‘Neither a good one, nor is it so unblessed’: Travis Scott’s UTOPIA
In an effort to present the world with a true rap blockbuster album, Travis delivers a grand yet hollow spectacle featuring an array of guest stars whose impact is seldom felt.
Travis Scott is one of the biggest stars in the music industry as of right now, and so it only makes sense that his albums arrive bubble-wrapped in flashy rollouts, teasers and enigma, leaving fans to guess what the final project will sound like when it strikes midnight on the release date. His last album, Astroworld (2018), had a rollout that was a drawn-out, shiny extravaganza of glitz and glamour. In comparison, UTOPIA’s rollout was rather messy, sparse and largely incoherent. Most of the news came through leaks of information rather than Travis himself. Pointless billboards have been spotted since last summer, leaving fans confused about the release date. The rapper has been performing songs from UTOPIA since mid-2021, most notably ‘LOST FOREVER’ and ‘GOD’S COUNTRY’ which he has performed relentlessly on his festival runs. Everything finally came together on release week, with Travis posting one of the five possible album covers every day up until UTOPIA dropped, each leading to much conversation and speculation about the album’s direction.
UTOPIA is perhaps Travis’ most inconsistent album in terms of the tracklist’s soundscape, quality and thematic basis. We begin with ‘HYAENA’, a powerful boom-bap intro that leaves the listener expecting more of the same quality. The first lines sample Gentle Giant’s September 1974, ‘Proclamation’ and summarise UTOPIA’s quality in a nutshell: “The situation we are in at this time / Neither a good one, nor is it so unblessed.” It is not his best, nor is it necessarily his worst. It just could have been so, SO much more than it turned out to be.
A large portion of the album is generally unoriginal, safe and soulless. Fleeting glimpses of greatness come only when Travis decides to step outside of his autotuned comfort zone, experimenting ever so slightly in small doses. Considering the aesthetic of UTOPIA – the futuristic yet rugged outfit, pictures, teased album covers and surrealist slogans accompanying the project – the album falls flat in comparison. Not only that, but Travis told WWD in an interview that the album would be heavily inspired by psychedelic rock, and listeners would be ‘tripped out’ by the sonic direction. We hear virtually none of that in UTOPIA, unfortunately. Now, I would be remiss in not mentioning the Astroworld Festival tragedy of 2021; this would have inevitably resulted in changes being made to the album considering it was, at that point, delayed indefinitely. In fact, the album is instead heavily influenced by Kanye West’s 2013 album Yeezus, something Travis has conceded himself – “…there is no UTOPIA without Kanye West…”. Whilst this is an excellent blueprint to follow, it is by no means the first to take direct inspiration from it, nor does it do so in a novel way.
At times, the prominent guest appearances on and polished production on UTOPIA effectively obscure the underlying fact that while on the mic, Travis exudes an emotional emptiness. The digitally modulated inflexions reminiscent of Blonde’s ethereal haze on ‘MY EYES’ offer a pleasing auditory experience, particularly when interwoven with the dreamy melodies contributed by Sampha and Justin Vernon. The fury-laden beat on “FE!N” might lack novelty, but Playboi Carti’s innovative vocal approach, resembling the rasp of bronchitis, commands attention, allowing Travis to indulge in ad-libbing to his heart’s content. Notably, Teezo Touchdown delivers a stellar performance on Track 3, ‘MODERN JAM’, sounding eerily similar to Freddie Mercury and Andre 3000. SZA also graces the album, delivering her signature sound, although it comes across as if she’s merely fulfilling an obligation. It feels cobbled together, practically sellotaped onto the outro. Yet, in contrast, at his zenith, Kanye could extract show-stopping performances from his collaborators, all of which would fit their respective songs perfectly. In comparison, these fleeting moments of exhilaration derived from guest appearances on Travis’s tracks fall short of achieving the same impact.
While the album boasts these alluring attractions, it’s essential to recognize that they often serve as distractions from Travis’s own lyrical hollowness, underlining a lingering sense that his delivery lacks any depth and resonance that can truly resonate with listeners. Even ‘DELRESTO (ECHOES)’ featuring Beyonce and Justin Vernon (genuinely, what could possibly go wrong?) is a rather skippable track; not because of anything Beyonce or Justin did on the record, in fact they are the only standouts. It sounds almost like a hashed remix of a loosie from Beyonce’s Renaissance (2022), as Travis and his producers fail to really capitalise on any of the tension created throughout the synth-heavy track – no big drop, no ultimate payoff, no progression…nothing. It is entirely wasteful and subsequently forgettable.
Other large fumbles on the UTOPIA record can be seen in ‘MELTDOWN’, which is essentially a diet ‘SICKO MODE’. ‘CIRCUS MAXIMUS’ is a stop-start mediocre iteration of Kanye’s smash-hit ‘Black Skinhead’, with a decent feature from The Weeknd. ‘PARASAIL’ sees Travis collaborate with Yung Lean; a killer combination of neo-psychedelia which proceeds to no avail. ‘TOPIA TWINS’ with Rob 49 and 21 Savage is monotonous trap crap, ‘K-POP’ is downright terrible if nothing else and the softer ending of ‘TIL FURTHER NOTICE’ makes the album fade away into an empty void of nothingness.
Following the Astroworld Festival travesty in 2021, it was clear that Travis needed to regain his cultural cachet, and to get the public back on his side…at least in part. Travis needed UTOPIA to go his way, and that it has. In the United States, UTOPIA debuted at number one on Billboard 200 chart, earning 496,000 album-equivalent units (including 252,000 in pure album sales) in its first week. This became Travis’s fourth chart-topper album, which remains a feat in and of itself. But sales seem to be at the forefront of Travis’ consciousness, and prevent him from diving into experimentalism, at least for more than ten seconds at a time. This ultimately holds Travis back from entering the territory in which he deserves to be in and that in which he thrives the most.
UTOPIA by Travis Scott is out now.
