Travis Scott was one of the top rappers in the US during 2023, and remains at the forefront of the genre. In 2015 he released his first album, and since then Scott has dropped 3 other hit albums and toured the country multiple times, becoming a pop culture mega star.
Six-year-old Scott lived in South Park, Houston with his grandmother, and grew up in a high-crime neighborhood. His father taught him how to play the drums at three years old and his grandfather was a jazz musician. These circumstances shaped Scott into the unique singer and songwriter he is.
“You’ve gotta motivate the kids,” Scott said, “They wanna grow up. They have problems. You’ve gotta give ‘em that music to make them feel like they’re okay.”
Scott left college at 19 to pursue music, frustrated with the limitations of school. Not everyone believed in his vision, his parents were initially opposed to Scott’s decision, but they were unable to stop him. He began working as a producer in New York at Kanye West’s studio Good Music. He was living from couch to couch. Broke and homeless, the rapper persisted.
“Money is something that keeps you alive and healthy and just keeps you focused” Scott said, “It’s the drive. It’s the passion.”
He released an album “Rodeo” in 2015 that put him on the map. The biggest hit was “Antidote”, which one month after hitting the mainstream, reached a million streams on Spotify. The unique stylization of the song enraptured listeners and the lyrics told a story of life. He used metaphors and symbolism to convey ideas but much of the interpretation of the song was left to listeners.
Don’t you open up that window
Don’t you let out that antidote
-Travis Scott
As Scott began performing at concerts, crowds went berserk for the rapper. “Raging” became a trademark for his shows. He had an incident in 2013 after a “Bird’s Eye View” concert where he was initially accused of inciting a riot because the crowd had become so unruly.
“‘Raging’ doesn’t have a textbook definition,” Scott said, “but we’ve grown it in concerts to be just an experience of having fun. It’s not about harm. It’s not about that. It’s about just letting go and having fun, help others, you know, love each other.”
In 2018, Scott released “Astroworld”, his first album to have a song that reached number one on the music charts: “Sicko Mode”. His concerts for the album had massive venues with over 50,000 people present.
“The vibes was all the way up.” Scott said, “Those kids just weren’t giving up. They were so ready to rage and so ready to go H.A.M. It was dope.”
In a devastating turn of events, a crowd rushed the stage at a Houston show and ten people died of compression asphyxiation, in other words being crushed so tightly by the horde they couldn’t breathe.
“I really just wanted to get in touch with the fans,” Scott said, “the families that were here, we’re grieving and we’ll get through this process.”
He spoke to reporters about the incident, and some questioned how the chaos had spun out of control so quickly. Scott and five of his security personnel were tried, but none of them were found criminally responsible for the deaths. Even still, Scott struggled with the guilt in his own way.
“It gets so hard because, you know, I always feel so emotionally connected to my fans,” Scott said, “I went through something and I feel like fans went through something and people’s parents went through something. It really hurts.”
Scott canceled the rest of his Astroworld shows after the Houston incident. He did not perform again until a year later. His latest release “Utopia”, was one of the biggest albums of 2023. He reclaimed the stage in October of 2023 for his “Circus Maximus” tour, and is continuing the tour in July of 2024.
“I have concerns, things that I think about, and the things I see on a day-to-day basis,” Scott said, “I think about them. And every day I want to find change in the things, to make things better, make myself better.”
As Scott continues making music, bettering himself has been a battle of will. His resilience has helped him recover and grow as a creator and a person. He stays honest to his music as best he can, and lets his creativity flow. He doesn’t limit himself to one genre or one style, and everything he does, he does with a purpose. This drive for originality makes him an artistic powerhouse.
I feel like everything needs to be stylized” Scott said, “that’s always been my mindset. I design music; I don’t produce it.”
Scott did not limit himself, and always had faith in his music. His belief in himself brought him fame and fortune, and his confidence in himself helped him get back up time and time again. Scott never held back, and he passes that message on through his music.
“There’s a lot of us out here that are birds, man.” Scott said, “We all need to just fly”
