On September 4th, Travi$ Scott released his debut album Rodeo. This follow up to the widely popular mixtape Days Before Rodeo which was released in August of 2014. Only the year before, Scott had released his debut mixtape Owl Pharaoh featuring prominent rap figures such as T.I., 2 Chainz, A$AP Ferg and Meek Mill. Only a month after his musical debut, Scott was featured as a writer and producer on Kanye West’s 5th studio album, Yeezus. After this early exposure he, would co-sign with labels GOOD Music and Hustle Gang run by rappers Kanye West and T.I.

Scott starts off the album with the track, “Pornography” saying, “no monogamy.” This quote alone adequately describes the sound of the album as Scott never sticks to one solid sounds, but instead forms a collage of various instrumentals and artists across 16 track to form his first studio album. Scott delivers an incredible beat filled with snare, sound effects, heavy bass, and light piano chords to create an incredibly interesting sound.

“Nightcrawler”  is one of the bass heavy bangers of the album, something Scott is predominantly known for. Tapping into his raw energy, Scott delivers self-confident lyrics proclaiming he is “hotter than the summer, the winter couldn’t chill me.” To help deliver the chorus, Scott calls upon rapper Swae Lee, giving a high pitched and riveting parallel to Scott’s normally lower voice. However, the true star of this track appears on the second verse in the form of Chicago rapper Chief Keef. Roundly popular Chief gives one of his best verses and showing off some of his best enunciation, stealing the song.  One of the album’s most memorable tracks.

The album continues with “Antidote” which is currently the most popular single off of the album having over 3 million views on YouTube since its leak in late July. Serving as a party song, this track features heavy bass and a high pitched, singing Scott. He transitions into a darker side of him in I call tell. The song is entrancing, eerie, and creates a depraved sound that underlines the tone of Scott’s lyrics.  In “Apple Pie”,for example, he delivers an inspiring piano instrumental that underlines his true talents in producing and rapping.

Rodeo, while not necessarily consistent in the tone it tries to set, captures Travi$ Scott’s rise to fame and his view on how it has affected him. Scott diverges from other artists in that he forms his own unique sound. He creates a captivating and artistic sound that shows incredible promise for the young artists future and describes whether or not he will be able to survive the rodeo that is fame and still live a seemingly normal life.