Long ago in 2015, when Travis Scott’s first album, Rodeo, was released, many believed him to be one of the greatest rappers/producers of our generation in the making. However, after four years of semi-consistently dropping banger after banger, he vanished. Almost five years after his last release and two after his Astroworld concert tragedy, many fans were begging him to release more music in the wake of the growing time gap in his discovery. All the begging and pleading was met with simple signs popping up around Los Angeles, California hinting at a release date for his most anticipated album, Utopia. Speculation could only arise as almost all of the details behind the album were kept top secret from public view. However, after teasing at one of Travis’ Astroworld concerts of a new song with Bad Bunny, and his posting on Instagram that he played the album for the Houston Astros, fans around the world rejoiced in the comfort that a new album was on its way. Skipping all of the other teases for the album, UTOPIA dropped on July 28, 2023, and was immediately met with extreme praise by critics and fans alike. Now to the fun part of the article, my own top three songs off the album. Personally, almost all songs on the album could make a top three depending on my mood and vibes at the time, but as of writing this review my top three songs have to be:
- MY EYES
One of the greatest songs from the past decade in my opinion this song begins with a beautifully crafted, slow piece to phase into the soft autotuned voice of Travis singing about the struggles of being an influential rapper, and the trauma of having everything physically at hand without receiving any of the necessary love his mind and soul require out of life. As the track continues Travis’ ideology can be seen switching to a longing for his childhood back and displaying his trauma from the Astroworld Tragedy that left over 10 dead, including a nine-year-old boy placed into a medically induced coma and his subsequent death. After the tragedy, Travis faced backlash with claims that he could see the fans being trampled on. He comments on these claims with the line, “If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child,” showing his remorse and true emotions behind what he would have done had he seen any of the victims being injured. Overall, this song will forever be one of my favorite pieces of music as everything from the production to the actual subject matter,is beautifully put together.
- TOPIA TWINS (Feat. 21 Savage & Rob49)
Opening with a very explicit line that cannot be repeated in good company, this song begins with pure energy and feeds into lines about Travis bringing attractive women to his hotel room to fulfill what many believe suits a rapper lifestyle, however, using a previous song in the album, CIRCUS MAXIMUS, Travis builds off this idea that temporary relations with women will bring happiness and fulfillment to rappers alike. Being blinded by these women distracts Travis from the fact that he is only leading to his own mental dystopia, a play on the album’s title UTOPIA, with again not receiving his own mental needs to feel true happiness. The feature of 21 Savage only added to this idea as he comments “Ten bad b****** in the studio, they all props,” which describes the idea that these women are not fulfilling any true desires, only temporary cravings for a life of short intimacy. Overall even with these comments about a dystopian lifestyle Travis uses an upbeat dialect and hype backing music to comment about this lifestyle that many rappers seem to live.
- SKITZO (Feat. Young Thug)
Using the mental disorder Schizophrenia as a basis for the title of the song SKITZO, dives into the mental paranoia and trauma Travis faced following the Astroworld tragedy. This idea of paranoia is only added onto by Young Thug’s imprisonment and Travis’ paranoia about his friend’s life inside the confines of Thug’s jail cell. Travis dives into the fears he faces on a daily basis not only by the media’s portrayal of him during and following the tragedy in Houston, Texas, but also by the many friends he has either lost, or is in fear of losing, to almost useless conflicts whether directly or indirectly in their own lives. This song uses broken lyrics and a choppy production to compliment the paranoia Travis faces where it can be seen as him losing his train of thought to survey the altercations that can arise in many of his friend’s lives.