Travis Scott — UTOPIA — Album Review
Hip-Hop | Rap
Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music
It goes without saying that Travis Scott is one of the most influential artists in modern hip-hop, for better or for worse. Through his psychedelic aesthetic, Travis had successfully built himself a brand that many others in the modern rap catalogue attempt to follow.
For me, I personally discovered Travis Scott through his third studio album, 2018’s ASTROWORLD. But instead of listening to it upon its release, my listening experience of the album felt more like a slow drip-feed of different tracks. Oddly enough, the first track I found myself latching onto was the final track on the album “COFFEE BEAN”, shortly followed by “STOP TRYING TO BE GOD”, “SICKO MODE” and so on.
Eventually, I decided to review that album as part of my first ever Last Minute Reviews article, in the lead-up to the end of 2018 as a musical year. And I will say, ASTROWORLD feels like it is by far the most prominent album from that article when I look back on it now. It brought a unique flavour of trap music that ultimately wound up being the cause for me opening my mind up more towards that subgenre of music. And I assume that many other people who are now fans of trap music might have used ASTROWORLD as the same gateway.
With all of that said, I was certainly excited to see where Travis Scott would take his sound on his next album. However, the artist definitely seemed more focused on building himself as a brand post ASTROWORLD, doing as much as he can to help him stand out. From his own clothing line, to PlayStation sponsorships, to even his own McDonald’s meal in the U.S, Travis Scott was breaking through cult status at a blinding speed.
All of this festering hype building up towards the broadening horizons of Travis Scott, ultimately ending up forming his first major hurdle to overcome as a public figure, that of course being the ASTROWORLD festival, and the disaster that was born from it.
Due to a number of different factors, from a abundant amount of festival break-ins, and overall poor organisation, the ASTROWORLD festival, as many know already, wound up being a disaster, with a fatal crowd-crush occuring on the night, causing eight people to unfortunately pass away.
I don’t want to say too much else that may come from a voice of opinion, but I still think I can speak for most when I state that the response to this disaster from both Travis Scott and the majority of people working behind the festival could’ve been a lot more genuine. And in the case of Travis Scott himself, it came across as more of an annoyance at the time.
But all of that aside, I found it hard to listen to Travis Scott at all after that night, and so for almost two years, the little area of my musical library once governed by Travis Scott fell quiet.
But I’ve only just noticed that I’ve filled up my average word count for an average review of mine, without even mentioning Travis Scott’s new bloody album! So let’s finally get to that.
The arrival of Travis Scott’s fourth studio album, titled UTOPIA, still seemed to fall upon a reception eager to listen. For me personally, it was a very odd feeling. It felt like I was revisiting a town I had great memories in but still never wanted to step foot in anytime soon. But the moment I pressed play, I knew I was in for the ride. And besides which, I am a music writer after all, and have to keep an open mind with these things.
As one might expect from an album that was released almost exactly five years after its predecessor, UTOPIA carries with it quite a generous list of tracks. To be exact, the album carries a total of 19 songs and a runtime of nearly an hour and a quarter.
On top of that, it was clear to see that UTOPIA sees Travis branching things out musically, and that was definitely something I did appreciate to a degree; after all, Travis Scott could only ride his signature psychedelic wave for so long. Nevertheless, that same feel does stick around on a good selection of tracks, only in less blatant fashion.
The album gets off to an incredible start, with the springy and almost arabesque beat that comes with the opening track “HYAENA”. And while there was a very small portion of tracks that I felt to be repetitive or not really go anywhere, the vast majority of this album is brilliant when it comes to the music itself.
There is still, however, something about the context behind this album that rubbed me up the wrong way. Travis had a better opportunity than ever to bring us a deep and introspective project where we see Travis as a person and not as the brand he has created for himself. However, while this album seems deep on the surface, thanks to its overall atmosphere, the album lyrically feels very much like the same braggadocious formula that has been tried and tested in the hip-hop community.
It felt like Travis was simply biding his time before it felt safe to release another album, following the festival disaster. And that aspect of Travis’ career feel like it gets brushed aside for the sake of this record. I’m aware that the saying goes that time heals all wounds, but there was still a little part of me that felt defiant.
In short (because honestly, this review has been long enough), UTOPIA is an album that certainly speaks of this artists talent musically. But in terms of its narrative, it is certainly an album that leaves me more torn than anything else. My feelings towards this album as the remainder of the year flows on could go either way. But who knows, maybe I’ll just focus on the music itself, as there are some seriously good cuts to come out of this project.
Favourite Tracks: HYAENA | MY EYES | FE!N | TELEKINESIS
Least Favourite Track: K-POP
Cactus Jack Records | Epic Records | Sony Music Entertainment
