Sometimes, like on the nearly eight minute epic "3500", they have shimmering piano outros. Sometimes, like on "Oh My Dis Side" or "90210", beats jack-knife in two, revealing stunningly posh second acts. There’s standout work from Frank Dukes and Allen Ritter. The lush and often gorgeous production comes courtesy of current league leaders in rap hit-making Metro Boomin, Sonny Digital, and Zaytoven, with add-ons and attachments from a host of heavy hitters like Mike Dean, DJ Dahi, Hit-Boy, Wondagurl, Southside, FKi, and TM88. The credits are a Who’s Who of the big names in rap and its neighboring genres: Narrated by T.I., it tells a nebulous tale of Scott’s meteoric rise and the perils of fame. Rodeo is the culmination of Travis Scott’s amassed networking efforts. ![]() The strength of his catalog is almost exclusively dependent on the strength of his connections. and finagling a meeting with Kanye West out of networking with his engineer, Anthony Kilhoffer. He is one of rap’s premier young capitalists, an opportunist deft in the use of social currency, turning a friendship with Illroots creator Mike Waxx into a relationship with T.I. One thing Scott does very well is squirm through openings onto bigger platforms, which is a talent in and of itself. "Who do I owe? Nigga, no one," he boasts on opener "Pornography", when he’s actually deeply indebted to those in or adjacent to the Kanye Think Tank and the others he’s wrangled based on that affiliation. Travis Scott isn’t good at rapping-he often bawls out clunky phrases that dawdle into banality ("Always hit the gas like I broke wind")-and his self-proclaimed status as an auteur isn’t dictated by his own talent, but by the talent of those surrounding him. (There are at least three alleged reports of creative theft, which led to this takedown in Deadspin.) But this narrative overshadows the more glaring holes in his music. ![]() This has become the enduring criticism of Scott’s work so far: That he’s a skilled impersonator posing as a creative, a mime playing puppetmaster. He’s quickly earned a rep as a shameless biter, an aesthetic bender with no regard for ownership or authorship-a claim given credence by Rodeo’s second single, the Swae Lee-imitating "Antidote". But Scott has cobbled together a composite identity to compensate for lacking his own. His greatest trick is making songs feel big and important. Since releasing his debut EP, Owl Pharaoh, in 2013 (and perhaps even before) he’s been honing a sixth sense for emphasizing gravitas. Days Before Rodeo, in all, is a thrilling debut, equally suited for a close, repeated listenings as it is for bumping in the club.Travis Scott studied carefully at the Kanye West School of Maximalism, where sounds are expensive and songs are sumptuous with rich, interlocking details and meticulously selected guests. The experimentation continues on tracks like Don’t Play, which builds itself around gothic cathedral organ keys and a features a dreamy chorus from The 1975, and Skyfall which draws influences from industrial music. On Drugs You Should Try, for example, Travis’ warped voice emulates the feeling of being in a drug-induced euphoria, serving the central theme of the song. The auto-tune on the album exists as a means to elevate emotion rather than for the sake of gimmickry. Unlike many other artists, Travis knows how to use vocal-processing tastefully. ![]() The emphasis, more than anything else, is on mood and style. While his lyrics are built around age-old rap tropes and he seldom uses flashy flows, these limitations hardly seem to matter in the context of his dark and cinematic soundscapes. Travis aims to be an outlier and he wastes no time in informing us about it. The fact that Travis isn’t just another SoundCloud rapper begins to reveal itself right when the opener Days Before Rodeo The Prayer rolls into focus with its interplay of piano, synths and booming vocal samples. On his debut mixtape, we see Travis beginning his journey as a trap-rap maverick by sowing the seeds of this ambitious sound. ![]() Trained under Kanye West, Travis makes music that reflects his mentor’s knack for maximalism and grandeur, though blending elements in a way that is distinctly his own. Houston rapper Travis Scott, now one of the most popular artists in his genre, got his start off the massive buzz built by his mixtape Days Before Rodeo in 2014. Looking back at a popular artist’s early discography and witnessing him/ her in the process of discovering and solidifying his sonic style can be a delightful experience.
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