This album was released on August 3rd this year (2018). I’ve never been a huge fan of Travis Scott. His 2015 album Rodeo received a lot of praise, but I wasn’t really feelin’ it. This project in particular has accumulated a shit ton of hype. White kids love Travis Scott. I definitely don’t think he’s terrible. I just think he’s kind of uh… Not good. I’m always interested to hear his projects. It’s not like I hate every single song he makes. I usually like a small portion of his output. When he makes a good song I usually end up loving it. I think that’s pretty rare though. The majority of his work is pretty mediocre to me. I’m one of those weirdos who likes Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight more than Rodeo. Hopefully this project continues the upward trend. I doubt I’m gonna like this thing though. It’s nearly an hour in length, and I already know I don’t like the lead single. I’ll try to keep an open mind though.

---

Stargazing produced by Sonny Digital, Bkorn, B Wheezy & 30 Roc
Carousel featuring Frank Ocean produced by Hit-Boy
Sicko Mode featuring Drake produced by Hit-Boy, OZ, Rogét Chahayed, Tay Keith, CuBeatz & Mike Dean
R.I.P. Screw featuring Swae Lee produced by Travis Scott & FKi 1st
Stop Trying to be God featuring James Blake, Kid Cudi & Stevie Wonder produced by Travis Scott, J Beatzz & Mike Dean
No Bystanders featuring Juice WRLD & Sheck Wes produced by WondaGurl, Gezin & Mike Dean
Skeletons featuring Pharrell Williams & The Weeknd produced by Tame Impala
Wake Up featuring The Weeknd produced by Frank Dukes, Wallis Lane & Sevn Thomas
5% Tint produced by FKi 1st
NC-17 featuring 21 Savage produced by Boi-1da, CuBeatz & Allen Ritter
Astrothunder produced by Travis Scott, Frank Dukes, John Mayer & Thundercat
Yosemite featuring Gunna & Nav produced by June James & Turbo
Can’t Say featuring Don Toliver produced by Frank Dukes & WondaGurl
Who? What! featuring Quavo & Takeoff produced by Cardo & 30 Roc
Butterfly Effect produced by Murda Beatz & Felix Leone
Houstonfornication produced by Sevn Thomas & Wallis Lane
Coffee Bean produced by Nineteen85

---

The first song is pretty decent. The beat’s nice, and the hook is catchy. The first part of the song really isn’t bad to me at all. It’s not something that I’d ever have the desire to come back to, but it didn’t bother me at all. I’m not really feelin’ the second part of the song where the beat switches up though. Again, it’s not really that bad, but I just don’t really like the beat, and Travis wasn’t really saying anything that interesting. It’s an okay song as a whole though.

Real quick, I just wanna mention something… The official album cover for this project is fucking hideous. It reminds me of that ugly ass Korn album cover from 2016.

Album art matters a lot to me when I consider the overall aesthetic of a project. I usually don’t bring it up during reviews, but this one is so bad that I had to mention it.

Anyway, I’m not really feelin’ the production on CAROUSEL. It’s kind of annoying to me. It was cool to hear Frank Ocean though. Although he does sound out of place alongside Travis. I don’t really think they make a good pair. Honestly, it’s a really annoying song to me. It sounds pretty terrible. I don’t like the autotuned vocals from Travis at all.

The beat on SICKO MODE is far better in my opinion. Well… It’s kind of a weird song. The intro makes it seem like it’s gonna be a really enjoyable track, but right before Drake really starts going in the beat switches and it sounds like a completely different song is starting. It’s got a really shitty, cheap sounding Trap beat. The hook is fucking awful. There are two average verses, and then the beat switches again before Drake comes back in. I still don’t like the beat as much as the first one, but it’s better than the second I guess. Drake’s verse was tolerable. I’ll never understand how such an average rapper can be so popular. The final verse from Travis is okay I guess. The song as a whole is pretty terrible. It’s giving me flashbacks to TESTING.

R.I.P. SCREW is surprisingly one of the most tolerable songs on the album so far. I’m not really a fan of Swae Lee’s vocals, but I like the melodic production a lot. Unlike the previous track, it’s not really painful for me to listen to it. I didn’t really pay attention to any of the lyrics. It’s decent sonically though. I’ll never listen to it again, but it’s not bad.

STOP TRYING TO BE GOD is definitely the most intriguing song in the tracklist due to the feature from fucking Stevie Wonder of all people. That’s probably the most random collaboration I’ve seen all year. I’m not feelin’ the humming from Kid Cudi on the hook. I’d be lying if I said I cared for the harmonica contribution from Stevie. The bridge from James Blake was alright I guess. I’m not feelin’ this shit though. Honestly, there’s not a single aspect of this song that I enjoyed. It’s wack to me.

I’m really not a fan of this Juice WRLD guy. I heard that terrible song about heartbreak… What’s it called? Loose Jeans? It samples the same track as The Message by Nas. Is he even a rapper? I’ve seen some people call him a rapper, but from what I’ve heard he’s really just a mediocre singer. Also, I think “Juice WRLD” is a terrible stage name. I actually kinda fuck with the hook from Sheck Wes. I’ve heard one song from that guy, and it was also pretty bad. Travis Scott has never really impressed me as a rapper. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a verse from him and thought “that was dope.” This would probably be one of the best songs on the album if it weren’t for Juice WRLD honestly. I just can’t stand his high pitched vocals. He sounds super flat to me. I think the song’s mediocre.

SKELETONS is actually kind of a good song to be honest. I really like the instrumental from Tame Impala, and the background vocals from The Weeknd & Pharrell sound pretty good. I didn’t particularly care for any of the lyrics, but that’s nothing new for Travis Scott. This is one of the few tracks where it doesn’t sound like there’s way too much going on. It’s kinda dope.

WAKE UP is another one of the more tolerable songs on the album. It’s got a pretty sweet melody. The Weeknd sounded good. The production is decent. I liked the instrumental outro a lot. I don’t think it’s a bad song. It has pretty much zero replay value for me personally, but it’s definitely one of the most enjoyable songs on the project so far.

I don’t really like 5% TINT. The beat’s kinda cool, but the melody Travis keeps singing for every single line of the song is way too repetitive for me. The way the song ended actually sounded really cool though. The outro’s really the only interesting part of the song. It’s super one dimensional. It’s mediocre in my opinion.

I’m not feelin’ NC-17. I feel like someone jammed a funnel in my ears and took a shit in it. Okay, it’s not that bad. The melodic hook is decent, and the production’s not bad. It just lacks substance. Absolutely nothing about the song makes me wanna return to it. I didn’t care for the pornographic lyrics. 21’s verse was laughable. It’s a wack song.

The production on ASTROTHUNDER is actually really fucking cool. It’s definitely my favorite beat on the album so far. Thundercat put his ass in this track. I’m gonna be honest; I actually REALLY enjoyed this track. Travis Scott’s vocal contribution has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the track. I literally only fuck with the song because of the beat. Shoutout to Travis for not ruining it I guess. It’s a dope song.

YOSEMITE is another enjoyable track. The production is great, and I didn’t mind the overly long hook from Gunna. It’s a really catchy track. I could’ve done without that Nav feature at the end of the song, but it wasn’t bad enough to completely ruin it. I’m not as pleased with the song as I was with the preceding track, but I still enjoyed it. It’s dope.

CAN’T SAY isn’t for me. It’s another one of those generic whirlpools of Trap, R&B & autotune. That Don Toliver guy wasn’t bad on the second verse though. He has kind of an interesting voice. The song’s just boring to me. It doesn’t really sound that different from most of the other shit on this project. It’s mediocre to me.

Pretty much everything I said about that song could be said about WHO? WHAT! Quavo’s feature did nothing for me. I get tired of Travis’ robotic auotuned voice really quickly. Takeoff’s verse was definitely the best portion of the song, but he only spit like 6 bars. It’s another boring song.

BUTTERFLY EFFECT was the lead single from this album, and it’s really bad. The production is simplistic, and the melody that Travis sings with every single line is way too repetitive. That’s really his greatest weakness in my opinion. All his shit is super repetitive. You pretty much know what the entire song is gonna sound like after hearing the first 30 seconds. I’m not feelin’ it. It’s wack to me.

The beat on HOUSTONFORNICATION is really nice. It’s actually another really enjoyable song for me. Obviously from the title it can be surmised that I don’t really care for the content, but it’s not something that really affects my enjoyment of the song that much. It’s just a really catchy track. I don’t have any problems with it. It’s dope.

Coffee Bean actually sounds different from every other song. It’s the only song in which Travis raps without autotune. I really love the production on this song. The content about his relationship with Kylie Jenner didn’t really interest me at all. It’s definitely not a bad song though. The strings that come in towards the end of the track sound fantastic. I just feel like if I don’t delete it from my iTunes library now, it’ll just sit there catching virtual dust forever because I’m never gonna listen to it again. It’s decent though.

---

This album is mediocre to me. It started off really badly, but I think the second half is far more enjoyable. When it comes to my enjoyment of Travis Scott’s music, I feel pretty much the same way about this project as I did about Rodeo & Birds. It’s really super hit or miss. I liked four songs out of seventeen. I still don’t understand all the hype Travis’ music gets. This isn’t that bad of an album. I’d never call it good though. It’s mediocre.

Favorite Song: ASTROTHUNDER
Least Favorite Song: SICKO MODE

D+