- Travis Scott has released his fourth studio album Utopia.
- It’s his first solo full-length since 2018’s Astroworld.
- Utopia featured appearances by Beyoncé, Bad Bunny, Drake, Kid Cudi, SZA, Future, and more.
- The first two singles were “K-Pop” and “Delresto (Echoes).”
The drought is over. Travis Scott has finally released Utopia, the long-awaited follow-up to his career-defining album, Astroworld. While some have said that the 2018 album hasn’t aged well, it’s hard to argue that it didn’t make Travis one of the biggest hip-hop stars of his generation. Five years after Astroworld, Travis has dropped Utopia and a corresponding visual project.
The album arrived on July 28, seemingly delayed by the Astroworld Festival tragedy. The album contained a lot of shade and love: Travis proclaimed his loyalty to Kanye “Ye” West, despite Ye’s antisemitic comments and outrageous behavior; a possible diss on Timothée Chalamet; and even an appearance by his daughter, Stormi Webster. At first, fans didn’t pick up on any animosity towards A$AP Rocky, who dissed Travis days before Utopia‘s release by rapping how Trav “stole my flow, so I stole your b—ch,” referring to how Trav and Rihanna once dated.
There was even some shade by Drake, who appeared alongside Travis on “Meltdown.” Drake dragged Pharrell Williams into his feud with Pusha-T. Drake alluded to Joopitur, Pharrell’s auction house, where Drake may have purchased many of Pharrell’s former chains. “I melt down the chains that I bought from your boss,” he raps, “Give a f–k about all of that heritage sh-t.” He also dissed Pharrell’s role as Men’s Creative Director at Louis Vuitton following the death of Virgil Abloh. “Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit,” he rapped, per The Fader.
This album, shade and all, was a long time coming. “GOING TO COOK UP AND BUILD THESE WALLS FOR UTOPIA,” Travis tweeted in October 2020, after “Franchise,” his record with Young Thug and M.I.A., hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. “SEE YOU GUYS SOON.” The same day he tweeted that, Travis changed his Instagram bio from “Astroworld” to “Utopia,” hinting that 2021 would have seen the long-awaited follow-up.
Travis’s Astroworld — which followed 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and 2015’s Rodeo — arrived to critical acclaim and commercial success. As of the summer of 2021, Astroworld has been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA. It spawned a Hot 100 no. 1 in “Sicko Mode” and contains the singles “Stargazing,” “Butterfly Effect,” “Yosemite,” and “Wake Up” (featuring The Weeknd.) Astroworld marked “the first time that his music has actually matched the aspirations of his art-crunk bluster, rock-star stage dives, and aisle-crossing fashions,” according to Rolling Stone’s review. Consequence praised the “immensely talented Houston native” for creating an album full of “infectious” flows, though it did ding it over how some lyrics bordered on rap clichés (“The music might take your breath away if the worst of the lyrics don’t make you roll your eyes”). Despite these faults, many publications – Rolling Stone, Billboard, NME, Complex, The Guardian, etc. – put Astroworld on their Best Albums of 2018 lists.
So, what is the scoop on Utopia? Will it succeed Astroland, or is it a flop?
When Was Travis Scott’s New Album Released?
Travis released Utopia on July 28. He shared the five different album covers in the lead-up to the album’s arrival. “THIS IS ONE OF THE COVERS FOR MY 4TH ALBUM UTOPIA. SHOT BY PIETER HUGO,” the rapper wrote on Instagram in all caps. “THE JOURNEY THRU THE ALBUM TOOK ME ALL OVER THE WORLD, AND CANT WAIT TO FINALLY DROP THE ALBUM. THE MAIN COVER WILL DROP THURS. UNTIL THEN, A COVER EVERYDAY LOVE, U SEE U IN UTOPIA.”
In addition to the album, Travis released Circus Maximus, a film that shares the same title as one of the songs on Utopia. AHHHHHH, CANT BELIEVE WE FINALLLLY HEREEEEEEEEEEEE !!! LETSSS EATTTTT CIRCUS MAXIMUS IN THEATRES ON 7/27,” he announced with a visual preview of the project. “I WROTE AND DIRECTED THIS ALONG SIDE WITH SOME OF MY FAVORITE DIRECTORS. WE FOUND UTOPIA AROUND THE WORLD AND CANT WAIT TO EXPERIENCE THIS WITH U SEEE U IN UTOPIA Tickets on travisscott.com/movie.”
The album seemed ready for a 2021 release but was derailed by catastrophe. “It’s coming. Coming soon. You can bet that,” Travis said of his album when talking with Robert Rodriguez for i-D magazine in February 2021. During the chat, Robert mentioned the chances of Travis bringing back his Astroworld festival now that concerts and live music events have resumed. “Hopefully, we can bring it back at the end of this year,” said Scott. “Around November.”
The Astroworld concert did happen in November, but the concert resulted in tragedy after a crowd surge during Travis’s set resulted in ten people being killed and 25 hospitalized with serious injuries. In June 2023, a Grand Jury in Texas declined to indict Travis, meaning he wouldn’t face any criminal charges over the incident. With that issue resolved, it seemed that Travis was clear to release his long-awaited project.
What Is Travis Scott’s New Album Called?
Travis Scott revealed in August 2020 that his album would be called Utopia. He tweeted an image of a hand-written note commemorating the two-year anniversary of Astroworld. “Happy Astroversary. A 2-year ride that’s still one of my favorites! The album means so much to me!! To everyone that bumps and rages to that soundtrack, I love you. Let’s keep the ride going. See you in Utopia.”
Happy Astroversary pic.twitter.com/7JiT35ji72
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) August 4, 2020
GOING TO GO COOK UP AND BUILD THESE WALLS FOR UTOPIA. SEE YOU GUYS SOON.
— TRAVIS SCOTT (@trvisXX) October 5, 2020
What Does Travis Scott’s New Album Sound Like?
Early reviews of Utopia were mixed.
Variety’s Yousef Srour and Jem Aswald said that it was “worth the wait” and that Utopia ”couldn’t afford to be anything but a major musical advancement, and he’s delivered.” The album, per the review, “advances melodic hip-hop into new terrain…[Travis’s] musical adventurousness and diversity is vividly on display here. Where Astroworld brought spectacle, Utopia brings subtlety and innovation.”
Insider was less kind. While Variety noted that Utopia showed how it was inspired by Kanye “Ye” West, Insider’s Barnaby Lane called it a “Yeezy clone” and that the album “misses the mark.” Utopia, writes Lane, “was supposed to be the defining work of his career, an experimental, genre-defying record that he said would embody how people can “create energy that spews out magical things. Instead, what Scott delivers is a poorly-paced, mostly unimaginative Yeezus rehash that feels stuck ten years in the past.”
Utopia drew a lot of comparisons to Yeezus, where the latter trended on Twitter.
“I never tell people this, and I’m probably going to keep it a secret still, but I’m working with some new people, and I’m just trying to expand the sound,” Travis said in that i-D interview. “I’ve been making beats again, rapping on my own beats, just putting everything together and trying to grow it, really. That’s been one of the most fun things about working on this album. I’m evolving, collaborating with new people, delivering a whole new sound, a whole new range.”
“It’s never about repeating myself,” he said later in the interview. “I’m just trying to make the next saga… each album is like a saga.
Who Is Featured On Travis Scott’s New Album?
Utopia has 19 different featured artists. Beyoncé and Bon Iver (“Delresto (Echoes)”), James Blake and Westside Gunn (“Lost Forever”), 21 Savage (“Til Further Notice”), Bad Bunny and The Weeknd (“K-Pop,” “Circus Maximus”), Future and SZA (“Telekinesis”), Bon Iver and Sampha (“My Eye”), Playboi Carti and Shek Wes (“Fe!n”), 21 Savage and Rob49 (“Topia Twins”), KayCyy and Swae Lee (“Thank God,” “Sirens”), Drake (“Meltdown”), Teezo Touchdown (“Modern Jam”), Yung Lean (“Parasail”), Yung Thug (“Skitzo”), Kid Cudi (“Looove”) and even Dave Chapelle, doing a spoken word performance on “Parasail.”
Travis only appears solo on three songs. The album’s production credits include a lot of heavy hitters: Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Kanye West, Boi-1da, Tay Keith, Justin Vernon, Wheezy, Jahaan Sweet, The Alchemist, Metro Boomin, 30 Roc, and Travis himself, per Rolling Stone.
Travis and Kylie’s daughter, Stormi Webster, also appeared on the album.
With a roster that would make DJ Khaled blush, some have criticized how Travis’s albums don’t always highlight Travis. “That’s only ever been my one bone to pick with Travis,” wrote culture journalist Trey Alson. “If he was a chef, he’s the one that overseasons the steak to hide the fact that forgot to cook it medium rare.”
That’s only ever been my one bone to pick with Travis. If he was a chef, he’s the one that overseasons the steak to hide the fact that forgot to cook it medium rare https://t.co/9u4e2Jccp6
— Trey! (@treyals) July 28, 2023
Astroworld, like the famed theme park of Travis’ childhood, was also full of guests who came to play. Frank Ocean (“Carousel”), Drake (“Sicko Mode”), Swae Lee (“Sicko Mode”/”R.I.P. Screw”), Juice Wrld (“No Bystanders”), Tame Impala (“Skeletons”), Pharrell (“Skeletons”), Gunna (“Yosemite”), Quavo and Takeoff (“Who? What!”) were just some of the stars featured on the album.
Since Astroworld, Travis has worked with a lot of people: SZA (“Power Is Power”), Ed Sheeran (“Antisocial”), Rosalía (“TKN”), Future (“First Off”), Schoolboy Q (“Chopstix”). He also debuted The Scotts, his project with Kid Cudi. Travis also lent his vocals to “Wash Us in The Blood,” a track from Kanye West’s (as of June 2021) still unreleased Donda album.
What Songs Are On Travis Scott’s New Album?
UTOPIA TRACKLIST INCLUDES:
1) HYAENA
2) THANK GOD
3) MODERN JAM
4) MY EYES
5) GOD’S COUNTRY
6) SIRENS
7) MELTDOWN
8) FE!N
9) DELRESTO (ECHOES)
10) I KNOW ?
11) TOPIA TWINS
12) CIRCUS MAXIMUS
13) PARASAIL
14) SKITZO
15) LOST FOREVER
16) LOOOVE
17) K-POP
18) TELEKINESIS
19) TIL FURTHER NOTICE
Surprisingly, Travis didn’t include “Highest In The Room,” his 2020 chart-topping single, on Utopia. Other songs not involved are “TKN,” “Franchise,” “Down In Atlanta,” “Ring Ring,” “Mafia,” and “Escape Plan.”
Utopia is here! Was it worth the wait?