Travis Scott — Utopia
Travis Scott returns from a five year hiatus with his latest project, Utopia. The rappers fourth album provides a rollercoaster of hits and misses.
Travis Scott
Travis Scott's highly anticipated fourth album Utopia takes listeners on a musical journey filled with highs and lows. The first half of the album kicks things off on a strong note with five impressive tracks, particularly showcasing Scott's prowess as a producer. Special shout out to the album’s intro “Hyaena”, which is a personal favourite of mine from the album. The opening sequence of songs sets the bar high, with impeccable production and standout features from Sampha and Teezo Touchdown, who both lay down great vocals on to their respective tracks that they are on, both artists really add more depth and texture to the production of the songs.
Unfortunately, the album takes an unexpected turn with "Meltdown," featuring Drake. On the track, Drake seems to take shots at his arch nemesis Pusha T and Pusha’s long time friend and collaborator, Pharrell Williams. The effort from Drake falls short and doesn’t hit as Drake would want it, and Drake's whispering delivery just makes me cringe. “Meltdown” feels like an attempt to recreate the magic of "Sicko Mode" with its beat changes, but unfortunately, it doesn't quite hit the mark and doesn’t live up to “Sicko Mode”.
"Fein" consists of another bad feature, this time from Playboi Carti. The biggest problem with Carti's feature is his voice, as it’s completely unrecognizable. Despite this, everything else with “Fein” is strong and helps to salvage the song. "I Know" is a stand out on the album, as it consists of a memorable hook that is sure to get stuck in your head.
The second half of Utopia hits a bit of a slump and isn’t as strong as the first half. “Circus Maximus” featuring The Weeknd and Swae Lee feels somewhat bland and doesn't bring anything particularly special to the table. Whilst, "Parsail" had the potential to be a standout track, but it falls short as it's primarily Dave Chappelle talking, and Yung Lean's contribution is disappointingly short. It leaves you wanting more substance and musicality. Additionally, I didn’t care for "K-Pop" or "Telekinesis". On the other hand, "Love" is one of the better songs on the second half of the album and the album does manage to redeem itself and ends on a high note, as it closes out with "Til Further Notice," featuring James Blake and 21 Savage.
Overall, Utopia by Travis Scott is a tale of two halves. The first half dazzles with its exceptional production and memorable tracks, while the second half struggles to maintain the same level of quality. While it may not be a seamless journey from start to finish, Utopia still manages to showcase Travis Scott's creativity and innovation within the hip-hop genre, even if it occasionally stumbles along the way.