Travis Scott: Jack of Many Trades, Master of them All

Jacques Berman Webster II, known as Travis Scott, was born in Houston, Texas, where he lived his early life with his grandmother until moving to L.A. when his music career started picking up.

Okay, I’ll skip the history lesson.

Travis Scott is an enigma. In late 2018, he sat atop the hip-hop totem pole with the year’s #1 album Astroworld and the #1 single SICKO MODE. He paraded some of the most lavish concerts, sporting two roller coasters, movie-like visual illusions, and larger-than-life physical effects like fire and smoke. It seemed like Travis Scott owned the nation. He could go no higher.

But like any artist, his journey up till now has been as up and down as his roller coasters. Astroworld is his 5th major project and 3rd studio album, and his previous projects tell much different stories. And despite all of his success as a rapper, Travis Scott will be the first to say he was a producer to start it all. He has produced songs for many other artists, most notably Kanye West on Yeezus, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Big Sean, and many others.

His production, rapping style, and content are notably different from project to project. We’re going to go on a journey to uncover what Travis Scott’s discography looks like and how he has changed over time.

Introduction

Why do artists become big? Why do they capture the eye of millions? I think most people will agree there are two reasons.

Firstly, an artist can just be more talented than his or her peers. This answer is obvious. Rappers that just have amazing flow and tell stories like they are reciting a poem captivate the fanbase. Singers with amazing voices and great delivery will naturally be stars. Drake rose to the top with his infectious flows and catchy tunes. Rappers like A$AP Rocky, J. Cole, and many others have also made themselves heard for the same reason.

The second reason is because the artist offers something different to the industry. There’s a well known story about Kanye West and 50 Cent that famously marked such a moment in 2007. After his commercial successes with The College Dropout and Late Registration, Kanye, a relatively new rapper, was set to release his third album Graduation on the same day 50 Cent was set to release his album Curtis. People were anxious to see who would sell more units and receive more critical acclaim. The rap industry up until the mid 2000s was dominated by the likes of 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Tupac, Biggy, and others with music that many categorized as “street rap”. But that weekend in 2007 symbolized a change. Kanye West vastly outsold 50 cent, with many viewing it as a victory of the new melodic, upbeat, sample-heavy rap and production over the street style of the past two decades. Kanye inspired a generation of rappers, and his effects are still being felt today.

There are many others who fit this mold. The Weeknd, many claim, changed R&B to be more melancholy compared to the upbeat tunes of Trey Songz, Ne-Yo, and Usher. Metro Boomin, Young Thug, and Future brought the trap sound to the mainstream, giving rise to a wave of young trap artists today.

Travis Scott is one of these unique artists.

Travis Scott is special because he creates a sonic experience. I don’t think his music really fits into a genre. It is unconventional and unique. It is difficult to classify him as either rap, trap, or R&B even though his songs clearly have elements of all three. His songs, many times, are disorganized. He is able to use his voice as an instrument, humming and moaning to elicit emotion while also blending together unique production, features, effects, and in some cases a narrative that all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Pre-Rodeo

Travis Scott released two projects before his debut album Rodeo (2015):Owl Pharaoh and Days Before Rodeo, mixtapes released in 2013 and 2014 respectively. While these two projects defined his early sound, I believe they were simply stepping stones towards the polished product that we got from Rodeo in 2015.

Consider the song Bad Mood/S**t on You on Owl Pharaoh. Notice how the song begins with a low synth and harsh drums, on top of his abrasive voice, giving it a very suspenseful feeling, as if he’s conveying his “bad mood” through this production. When the new sample at 0:43 comes in with echoes of “bad mood”, it emphasizes the feeling of impending doom. But the beat switches up halfway through, giving the song a much more uplifting tone. He talks about him going “higher”, and wanting to “s**t on you”. He gives us a taste of his signature humming when he draws out the “higher” and draws in the listener to his prideful emotional state. It isn’t the most lyrically dense song, but it captures the mood he’s trying to create.

Because of the beat switch, the song does seem a little disjoint. There isn’t too much connecting the two halves of the song, and the transition is a little abrupt. But with any artist, there is always room for growth. On this song, each part is able to accomplish its purpose really well, and I think it gives us a glimpse of what’s to come on future projects.

Notice how spacey and empty the production is at times. Very rarely is he layering lots of elements, rather carefully choosing certain drums, instruments, and samples to give the right emphasis on whatever he wants, whether it’s his vocals or the general mood of the song. Listen to the song Drive — many sections feature just one set of unique drums or one carefully chosen sound but are accompanied by appropriate vocals (many times layered vocals) and give just the right mood, which is what Travis Scott is all about. Of course, sometimes he does have very complex production. But as an overall concept, I find this pattern to hold true.

Another song I wanted to highlight is Hell of a Night, again on Owl Pharaoh. This one is more of a polished product. The opening production is extremely mesmerizing, and the chords blending in at 0:30 makes it even more so. Travis Scott’s auto-tuned humming is an amazing brushstroke that works perfectly with the harmonious production. This entire section embodies a happy, emotional scene for Travis, as if he’s living in a fantasy with a girl of his dreams. Then it all changes when she “caught him f**king in the bathroom”. The second part once again becomes more abrasive as he’s contemplating his mistakes and goes harsh on himself. There’s a very faint “ooooo” in this second half while Travis is rapping that builds on the feeling of guilt that our protagonist is having.

Finally, a third song I want to point out is Drugs You Should Try It on Days Before Rodeo. I won’t analyze this for too long because it’s going to be repeating some of the same ideas I already talked about. The song is really just a surreal sensation, as the title suggests. The piano, the echoes of his voice, the autotune, distorted vocals, lyrics talking about “feeling nice” all contribute to the atmosphere. Drugs You Should Try It is truly one of Scott’s masterpieces.

I’ve highlighted some of the more unique songs but I encourage you to listen to the rest of Owl Pharoah and Days Before Rodeo. In some songs, he shows his rapping talent with clever wordplay and amazing flow. In others, he has unique production and catchy hooks but doesn’t quite tell a story. But overall, Scott on these two projects shows us that his music is about the sound and the mood. The production fits together with the vocals in a way that I’ve never heard any other artist do. You can feel the energy and the emotion in his voice in these songs (Upper Echelon and Skyfall, for example). Now, we can see how he evolves on Rodeo.

Rodeo

Rodeo is Travis Scott’s debut studio album from 2015. I personally consider it an absolute masterpiece, and it is one of my favorite albums of all time. Rodeo has a few different sounds and storylines in it, and as we break down the first track, Pornography, it will become clear what this album is all about and why he makes certain musical choices.

One small note: Travis Scott is listed as a producer on pretty much every track, but they all have co-producers as well. It’s impossible to know what he’s done and what other people have done, but we can assume he was involved in the entire process and stitching things together.

The opening track Pornography begins with a narration by T.I. He talks about Travis Scott saying “f**k you” to the world. He’s leaving his old life and starting a new one, and he seems to be taking a group of people with him, maybe his die-hard fans. He’s a self-proclaimed leader. Travis raps about his ambition and leaving his hometown for his career. In light of all that, his production choices here fit well. The abrasive vocals and production along with the harsh drums are his way of turning his back on the world and portraying him as an independent, braggadocious artist ready to knock down anyone in his path. Furthermore, those harsh sounds are a way of getting the listener to “wake up”, as he says on his verse, so that they are ready for the journey of this album.

The next song is Oh My Dis Side, featuring Quavo. Listening to what he’s saying, it is pretty apparent that he is talking about his life in his hometown versus his new life and success. The first half of the song deals with his current, lavish life. He talks about drugs, taking flights, and making money, among other subjects. To go along with this, he puts an effect on his voice that makes it seem rich and high up. He repeatedly drags out the “oh myyyyyy” at the end of every line as if he’s in awe at his life, as if he can’t believe how he got here. The beat switches up around 2:30, and it becomes a lot more empty and ominous. There’s almost nothing in the background. Travis starts rapping much faster, telling us a story about his hometown and things he did when he was younger. The drums gradually come in, picking up the pace as if it was a turbulent time. Notice the contrast — the “oh myyy” was being dragged out, but the “dis side” is only being stated abruptly as part of his flow. When Travis sings the chorus in the middle, the “dis side” has a much more nostalgic feeling. Quavo’s verse adds some similar ideas. They end with another, very nostalgic singing of “dis side” and how they will always be loyal to “dis side”, the hometown that made them who they are. There are three or four different vocal ideas and effects in this song, along with a few different beats, and they all come together to tell a story. I consider this masterpiece to be a highlight of the album and one of my favorite songs ever.

I’m going to skip 3500 just because there are too many other tracks to talk about. 3500 is great song with a lot of nice elements — a very catchy hook, great production (especially the outro), and nice features. It was probably more of a radio hit than something contributing to the concept of the album. Moving on to Wasted, we once again feel Travis Scott’s signature sonic experience. The intro is another example of his warped voice that draws the listener in with a melodic humming of “wasted”. Throughout the song, he changes up the production, puts various effects on his voice, and has faint vocals in the background that add to the aesthetic. I’m not personally a fan of this song, but I can see his touches on this track. Notice that even the vocal effects he puts on his voice seem to have a purpose behind them. For example, on Wasted, he has a sandpaper-like effect whereas the last two songs have more melodic autotune effects. Sometimes he warps his voice to make it seem spacey or ominous, like the beginning of Oh My Dis Side.

The next two songs are Travis at his best. 90210, the title of the fifth song, is the zip code for Beverly Hills, CA, the upscale and affluent part of Los Angeles. The song opens with a soft piano and almost hallucinatory and whimsical singing from Travis Scott and Kacy Hill. Travis is fantasizing about a girl he meets in this area. In this intro, the lyrics are not too rich but the production and vocals work very well together. As Travis scott sings “pop him a pill, pop him a seal”, the guitar jumps in and accompanies with his flow and vocal effects. Here we also get the guitar sound that’s common to much of Travis’s early work. Travis lets the instrumental play out with faint humming, as if he’s living this rich, lavish experience with this girl, enjoying his life, mesmerized by his surroundings (the youtube music video actually cuts this part out, so I encourage you to listen to it on Spotify). But all of a sudden, the beat switches. There’s an abrupt end to his fantasy. He raps, “Yeah, my granny called, she said, ‘Travie, you work too hard, I’m worried you’ll forget about me’ / I’m falling in and out of cuffs, don’t worry, I’ma get it, Granny.” He goes on to talk about his parents now being happy since he’s making money, ironically saying he’s found life’s meaning because he’s rich. He as an almost immaculate flow on this verse, while mixing it in with his singing and humming. Over the entire song, he’s able to blend rich R&B elements, great rap and a unique feature all while capturing the duality between his life and his worries. The next song, Pray 4 Love, does more of the same.

The first verse on Pray 4 Love has some of Travis’s best flow on the entire album. But more importantly, it is another example of his spacey and empty production, as he raps over very faint drums, riding the drums perfectly, but nothing else, making it feel very deep and powerful. He uses these sounds to highlight conflict in society and plead for “love”. Both this verse and the next one talk about him and his community being oppressed and always finding themselves on the wrong side of law enforcement, saying things like “tired of seeing these black kids on the face of FOX” and “ Man I can’t take no more of this white powers in position.” The bridge is a mesmerizing layering of his faint humming, The Weeknd’s singing, a sample of “just ask the lonely”, and a piano that blends it together, all of which really contribute to the feeling of Travis pleading for peace and love. It all drops out for the next verse by The Weeknd, as he once again raps on a bare piano and drums. It continues to feel like the The Weeknd is preaching for love and the denouncing of hatred in society. The entire song is an absolute rollercoaster of various voices, moods, and instruments that all come together beautifully, starting with a powerful denunciation of the status quo and ending with a beautiful plea for acceptance.

The next song, Nightcrawler, opens with a sound that reminds me exactly of a machine crawling around at night in a horror movie. The production is perfect. The rest of the song isn’t too special, but it’s just a good, catchy song, with a very energetic hook.

Piss On Your Grave is an extremely harsh and braggadocious piece of work. It features very heavy rock inspired production and harsh words by Kanye West to open the song, saying “yo, yo, yo / i used your face as a urinal, then do the same at your funeral / piss on your grave…” It develops the theme of Travis trying to silence his naysayers, and Travis is able to do it in a very loud, emphatic way through this song. Piss On Your Grave is an outpouring of emotion and mental state with Kanye and Travis letting loose their anger towards their dissidents. This is a manifestation of the feelings he told us about in Pornography. In his verse, he says “My, my, my, my look at little Scotty now,” referring to himself, “the same f**kers that used to doubt / all preaching that they proud,” talking about the hypocrisy of the people who once didn’t believe in him now acting like they are his supporters. As a song, it may not be pleasing to listen to, but as a part of this project’s narrative, I think it is perfect. Through the over the top sound and exaggerated lyrics, he shows us a part of his mind we haven’t seen before.

Antidote is one of Travis’s biggest songs, but apparently it wasn’t going to be on Rodeo until Travis’s team noticed how popular it was. It doesn’t add much to the project as a whole, but it is well produced, catchy song.

Impossible is a really interesting song because it seems to depart from Travis’s confident, loud music on the rest of the album, and presents a more vulnerable side of him, something we saw more on Owl Pharaoh. It seems more like an interlude to this album. It opens with a lot of deep, mysterious production. He is reflecting on struggles in his personal life, saying “This the time of year I feel alone / This the time of year you treat me wrong.” He says this in a very low, introspective voice with an effect that makes his voice sharp, like a knife, as if it’s hurting him. He reflects on more of his lifestyle, saying he’s not proud of his drug habits or his materialism. He talks about how his lifestyle prevents him from being with a girl. But the key part is that the vocal effects arecompletely airy and empty. Not a single part of the song sounds “full”, or melodic, as if something is missing. It captures exactly what Travis is stressing about.

Skipping Maria, I’m Drunk, we get to the next track, Flying High. It has a repetition of “I be flying high” layered over a very high pitched sound and fast drums. It isn’t overly complex, but there’s a very melodic bridge with a piano and harmonious vocals that seems disjoint from the track. I’m a little unsure on what this can represent. I think it could represent him reaching heaven because it sounds so beautiful and surreal.

We are finally at the last few tracks of this album. I Can Tell is a message from Travis Scott that he has many untold stories of his time growing up. This track seems like it’s an action movie. The production in the beginning is suspenseful, as if there’s a lot of drama he wants to tell us, and he does. He raps, “I can tell you about the nights in Fort Bend”, where he grew up, or “It all started in the basement … / Bass used to break all my mama vases … / They said my way of making dollars never made sense”, referring to his beginnings at home when his parents never supported his interest in music. As he raps, he drags out the endings in with a very abrasive effect, like sandpaper, as if to highlight his rough upbringing. The drums speed up right as we reach the climax of the movie at 1:09, as if the plot is picking up. The chorus is, in typical Travis Scott style, very emotional for him as he drags out the “I can tell, baby, I can tell”, almost like he’s drawing in the listener to his world. The way he sings the “I can tell” is full of passion for his past.

Apple Pie is Travis Scott becoming independent and leaving his parents’ discouragement behind. It opens with his melodic auto tuned voice over a piano, something we’ve come to expect now, adding a surreal effect to the song. The sound and humming almost seem like a graduation of sorts, as if he’s so happy with his journey. The very first line is “I don’t want your apple pie, mama,” flat out rejecting his past. In his second verse, he intersperses his voice saying “oh oh” in between his flow, which makes me feel like he’s being acclaimed by his peers and doesn’t need his family that discouraged him before. Little touches like these make him unique — interjecting his verse with “oh oh”, dragging out “oh myyy” on Oh My Dis Side, or the bridge on Pray 4 Love. They aren’t huge differences, but they make him different and make the song much more enjoyable. On this song, instead of showing his independence and success in a proud and harsh manner like he did on Piss On Your Grave or Flying High, he makes it much more happy and satisfying.

The outro by T.I. on Apple Pie sums up the project. Travis has talked about his lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, and sex on songs like Nightcrawler and Wasted. We’ve seen the stories of his hometown and childhood on Oh My Dis Side and I Can Tell. We’ve witnessed the confident and braggadocious attitude on Piss On Your Grave and Flying High. We’ve also seen more vulnerable sides of Travis on 90210, Pray 4 Love, and Impossible. These all make what T.I. says that much more important because he ties together all of these themes. He narrates,

“Que será, será, so the story goes

On and on and back and forth, the evolution’s absolute

Tours and shows and groupie whores

Wouldn’t hesitate if he had to shoot

Though he’d rather not

Forever been the elephant in the room

That everyone can’t wait to run and tell about

The head to the body of the belligerent militant group

That sponsors the revolution that will not be televised

Decide to cross those lil’ guys, you’ve obviously been ill-advised

Yet and still, the question that arises to the mind

Will he make it? Was it worth it?

Did he win? Will he survive the Rodeo?”

There’s nothing complex about what he says, but he brings together the ideas throughout this album and poses questions that will stay with Travis for the rest of his career. Will he make it? Was it worth it? Did he win? Will he survive the Rodeo? His next project, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, certainly brings back those questions.

Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

This 2016 project was Travis Scott’s second official album, and his first work after Rodeo. It came with a lot of high expectations, and whether it lived up is an open question because asking different people will get you different answers. The album confuses me to this day.

I love this album. It’s really easy to love this album. It propelled Travis Scott to the mainstream, and it has features with superstar artists like Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and 21 Savage that pushed him into new audiences. It debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 and was certified platinum. I’ve probably listened to this album more than any other, and it was something that got me through the freshman year of college. This album introduced me to Travis Scott. But when you try to understand it from an artistic perspective, it’s a lot more difficult.

Take the biggest track on the album, goosebumps. It’s pretty clear, first of all, that he has lost any pretense of lyrical or thematic content. There’s really no meaning to these songs, a pretty significant turnaround from Rodeo. But there’s a reason it was so successful. Taking a deeper look, what’s so great about it? How does it compare to what we’ve seen before? His flow is extremely catchy, and his autotuned singing is great. The beat is great. It’s an apparent adoption of the mainstream trap sound. But the main difference is that he isn’t going after a particular mood, especially since his content isn’t pointing us in any direction. I don’t get the sense that he’s really trying to make the listener feel a certain emotion or idea or experience a part of his mind.

Another big song from that album was wonderful. Again, it’s a great beat, and Travis raps really well. It all sounds “wonderful” together. The verse by The Weeknd is also really well delivered. But it doesn’t give us anything more than a party anthem. He doesn’t use these elements and skills the way he did previously to create a particular mood. Just comparing a song like this to Oh My Dis Side and I Can Tell makes the difference striking. Those songs immerse you in the feelings of nostalgia and pride(in the case of the former) or passion (in the case of the latter), whereas this one simply sounds amazing.

Most of the other songs on this project lead me to the same conclusion. the ends has a mesmerizing opening with a guitar-like effect on Travis’s voice, and an interesting transition to a great verse, but it doesn’t compare to the feeling of independence in the piano and verse on Apple Pie. way back has a few different flows and a beautiful outro with warped vocals. But it doesn’t give the same feeling of longing and growth that 90210 did with the opening singing and storytelling. outside has a lot of energy on it, with a good 21 Savage feature, but it isn’t the outpouring of independence from Piss On Your Grave.

Birds in the Trap also has a similar sound throughout the project. It’s mostly just some catchy melodic rapping in every track with heavily autotuned vocals. As an overall sound, it’s the Travis Scott we know. The production is top notch, the warped vocals make the songs very pleasing, and the songs are really unstructured while also being coherent, which is a key part of what makes Travis special. It’s really enjoyable music to sing along to, and millions of people did just that. But it’s lacking what made Rodeo a masterpiece. It’s lacking the emotion, variety, and purpose.

In no way is that a criticism of Birds in the Trap. Different projects are released with different intentions, and Travis agrees. In an interview, when asked how Birds in the Trap is different from his previous work, he says, “I feel like with Rodeo, I was putting a lot of emotion and a lot of thought into it, collected beats and trying to make s**t sound epic. I feel like this s**t is straight me. It’s cutting straight down to everybody want to eat.”

So we return to the questions T.I. asked at the end of Apple Pie. “Will he make it? Was it worth it? Did he win? Will he survive the Rodeo?”. In the eyes of the music industry, he made it. He won. It was all worth it. With features from this generation’s biggest artists, he climbed up the charts and made it into the daily jam for millions of people. But the other questions are much more interesting. “Was it worth it” takes on a different meaning. Many original and core Travis Scott fans saw this album as a betrayal or an ending — an ending of who they thought Travis Scott was. This was just boring, monotonous, auto tuned music without any personality to it. The rapping was lackluster, when there was any. So “was it worth it” is a question that Travis seemed to take to heart for his next project, Astroworld.

Astroworld

Right from the opener, we see this project has a different personality than Birds in the Trap. STARGAZING has a very moody and surreal opening, but there’s a very drastic beat switch in the middle, and it could not be a more perfect opening for the album.

For those who don’t know about Astroworld, it was a theme park in Houston that closed down to build an apartment complex when Travis Scott was growing up. The loss of the beloved theme park was felt by many in the community, especially children who saw the park as a symbol of fun and leisure. Through this album, he wanted to use that event as inspiration and give us a roller coaster of sounds as if we’re walking through a theme park and visiting different rides.

The beat switch on STARGAZING is a representation of the sudden loss of the theme park for children. The mood goes from surreal satisfaction to dark anger, from pleasure to indignation. The beat switch is accompanied by roller coaster sounds and spooky effects. The listener is forced into a storm that is Travis’s rapping, and foreshadows the unpredictable and varied nature of this album.

My friend put it best — the thesis statement of this album is “who put this s**t together, I’m the glue,” something Travis says on SICKO MODE. He does this by leading an army of producers and collaborators to create the ultimate over the top, elaborate, and vibrant sound in each track. He finds just the right people to create the perfect sounds, akin to Kanye West on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. As a result of this, no two songs share a sound, yet almost every song sounds brilliant. Travis Scott is seemingly proving his omnipotence. Every song on this album is a different sound.

I encourage you to take the time to listen to each song. The production is absolutely top notch with a plethora of unique sounds, beat switches, features, ad-libs, and vocal effects that have been part of Travis’s discography his whole career, but never sounded so perfect together. Unlike Rodeo, there is not much deeper meaning to these songs, so me trying to analyze the sound would just be stating what you hear.

During the course of writing this, I struggled to pinpoint the difference between Birds in the Trap and Astroworld, even though in my head the difference was crystal clear. The music in Birds is indeed very unique (the opening of way back, or the beat for lose), and in many cases it compares to Astroworld. Obviously, as I mentioned previously, the biggest difference is that there’s an energy to Astroworld that’s apparent on songs like HOUSTONFORNICATION, CAN’T SAY and many more. There’s also a huge variety of sounds that are almost like going on different rollercoasters in a theme park. But there was more that I just couldn’t place my finger on. I started listening more closely to the different sounds and flows. Later, my friend directed me to the transition between the songs WAKE UP and 5% TINT. The move from one song to the other is so seamless. Notice at 3:28 in WAKE UP the beat of the song slows down a lot and becomes more high pitched. It goes on for about 20 seconds, and then, in a stark contrast, 5% TINT drops low and speeds up a lot, almost like a rollercoaster climbing a hill with a fast unexpected drop. These sorts of small transitions and effects make such a diverse album cohesive. Another example is the beginning of STOP TRYING TO BE GOD just being a hollower version of the preceding track, R.I.P. Screw. Overall, the lavish production, increased energy, and cohesiveness make Astroworld a masterful product.

We continue to see how Travis Scott is entirely about a listening experience. Except this time, it’s different kind of experience. Rodeo’s experience was all about emotion and story. He told a story and walked us through his mind using sound so that we can find out who this relatively unknown man was. Then 3 years later, after lots of hype building, teasers, and album trailers, and we get a perfect amalgamation of unique sounds that is almost universally acclaimed and well rated, creating an extravagant listening experience. Every sound was meticulously put together to take the listener through an amusement park.

Conclusion

Travis Scott is the ultimate superstar. He has turned into a cultural icon. Songs from all of his albums are played to this day. His live shows are some of the biggest and most elaborate of any artist. He burst onto the scene with a unique sound and superior production talent, and solidified himself with an astounding piece of storytelling on Rodeo. Birds in the Trap was Travis Scott’s foray into mainstream trap music, while Astroworld was a step forward to a new level of perfection.

It’s important to revisit the new meaning Birds in the Trap gave to “was it worth it”. Was it worth it to deviate from his sound in Rodeo to create mainstream “bangers”, per his own admission? I say the answer is an emphatic yes. These three main albums showed us three different sides of Travis Scott, each of which was well executed. He demonstrated his talent to make three kinds of music with mainstream appeal, adding his signature touches and giving them a defining sound. While some criticize an artist for trying to sound like someone else or berate them for deviating from their earlier works for a different sound, I find this to be a display of talent, and Travis Scott perfected his craft. French artist Henri Matisse said “Creativity takes courage” — and Travis Scott has a lot of it. He took risks experimenting with different sounds, and executed them beautifully. Travis Scott survived the Rodeo.