Travis Scott: A Global Phenomenon
Jalen Hendrix
Jalen Hendrix
Travis Scott made his mainstream debut with 2015’s Rodeo, which is his first official album. Now, three years later, he is one of the largest acts in the world. In 2018, the world saw the release of his third studio album entitled Astroworld. The highly anticipated album was first hinted by the rapper in 2016. The title of the album came about from the rapper’s hometown of Houston, Texas. Astroworld was a Six Flags owned theme park that was torn down in 2005. Scott is currently on the Astroworld: Wish You Were Here tour which has had sold out dates all over the country.
With 13.6 million Instagram followers and 4.6 million Twitter followers, it is safe to say that Travis Scott is definitely a celebrity. Just six short years ago he was an unknown underground rapper. While in his sophomore year at the University of Texas San Antonio, Scott dropped out to focus all his attention on his music career. Upset and frustrated at their son’s decision, his parents cut him off financially soon before moving out of state. Scott eventually landed himself in New York and took refuge at a friends house where he slept on the floor. He was eventually unsatisfied with the way things were going there and soon moved to Los Angeles.
While in Los Angeles Scott, had planned to live with a friend but the friend discarded the plans forcing Scott to move back to Houston. Scott later moved back to Los Angeles after his parents kicked him out. He then stayed with another friend who attended USC. Native Atlanta rapper T.I. was one of the first major acts to discover Scott’s talents after hearing his production titled “Lights (Love Sick)”. He then called Scott into a studio meeting in which T.I. showed interest in another one of Scott’s productions “Animal”. This led to Scott making other connections and eventually being able to get enough studio time to work on his sound. On the second of April in 2013, the mixtape was released to online streaming services and eventually to the iTunes store. The following year Scott released his second mixtape Days Before Rodeo and embarked on a national tour.
His debut album Rodeo was released in September of 2015 and received favorable reviews. The second single “Antidote” had heavy rotation on hip-hop and R&B radios around the country and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself peaked at number three on the Billboard album charts and featured collaborations with: Justin Beiber, Kanye West, The Weeknd, Swae Lee, Quavo, and more. Senior TJ Gayle says, “Rodeo is definitely his most authentic album.” In May of 2017 the album was certified platinum.
Almost exactly one year later, Scott released his sophomore album Birds In The Trap Sing Mcknight. The album spawn two hit singles “Pick Up the Phone” featuring Young Thug and “Goosebumps” featuring Kendrick Lamar. The latter was the most successful and is now certified four times platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). The album debuted at number one, making it Scott’s first album to do so. As of May 22, 2017 the album has been certified for combined sales of over one million copies in the United States.
This year we saw the release of Travis Scott’s third consecutive album Astroworld. The album had been talked about amongst fans because of the rapper making frequent posts about it on social media. In his own words he described the album as a “continuation of Rodeo” and said,” My whole idea was, if you locked into Rodeo, you definitely locked into Astroworld”, hinting at the fact the two albums are similar. Since this writing, the album has returned to conquer the number one spot on the Billboard album charts after debuting at number one on its release in August of this year. Scott also now has his first number one single with “Sicko Mode” which debuted at number two on the charts. Which makes him the third artist this year to have the number one song and album at the same time.
Travis Scott has changed the expectations and overall sound of rap music altogether. He toys with instruments in certain songs like 2016’s “A-Team” and has featured major pop artists on his records. He is also a successful performer and puts on amazing shows that include rollercoasters in the venues. He is sure to go down in history as one of this decades icons.
With 13.6 million Instagram followers and 4.6 million Twitter followers, it is safe to say that Travis Scott is definitely a celebrity. Just six short years ago he was an unknown underground rapper. While in his sophomore year at the University of Texas San Antonio, Scott dropped out to focus all his attention on his music career. Upset and frustrated at their son’s decision, his parents cut him off financially soon before moving out of state. Scott eventually landed himself in New York and took refuge at a friends house where he slept on the floor. He was eventually unsatisfied with the way things were going there and soon moved to Los Angeles.
While in Los Angeles Scott, had planned to live with a friend but the friend discarded the plans forcing Scott to move back to Houston. Scott later moved back to Los Angeles after his parents kicked him out. He then stayed with another friend who attended USC. Native Atlanta rapper T.I. was one of the first major acts to discover Scott’s talents after hearing his production titled “Lights (Love Sick)”. He then called Scott into a studio meeting in which T.I. showed interest in another one of Scott’s productions “Animal”. This led to Scott making other connections and eventually being able to get enough studio time to work on his sound. On the second of April in 2013, the mixtape was released to online streaming services and eventually to the iTunes store. The following year Scott released his second mixtape Days Before Rodeo and embarked on a national tour.
His debut album Rodeo was released in September of 2015 and received favorable reviews. The second single “Antidote” had heavy rotation on hip-hop and R&B radios around the country and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself peaked at number three on the Billboard album charts and featured collaborations with: Justin Beiber, Kanye West, The Weeknd, Swae Lee, Quavo, and more. Senior TJ Gayle says, “Rodeo is definitely his most authentic album.” In May of 2017 the album was certified platinum.
Almost exactly one year later, Scott released his sophomore album Birds In The Trap Sing Mcknight. The album spawn two hit singles “Pick Up the Phone” featuring Young Thug and “Goosebumps” featuring Kendrick Lamar. The latter was the most successful and is now certified four times platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). The album debuted at number one, making it Scott’s first album to do so. As of May 22, 2017 the album has been certified for combined sales of over one million copies in the United States.
This year we saw the release of Travis Scott’s third consecutive album Astroworld. The album had been talked about amongst fans because of the rapper making frequent posts about it on social media. In his own words he described the album as a “continuation of Rodeo” and said,” My whole idea was, if you locked into Rodeo, you definitely locked into Astroworld”, hinting at the fact the two albums are similar. Since this writing, the album has returned to conquer the number one spot on the Billboard album charts after debuting at number one on its release in August of this year. Scott also now has his first number one single with “Sicko Mode” which debuted at number two on the charts. Which makes him the third artist this year to have the number one song and album at the same time.
Travis Scott has changed the expectations and overall sound of rap music altogether. He toys with instruments in certain songs like 2016’s “A-Team” and has featured major pop artists on his records. He is also a successful performer and puts on amazing shows that include rollercoasters in the venues. He is sure to go down in history as one of this decades icons.