2018 Preview: Travis Scott on Redefining Rap and Why He Still Hasn't Gotten His Due
Travis Scott in 2018: 'This Year I’m on a Mission to Be Heard' | Billboard
Scott photographed on Dec. 11, 2017, at the Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. Styling by Renelou Padora. Scott wears a Bally jacket and Versace pants.
Eric Ray Davidson
2018 Preview: Travis Scott on Redefining Rap and Why He Still Hasn't Gotten His Due
Travis Scott’s house is kind of a mess. Not in the way you’d expect from a constantly working, constantly traveling, constantly blunt-smoking 25-year-old rapper-producer. The ultramodern McMansion, looming over the modest bungalows on a quiet block in Los Angeles’ Beverly Grove neighborhood, is just filled with so much cool, interesting, expensive shyt, it would be impossible for even the most skilled interior decorator to jigsaw it all together.
“This is nothing,” says Scott, pulling from a raggedy Backwoods blunt on the sofa as his tour DJ, Chase B, and a friend play a heated game of NBA 2K. “You should see my house in Houston.”
The two-story foyer is clogged with towering stacks of limited-edition sneaker boxes, almost all from Nike, with which Scott recently designed an Air Force 1 featuring interchangeable Velcro swooshes. In between two shoe piles is a 5-foot-tall cardboard sculpture of a demon head, which Scott says he made as a teen -- a goth touch matching the cross-shaped Black Sabbath rug and the twin gargoyle statuettes on the coffee table. A sunny room overlooking the driveway is filled with paint, brushes, easels and abstract paintings by Scott and his friends (“I like to just wake up and go splat”). The recording studio, next to a screening room, features another one of Scott's sculptures -- a terrifying, H.R. Giger-esque creature -- and a collage of scenes cut out from porn magazines (Scott just chuckles when asked about it). The living room overflows with colorful Pop art (a plush Warhol Brillo box; a massive Murakami rainbow-flower floor cushion). On the floor, seemingly forgotten in a half-opened box, is a platinum plaque for one of his many hit singles. “I keep most of them in the garage,” mumbles Scott. “I don’t really like to talk about all the stuff I do.”
Travis Scott photographed on Dec. 11, 2017 at the Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. Styling by Renelou Padora. Photo by Eric Ray Davidson
There’s a sense that this house, with all its curios, isn't meant for stunting, or even for sleeping -- it’s for inspiring Scott, the mad scientist who glues it all together, to endlessly work, create, repeat. At least, when he’s here -- and as the many wilting tropical plants around the house show, that isn't often.
During this mid-December weekend, Scott will perform for nearly 20,000 fans while strapped into a giant flying mechanical bird; hang out with his family (in town from Houston, his hometown, which he visits frequently) and with his rumored girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, who is reportedly pregnant with his child; and fly to Paris to unveil a limited-edition, leather-packaged compilation album on vinyl, released in collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent. He’s also putting the final touches on Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, his collaborative album with Migos star Quavo, which will be released in a few days and later debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200; and readying his third album, Astroworld, expected in the first quarter of 2018. Nearly every night, he’s in the studio until dawn.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7973825/travis-scott-songs-best-top-hits-list
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7973825/travis-scott-songs-best-top-hits-list
[paste:font size="3"]Read More
Travis Scott's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks[/paste:font]
“I’ve been on this schedule for the past six, seven years,” says Scott. “I got too much shyt to do, too much ground to cover. My whole life, I ain’t been on vacation.”
Where will he go when he finally gets some time off?
“shyt,” he replies. “Heaven -- hopefully.”
Heaven will have to wait. Scott has had six years of slow but steady career growth, thanks to relentless touring, collaborations with nearly every rapper that matters and a distinctive sound -- gloomy synth-trap beats, robotic vocal effects and hedonistic catchphrases -- that has warped the sonic landscape of rap around him, influencing everyone from Kanye West to Migos to Future. His first album, 2015’s Rodeo, hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200; 2016 follow-up Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight reached No. 1. Former President Barack Obama called out Scott’s “Butterfly Effect” as one of his favorite songs of 2017.
After opening for Kendrick Lamar on tour last year, Scott says he’ll headline his own arena run in 2018. His show, highlighted by the aforementioned animatronic bird and Scott’s explosive, stage-diving physicality, has become one of rap’s greatest live spectacles, though it has also gotten him into legal trouble: Last April, a fan was paralyzed after falling from the balcony at a concert at New York’s Terminal 5, reportedly suing Scott, and in May he was charged with inciting a riot at an Arkansas show (Scott pled not guilty and adds today, “Nothing we do is meant to harm nobody. Kids having fun is being mistaken for violence”).
Scott’s massive bird is more than a theatrical tool -- it’s a physical manifestation of both his competitive streak (what else could possibly stand up to a Lamar performance?) and his ambition. “I don’t want rap to feel so disposable,” he says. “I want it to start lasting again.”
Scott (left) and Quavo in September 2017 at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Photo by Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock
With his memorably yelped ad-libs (“It’s lit!” “Straight up!”) and songs evoking long, hazy nights of partying, Scott has defined the music of the moment. But instead of surfing trends, he wants, like his friend and mentor West, to be recognized for his singular vision -- one complete with a bird of prey.
“That’s my mission, man,” says Scott, as Huncho Jack plays through a Supreme-branded speaker near the couch. “I worked so hard on Rodeo and Birds. It might not have been recognized by the masses, but my fans always went hard. This year I’m on a mission to be heard.”
Scott calls this plan Mission 28, “because I’m going crazy all the way till Nov. 28.” What happens then? “That’s just a date. I’m trying to get shyt turnt.” (A member of his team later explains that Mission 28 is “an abstract mantra.”)
Read More
Huncho Jack, 'Greatest Showman' Heading for Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart
Scott seems driven by a sense that he’s underappreciated -- a master collaborator who excels at making others sound good but whose standalone star power remains overshadowed. “It’s used as a knock on him,” says Randall “Sickamore” Medford, a veteran A&R executive who has worked side by side with Scott on all his albums, including Astroworld. (He’s now senior vp A&R/ creative director at Interscope.)
The idea isn't entirely unfounded: Turn on the radio and you’re likely to hear more rappers aspiring to sound like Scott than you will actual Scott songs. Of his 20 Billboard Hot 100 hits (excluding those from Huncho Jack), only seven are with Scott as lead artist, and only four of those are full-on solo efforts. Scott only just got his first Grammy nomination as an artist in December, a best rap/sung collaboration nod for his guest verse on SZA’s “Love Galore,” and he admits he was “super disappointed” when the Grammys ignored Birdslast year. "Maybe nobody played them the album, I don't know," he mumbles. Yet he doesn't seem bitter; he blames his own humility. “Maybe I don’t speak loud enough. One day, hopefully, people might finally catch on. I just want the music to speak for itself.”
That’s a tall order in today’s rap game. At a time when viral -streaming singles rule, Scott proudly declares himself an album artist. “I don’t try to make [music] for anybody else. I don’t really do singles.”
“Unlike a lot of artists who think it’s just about putting out commercial records, Travis was always true to himself,” says Sylvia Rhone, president of Scott’s label, Epic Records. “He was always less concerned about radio hits. He embraced his core fans.”
Travis Scott in 2018: 'This Year I’m on a Mission to Be Heard' | Billboard
Scott photographed on Dec. 11, 2017, at the Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. Styling by Renelou Padora. Scott wears a Bally jacket and Versace pants.
Eric Ray Davidson
2018 Preview: Travis Scott on Redefining Rap and Why He Still Hasn't Gotten His Due
Travis Scott’s house is kind of a mess. Not in the way you’d expect from a constantly working, constantly traveling, constantly blunt-smoking 25-year-old rapper-producer. The ultramodern McMansion, looming over the modest bungalows on a quiet block in Los Angeles’ Beverly Grove neighborhood, is just filled with so much cool, interesting, expensive shyt, it would be impossible for even the most skilled interior decorator to jigsaw it all together.
“This is nothing,” says Scott, pulling from a raggedy Backwoods blunt on the sofa as his tour DJ, Chase B, and a friend play a heated game of NBA 2K. “You should see my house in Houston.”
The two-story foyer is clogged with towering stacks of limited-edition sneaker boxes, almost all from Nike, with which Scott recently designed an Air Force 1 featuring interchangeable Velcro swooshes. In between two shoe piles is a 5-foot-tall cardboard sculpture of a demon head, which Scott says he made as a teen -- a goth touch matching the cross-shaped Black Sabbath rug and the twin gargoyle statuettes on the coffee table. A sunny room overlooking the driveway is filled with paint, brushes, easels and abstract paintings by Scott and his friends (“I like to just wake up and go splat”). The recording studio, next to a screening room, features another one of Scott's sculptures -- a terrifying, H.R. Giger-esque creature -- and a collage of scenes cut out from porn magazines (Scott just chuckles when asked about it). The living room overflows with colorful Pop art (a plush Warhol Brillo box; a massive Murakami rainbow-flower floor cushion). On the floor, seemingly forgotten in a half-opened box, is a platinum plaque for one of his many hit singles. “I keep most of them in the garage,” mumbles Scott. “I don’t really like to talk about all the stuff I do.”
Travis Scott photographed on Dec. 11, 2017 at the Houdini Estate in Los Angeles. Styling by Renelou Padora. Photo by Eric Ray Davidson
There’s a sense that this house, with all its curios, isn't meant for stunting, or even for sleeping -- it’s for inspiring Scott, the mad scientist who glues it all together, to endlessly work, create, repeat. At least, when he’s here -- and as the many wilting tropical plants around the house show, that isn't often.
During this mid-December weekend, Scott will perform for nearly 20,000 fans while strapped into a giant flying mechanical bird; hang out with his family (in town from Houston, his hometown, which he visits frequently) and with his rumored girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, who is reportedly pregnant with his child; and fly to Paris to unveil a limited-edition, leather-packaged compilation album on vinyl, released in collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent. He’s also putting the final touches on Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, his collaborative album with Migos star Quavo, which will be released in a few days and later debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200; and readying his third album, Astroworld, expected in the first quarter of 2018. Nearly every night, he’s in the studio until dawn.
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7973825/travis-scott-songs-best-top-hits-list
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7973825/travis-scott-songs-best-top-hits-list
[paste:font size="3"]Read More
Travis Scott's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks[/paste:font]
“I’ve been on this schedule for the past six, seven years,” says Scott. “I got too much shyt to do, too much ground to cover. My whole life, I ain’t been on vacation.”
Where will he go when he finally gets some time off?
“shyt,” he replies. “Heaven -- hopefully.”
Heaven will have to wait. Scott has had six years of slow but steady career growth, thanks to relentless touring, collaborations with nearly every rapper that matters and a distinctive sound -- gloomy synth-trap beats, robotic vocal effects and hedonistic catchphrases -- that has warped the sonic landscape of rap around him, influencing everyone from Kanye West to Migos to Future. His first album, 2015’s Rodeo, hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200; 2016 follow-up Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight reached No. 1. Former President Barack Obama called out Scott’s “Butterfly Effect” as one of his favorite songs of 2017.
After opening for Kendrick Lamar on tour last year, Scott says he’ll headline his own arena run in 2018. His show, highlighted by the aforementioned animatronic bird and Scott’s explosive, stage-diving physicality, has become one of rap’s greatest live spectacles, though it has also gotten him into legal trouble: Last April, a fan was paralyzed after falling from the balcony at a concert at New York’s Terminal 5, reportedly suing Scott, and in May he was charged with inciting a riot at an Arkansas show (Scott pled not guilty and adds today, “Nothing we do is meant to harm nobody. Kids having fun is being mistaken for violence”).
Scott’s massive bird is more than a theatrical tool -- it’s a physical manifestation of both his competitive streak (what else could possibly stand up to a Lamar performance?) and his ambition. “I don’t want rap to feel so disposable,” he says. “I want it to start lasting again.”
Scott (left) and Quavo in September 2017 at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Photo by Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock
With his memorably yelped ad-libs (“It’s lit!” “Straight up!”) and songs evoking long, hazy nights of partying, Scott has defined the music of the moment. But instead of surfing trends, he wants, like his friend and mentor West, to be recognized for his singular vision -- one complete with a bird of prey.
“That’s my mission, man,” says Scott, as Huncho Jack plays through a Supreme-branded speaker near the couch. “I worked so hard on Rodeo and Birds. It might not have been recognized by the masses, but my fans always went hard. This year I’m on a mission to be heard.”
Scott calls this plan Mission 28, “because I’m going crazy all the way till Nov. 28.” What happens then? “That’s just a date. I’m trying to get shyt turnt.” (A member of his team later explains that Mission 28 is “an abstract mantra.”)
Read More
Huncho Jack, 'Greatest Showman' Heading for Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart
Scott seems driven by a sense that he’s underappreciated -- a master collaborator who excels at making others sound good but whose standalone star power remains overshadowed. “It’s used as a knock on him,” says Randall “Sickamore” Medford, a veteran A&R executive who has worked side by side with Scott on all his albums, including Astroworld. (He’s now senior vp A&R/ creative director at Interscope.)
The idea isn't entirely unfounded: Turn on the radio and you’re likely to hear more rappers aspiring to sound like Scott than you will actual Scott songs. Of his 20 Billboard Hot 100 hits (excluding those from Huncho Jack), only seven are with Scott as lead artist, and only four of those are full-on solo efforts. Scott only just got his first Grammy nomination as an artist in December, a best rap/sung collaboration nod for his guest verse on SZA’s “Love Galore,” and he admits he was “super disappointed” when the Grammys ignored Birdslast year. "Maybe nobody played them the album, I don't know," he mumbles. Yet he doesn't seem bitter; he blames his own humility. “Maybe I don’t speak loud enough. One day, hopefully, people might finally catch on. I just want the music to speak for itself.”
That’s a tall order in today’s rap game. At a time when viral -streaming singles rule, Scott proudly declares himself an album artist. “I don’t try to make [music] for anybody else. I don’t really do singles.”
“Unlike a lot of artists who think it’s just about putting out commercial records, Travis was always true to himself,” says Sylvia Rhone, president of Scott’s label, Epic Records. “He was always less concerned about radio hits. He embraced his core fans.”
