Some First Thoughts on Travis Scott’s Rodeo

Last week (probably not last week when this comes out) I took some time out of my day to listen to Travis Scott’s debut album, Rodeo, since the 10th anniversary of the record is nearing. Many people, including many music content creators, consider this album to be Scott’s best. Keep in mind that I have listened to both Utopia and ASTROWORLD, so I know what to expect from a Travis album. But, this album is a lot more rawer than the others. In my opinion, the production is not nearly as polished as ASTROWORLD or even UTOPIA. The album is somewhat of a concept album – discussing topics of fame and the rapper lifestyle, with even some conscious elements sneaked in. There is also a heavy feature list of well-known artists: Kanye West, Future, 2 Chainz. The Weeknd, T.I., ScHoolboy Q, Young Thug & more all contributed to this album. But, for some reason, I don’t see the hype. Don’t get me wrong, this is still a good album, but it is not Travis’s best in my opinion. 

First, I want to start off with what I like about the album, which are quite a few things. The T.I. interludes at the start and end of songs are great – I think it ties back to the theme of the album, and T.I. is that guardian angel trying to watch over Travis, as well as the narrator – kinda like Obi-Wan/Ben Kenobi in the original trilogy. T.I. talks about surviving the “Rodeo” – which is the process of staying true to yourself during fame, many don’t survive it and become a different person once fame hits them. Another great part of the album is the features. Every featured artist gives an all star performance. Future & 2 Chainz cook on “3500”, Justin Beiber of all people out raps Young Thug & La Flame on “Maria I’m Drunk”, and the Weeknd delivers the best feature verse of his career on “Pray 4 Love”, perfectly balancing his rapping and singing over the Mike Dean instrumental buildup. “Pray 4 Love” in general is definitely my favorite track off of the record. The dark instrumental compliments Scott’s and Abel’s auto tuned vocals perfectly and oh my f**k the piano during the aforementioned Weeknd verse kills. Scott also performs two all star verses – and the political lyrics are great too. I love when artists express their societal views, even if I don’t agree with it. Any FOX News hate is fine with me. I also do not understand the hate for “Antidote” – I think it is a great first single for the album and one of Travis’s best. It really complements the spacey atmosphere of the album and of Scott’s sound in general. And I can’t mention Rodeo without “90210”: a almost 6 minute epic- you know what, I’ll put a pin in that for later (I want to end this review on a good note).

My biggest gripe with this album is the length of the songs. Almost all of them are over 4 minutes long. And, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but some of these songs drag for way longer than they’re supposed to be. One of my favorite things about the Trvais Scott from now is that he knows how long a song should be. If a song should be 5 minutes, it is 5 minutes, but if a song like “SKELETONS” is better because it is less than 2 and a half minutes long, then the song is 2 and a half minutes long. Maybe it’s because Travis knows that his fans are younger, so most of them have s**ty attention spans – but to me, that’s what makes Travis Scott Travis Scott – the fact that he knows when to cut a song off. So to see songs on Rodeo lowkey drag is kind of weird. Obviously some songs deserve their length, like “3500”, but “On My Dis Side” should not be 6 minutes.

 In my opinion, the biggest letdown from the album is “Piss On Your Grave” – Scott’s collaboration with Kanye West. When the track starts, you get this big, bombastic, rock-inspired piece (that reminds me of RJD2’s “Clean Living” a little) with an amazing electric guitar drenched in reverb and hard-hitting, half-time drums. But then, after ¾ths of a minute – we get a trap beat with Kanye saying some dumb sh*t along the lines of “IDFWU”. It kinda reminds me of “Hell Of A Night”, where the opening is super experimental and then the rest is a trap beat where the artist raps braggadociously. We have seen what happens when Ye and Trav put their best foot forward in collaborating (“Praise God”, “Champions”, “SKELETONS” the beat for “MODERN JAM”), I just don’t know what happened for “Piss On Your Grave”.

“90210”

There is a reason for why “90210” is crowned as the greatest song that Travis Scott has ever or will ever make/made by his fans. Everyone talks about how good the beat switch is, and trust me, I’ll get to that, but the first part is also spectacular. The way Kacy Hill sings is beautiful, she sounds like a perfectly-tuned instrument. And I love how the drums only kick in for only a few bars, leaving you wanting more. But right as they kick in, the beat changes after a Mike Dean guitar solo. Then, a piano kicks in, reminiscent of Kanye’s “Family Business” with Travis humming a melody in autotune. And, as another homage to “Family Business” – you hear “All-All-All-the”, then Travis spits flames. Scott goes and talks about his friends, family and fame and how they all connect. “Youngest n***a out of Huston at the Grammys.” hits hard – as he’s still reppin’ H-Town till this day. Another line that hits me is “Good lord I see my fortrune in all these horses/I’m driving too fast to stop so all those signs I ignore them”. It shows that even though Travis knows he’s gonna make it, he’s gonna make a bunch of mistakes – because he didn’t follow the signs that come with fame. Overall, “90210” is a masterpiece that shows what happens when some of the greatest mixers and producers in the trap scene work together. 

So, that’s my first thoughts on Rodeo – a great record, but not a record that deserves the high praise that it gets by music critics. I would really want to hear people’s opinion on my takes, because I don’t clearly see what others see with this album.