Two years before releasing his studio debut, “Rodeo,” Travis Scott was introduced to the music world through production credits on Kanye West’s groundbreaking 2013 record “Yeezus.” In the decade after, he rose to become one of American pop culture’s most successful and marketable figures.

After his chart-topping 2018 album “Astroworld,” the Houston native released successful collaborations with the likes of McDonalds, Nike and Fortnite. In November 2021, Scott hosted a music festival in his hometown, where a sudden crowd crush led to the deaths of ten fans, injuries of thousands of others and a litany of lawsuits against Scott and venue operator Live Nation.

The catastrophe saw Scott go into hiding for almost two years, but when a grand jury decided not to charge the popstar for the fatalities last month, the rollout for his fourth LP, “Utopia,” began almost immediately.

Released on July 28, “Utopia” comes across as the successor to “Yeezus,” sharing West’s penchant for erratic beat switches and dramatic drum patterns, even sampling multiple tracks from the 2013 album. Despite a hurried rollout, including a canceled performance at the Giza pyramids and the surprise announcement of an accompanying film co-directed by Harmony Korine, the 19 tracks on “Utopia” truly feel epic.

Even ignoring song titles like “GOD’S COUNTRY” and “THANK GOD,” the record feels like a trap album of biblical proportions. The album is full of earth-quaking 808s, flooding synthesizers, calamitous instrumental breakdowns, ethereal choruses from guests and menacing, resonant rap verses from Scott.

With “Utopia,” Scott continues his tradition of hiding the features from song titles, making for an enthralling search to identify each new voice that appears on the project. Scott recruits a whopping 20 eclectic features from artists like Bon Iver, Bad Bunny and Beyoncé. Scott also uses the record to give a platform to younger artists like fellow Texan Teezo Touchdown on “MODERN JAM” and New Orleans rapper Rob49 on “TOPIA TWINS.”

While he imparts plenty of emotion into his delivery, Scott’s verses on the album hardly mention any specific touchstones from the real world. Given the notable drama of the Astroworld festival, the choice to only tip-toe around the subject feels like a missed opportunity for some semblance of redemption. On tracks like “I KNOW ?” and “TIL FURTHER NOTICE,” Scott is fixated on fighting demons and seeking religious salvation, but the decision to omit mention of real events leave the album wrapped in a blurry haze.

The lack of a grounding narrative is rectified by endlessly captivating production, which is best encapsulated by the three beat switches on “SKITZO,” as the mood transitions from hyper to ethereal to grungy to jazzy in the span of six minutes.

These beat switches also create dramatic transitions in mood. The track “MY EYES” starts with a sedated autotuned verse from Bon Iver, transitions into a sultry bridge from British vocalist Sampha and culminates in a beat switch as Scott rattles off a quickfire verse over propulsive hi-hats.

But the most interesting production choices on “Utopia” are the interpolations of “Yeezus,” as Scott borrows his mentor’s anxiety-inducing drum patterns from “Black Skinhead” and “I Am A God.” West also received songwriting and production credits on tracks like “GOD’S COUNTRY,” “DELRESTO (ECHOES),” “LOOOVE” and “TELEKINESIS.”

The album only falters on the few tracks that feel like no more than ploys for commercial success and radio play, like the disjointed “K-POP,” which fails to find any fluidity between verses from Scott, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. The eighth track, “FE!N,” which reunites Travis Scott and Playboi Carti for the first time in five years, starts strong with an electrifying high-pitched chorus but is marred by two discordant verses from Carti, whose delivery sounds like the sputtering of a lawn mower engine with a dead battery.

Despite its shortcomings, “Utopia” stands out as head and heels above the majority of this year’s rap albums. Where Scott’s songwriting lacks in authenticity and personality, the scale of his sonic ambition elevates the record into a cinematic and captivating experience.

Published on August 1, 2023 at 12:05 am