to focus on the project ahead. Rodeo, Scott’s first official album, is a chance for Travis to show us what he is really about. Days before Rodeo and Owl Pharaoh were not really a true reflection of the spark Kanye saw in him. It seemed dumbed down and inexperienced but this, this really is Scott’s chance to impress us .
The tracklist is meh. We are impressed, but not surprised. The explicit names from ‘Pornography’ to ‘Piss On Your Grave’ are to be expected, it is not shocking at all. The tracklist boasts a cliché line up; from the you-must-have-on-your-album artists at the current moment: Future, 2 Chains, Justin Bieber and Kanye. To the Trap; Young Thug and Chief Keef, and even the indie; Toro y Moi. All this is wrapped up nicely with an extensive list of in demand producers; Metro Bloomin – TM88 – Southside, to name a few. A nicely packed package with a neatly tied bow. But with all of this, it seems too safe. What does Scott have to offer that we haven’t seen before? We braced ourselves during the ride of his mixtapes, but this debut… would we really enjoy the rodeo?
Sadly, the journey we expected is short lived. Scott does little to keep us on edge for the hour plus duration of the album, made even more depressing with his flat line delivery at the end of each track, mimicking that of 90210. As ready as I was for an album made by Scott, which we all know can go in the wildest directions, after listening to ‘Pornography’ many times I am still baffled to why he decided to name it that. Private joke maybe? A sexual innuendo? I hope he explains that one day. It is expected that the track following the intro is meant to be a banger, but I don’t think Travis got the memo. Instead he opts for a smooth, slow head-banging beat in ‘Oh My Dis Side’, foreshowing a very personal album ahead. Of course he insists on bragging as every rapper seems to do these days “Counting the benjamins right now/Oh my I’m on a flight now/ We so high bout to get some cash now”. This biopic theme becomes clear with the promise to ‘Tell you about Jacques’ but the personality we wish to see, the mystery surrounding Scott barely shows up on the album. Scott does try to show himself off , but he falls short, and becomes medicore, simply because he sounds like a copycat of his collaborators. “Apple Pie” sounds suspiciously a lot like Meek Mills “Amen”, “Oh My Dis Side” is clearly a Drake song once the keyboard jingle is removed on Scott’s voice and if you pull apart “Flying High”, it sounds like knockoff from Tyler the Creator’s Cherry Bomb. Scott may seem confident but it is clear it only goes so far deep.
The slaughter doesn’t stop there. He is easily outmaneuvered by the likes of 2 Chains “This is the one that ran off and didn’t wait on me” and even Justin Bieber with his sing-song rap like verses. Juicy J owned ‘Wasted’, overpowering Scott, even with the same flow and verse he has been rapping for over a decade now. Scott falls short once again on “I Can Tell”, we hear a full blown verse from him, but he fails to impress – in the same fashion as in the rest of the album.
‘Piss On Your Grave’ was probably the most anticipated track on the album, the mentor and the mentee coming together to produce something explosive, powered by the typical autotune, metalitc undertone, blues rock and sonic space feel of Kanye. It’s just a shame that the track was only 2.46 minutes long. A big surprise was to see the likes of Schoolboy Q with an artist like Travis, since both have very different styles and yet their personalities were able to shine through on “Ok Alright” – “Should have never let us niggas in”. A little warning to other artists: if Scott can do this with an unlikely artist, then watch out.
Travis’s personality is distorted in Rodeo. It shows his cliché rap-obsessed youth, a reflection of today’s young culture. Although Scott admittedly did not grow up in the rougher parts of Houston—the same neighbourhoods that cultivated legends out of DJ Screw, the Geto Boys, and Z-Ro —he did fit into the stereotypical wayward teen from smoking ounces of weed, burning studio time and living on strangers couches which unfortunately led to periods
of homelessness, poor grades and being kicked out of school. Despite all this, there became a fortunate upside. This experience pushed Scott to an unexpected blank canvas, a challenge to become a role model for many young music fans looking to get their first kicks in rap. “What happened now?/ My daddy happy, mama called me up/ That money coming and she love me, I done made it now,” Scott raps over auburn piano, live drums and guitar strumming that suddenly engulf the closing minutes on “90210”. This is one of Rodeo’s few uncanny moments—a moment that’s both exciting and mournful—where Scott is able to fluidly translate his life story into music.
From deranged ideas to tracks simply being lumbered over once too many times, the sound of Rodeo is littered with technical flaws, which are ultimately a shame to the magnificence of the beats. They are the works of in-demand and tuneful producers who sort to flow with the headline-worthy names that appear within tracks. This is harsh to say, but the extensiveness was all for mere window dressing. The final product as a result is drowned in sounds ranging from the mumbling Chief Keef, to the high pitched Bieber. Unfortunately, the sounds are so drowned out that most, if not all, of the artists’ creative input is lost. Rodeo is a clear cut example of what happens when overzealous studio experiments (beat switch-ups, spoken word passages, barrage of drums) and unnecessary additions (random samples and over-processed vocals,) make their way onto an album without fine stitching. Scott may not have all the support he received on Yeezus, but he is still an executive producer on Rodeo. The assistance of Scott Mike Dean alone is sufficient, the man who’s worked on every Kanye West project since My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The point is, there’s no excuse for this shambolic mess .
Travi$ Scott is only 23. He has a promising future ahead of him and with the support of the great Kanye West, he can only get better. But for now, he needs to step away from the limelight and focus on perfecting his craft. Maybe in a few years we’ll fully see the potential that West saw in him and his true ability will run throughout his music. For now he is simply a rebellious teenager who has been given the keys to his Dad’s new Porche and asked not to wreck it.
Hip-Hop Prodigy 