Following the release of the highly successful album “ASTROWORLD,” Travis Scott could have easily made an “ASTROWORLD PT. 2,” but “UTOPIA” feels like a departure from Travis Scott’s usual psychedelic and hypnotizing sound. The project sounds more like Kanye West than anything else, but it is a welcome addition to Scott’s catalog.
“ASTROWORLD” was a Grammy contender when it was first released in 2018, and it spawned numerous viral hits, such as “SICKO-MODE,” “BUTTERFLY EFFECT,” and the TikTok-famous “5% TINT.” It is one of the only rap projects on Spotify where every song has over 100 million streams. A little under a year later, Travis Scott teamed up with his record label Cactus Jack Records and put out “JACKBOYS,” a collaborative EP where the spotlight was not on Travis; instead, it was on his collaborators as he fostered the sound and talent of the project.
And that seemed to be the direction that Scott decided to take ever since then. Following a long list of features with artists such as Metro Boomin, Drake, and Future, he steadily kept himself in the eye of the media while promoting “UTOPIA,” which was initially teased in an Instagram post in mid-July 2020.
The album was finally released on July 28, 2023, to mixed reviews. Some fans expected a sound similar to “ASTROWORLD,” while others applauded the diversified sonic styles and instrumentation that “UTOPIA” offered. In a world full of social media and critics, the album seemed to be incredibly decisive in the month after its release.
What seems certain, though, is that this album was made for Travis Scott fans who started listening around the time when “Days Before Rodeo” and “Rodeo” were released, as there are many moments where Travis sheds his rage habit and writes with a more introspective pen. Listening to “MY EYES” for the first time was a similar experience to “90210,” which are both meant to rise above the typical mosh-pit anthem or club banger. In a sense, these two songs are essentially the same: they allow Travis Scott to explore his artistry without being held to the standard of having to create songs that fit the standards of other people, the former doing so by exploring the feelings he has to deal with after the Astroworld tragedy and his breakup with Kylie Jenner, while the latter explains the drive that Scott has to reinvent himself as someone better. This is easily the greatest strength that “UTOPIA” possesses, and the visuals on YouTube are nothing short of phenomenal (including a literal film that ran alongside the album), which greatly enhance the concept of the album: “Utopia is wherever you are.”
“UTOPIA” as a whole is an attempt by Travis to transition his style and image from a rapper to an artist who is capable of creating poignant and socially conscious work; it is a trend that has been employed by a number of other artists this year, from Lil Uzi Vert to Post Malone. It balances the fine line of staying commercially relevant while retaining the creative freedom that artists deserve, all while creating a new sound that intrigues listeners and critics alike. At the same time, it allows Travis Scott to reach new heights as a performer and visionary. Not many other artists can plan a show at the pyramids in Egypt, cancel it, and then cause a mini-earthquake in the Circus Maximus stadium in Rome, all in the span of a single month. This is a project that will only improve with time.
The features on “UTOPIA” steal the show on multiple occasions: SZA on “TELEKINESIS” demonstrates exactly why she is one of the greatest R&B artists of the generation with her smooth and melodic vocals. Playboi Carti makes an unexpected appearance on “FE!N” after disappearing off of the face of the Earth in 2020, and showcases a brand new flow and deepened voice, which oddly makes it seem like he has bronchitis (sidenote: the chorus on “FE!N” was actually recorded by Travis Scott and not Carti according to the verified Genius page). Drake lays down one of his greatest verses in recent memory, with an excellent whisper flow that is a great foreshadowing for what can be expected out of his own project which is scheduled to release later this year.
When the album does falter, it is generally a fault of poor instrumentation and a tendency to fall into a sound that sounds too much like Kanye West (the drums from “MODERN JAM” are directly lifted from Ye’s “I Am a God”), which occasionally defeats the point of creating a unique image and sonic style. It is not all that hard to picture Ye’s own vocals on the intro track “HYAENA.” The vocals in the background of “GOD’S COUNTRY” sound like it was sampled straight out of an episode of “Sesame Street,” and Rob49 had a disappointing performance on “TOPIA TWINS.” Small hiccups like these do little to harm the scale and quality of the rest of the project, however.
The announcement of new music to come at the end of “TIL FURTHER NOTICE” is a reassurance that Travis and his unique artistry are not going anywhere, which is a good omen in a year full of high-profile and unique rap releases, where artist visions are beginning to break through the chains of commercial success.