Travi$ Scott is not a well-defined artist, and after his recently released debut album, "Rodeo," I’m convinced he would like to remain that way.
Most young rappers are fairly deliberate in cultivating an identity for themselves. Mick Jenkins fixates his identity around water and its endless metaphors. Chance the Rapper has an unmistakable earnest, psychedelic flavor. Young Thug constantly flaunts his feminine disposition and unique voice.
Based off his two mixtapes, "Owl Pharoah" and "Days Before Rodeo," Travi$ Scotts seems to be a Southern rapper with a penchant for dark themes, unorthodox trap beats and plenty of backing vocals. Fairly simple, but no one else had really filled that niche, so it worked.
"Rodeo" was an opportunity to establish his identity along those lines, and it was my expectation that he would do so. By the end, it’s obvious he didn’t want to do anything of the sort. He’s not exactly a newcomer, but he hasn’t been around long enough for people to really know what he's all about. This album has the exploratory nature that one would expect from a mid-career musician who’s bored with himself. Perhaps it was a missed opportunity to solidify his “thing” in rap, but considering this album is up there with Future’s “Dirty Sprite 2” as one of the best rap albums of 2015 so far, it’s not that big a deal.
Scott introduces his album well enough with the track “Pornography.” A T.I. monologue describes the quest of “the one they call Jacques” to break the mold and eschew the norms of rap. However, it also describes one of the main faults of "Rodeo" in the lines, “I’m way too antsy, cause my ambition’s too frantic.” At least he admits that he may not be putting his motivation in the right spots. This song is also a perfect example of his ability to own the lulls and swells of a song. He just rides the wave, man.
But, we see in later songs, that he tends to wipe out at transitions, with the second track “Oh My / Dis Side” being one example of this flaw. The first half of this track, which uses a tense guitar riff and rough vocals to create raw aggression, is probably the best part of the album. It symbolizes the tougher, violent times in Scott’s childhood, but the second half reminisces about the happy times and lessons he learned in his hometown of Houston. I get the idea behind this one, but it’s not executed very well. The transition between the two parts is not quite where it needs to be, but the feature of Quavo, part of the rap trio Migos, makes this song exceptional.
Though a Houston native, Scott obviously believes the best rap is coming east of his hometown, from the hotbed of trap music that is Atlanta. “3500” takes after the first two tracks in featuring prominent Atlantans: Future and 2Chainz. The song is fairly redundant, running over seven minutes long and blaring the same hook no less than six times, which is somewhat understandable, considering how catchy the hook is. 2Chainz brings an especially solid verse, probably because this beat fits his style flawlessly.
Scott does an incredible job of getting the best out of his featured artists. In “Nightcrawler,” Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd brings a rowdy, high-pitched voice to this mostly mindless, fun song and Chief Keef contributed a far better verse than any of his recent work would suggest he’s capable of.
“Pray for Love” featuring The Weeknd is another track that gives the impression that every song is custom-made for the guest singers, and you may like every single artist on this album more than you did before listening to "Rodeo."
Justin Bieber certainly chipped away at this editor’s general dislike of Canadian divas by delivering a great out-of-nowhere verse on “Maria/I’m Drunk.” Scott and Bieber share the song with Young Thug, who was excellent as always.
The final song “Apple Pie” is the most intriguing on the record, not just for its driven guitar, poppy chorus or hunger-inducing name, but because T.I. returns to ask some questions at the end that may hint at an explanation of what this album is supposed to represent.
“Yet and still, the question that arises to the mind, will he make it? Was it worth it? Did he win? Will he survive the Rodeo?”
Maybe Scott’s choice of "Rodeo" as a title was very deliberate. Rap is his rodeo.
To make a choice to pursue a career in rap requires a lot of self-doubt, sacrifice and asking those types of questions. It's every bit as much a brash decision as hopping on a fiery beast with horns. The rap game could throw him in the dirt like a bull throws a cowboy; perhaps not now, but that had to have been a concern early on. There must a reason he chose these to be the final words of his debut album.
I’m also suspicious of a ingeniously subtle timeline in this record. His first four songs exclusively feature Southerners which may be a nod to his Southern upbringing. “Oh My/Dis Side” details the longing for the days of making money in Houston, which gives some weight to that theory.
He left his southern state of Texas for the sunny hills of Los Angeles when he dropped out of college, which conveniently enough coincides with the fifth track “90210,” the area code for Beverly Hills.
He came into contact with Kanye West’s sound engineer while in Los Angeles, and eventually ended up signing with Kanye West’s record label, GOOD Music. The 8th track, “Piss on Your Grave” features the 2020 presidential hopeful himself.
Later on in the album he features, Justin Bieber and Toro y Moi, which seems to signal, “I made it. My network extends everywhere now.”
Travi$ Scott might be a jack of all trades and master of none. It’s possible that he works hard and not smart by focusing on his individual songs rather than the coherence of his album as a whole. He certainly isn’t the storyteller some of his counterparts are (see: Kendrick Lamar).
These are all valid criticisms, but ultimately who cares. This album is fantastic, and Scott’s going to be riding the bull for a long time.
Reach the assistant arts editor at bjmurph2@asu.edu or @MurphJamin on Twitter.
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