Travi$ Scott – Days Before Rodeo

Travi$ Scott – Days Before Rodeo
Grand Hustle: 2014

There are a lot of rappers—Young Thug, Chance The Rapper, etc.—that are threatening to go stratospheric in a very real way with very unique styles, but Travi$ Scott is amongst the most promising. The 22-year-old is in an enviable position, having signed as an in-house producer for G.O.O.D. Music and currently prepping an album, Rodeo, for Epic/T.I.’s Grand Hustle largely off the strength of his muscular debut Owl Pharaoh. Listening to Days Before Rodeo, a pre-album mixtape released for free earlier this month, it isn’t hard to see why.

Scott was one of the many architects of Kanye West’s Yeezus, and that album’s grey-stained fingerprints are subtly smudged all over the surface of this project in the yowls, distorted vocals and the oversized presence that Scott adopts even in his asides and adlibs. It’s a two-way influence that he uses better than most, making its impact clear enough to appeal to fans of that towering project but not too overtly, because he never ventures as close to the precipice as Kanye does. It makes you even question which direction the influence flows in. What really makes Days Before Rodeo so exhilarating is the way that any similarities to that gnarled noise-ridden behemoth are actually a small part of something bigger, just a small sprinkling in a broth that is an effective blend of current higher-tier hip-hop trends.

The sonic hallmarks he brought to Yeezus are here, but they’re mixed with an overblown, almost-baroque sensibility and a big dose of Atlanta weirdness—Young Thug guests twice and it feels entirely natural. This is big, chunky and expensive-sounding rap music, for sure. However, its all those things plus as strange as Scott wants it to be. There are a number of examples: “Quintana Pt.2” takes its twisted, rapid fire choruses and slaps them straight on top of some classic Atlanta bounce and an impeccably swagged-out verse. The equally melodic “Mamacita,” featuring both Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan, works an equally sticky, warped chorus and excellent verses from all involved on to a tribal, guitar-centric beat reminiscent of Pusha T‘s fantastic “Nosetalgia.”

This is a baseline, but it’s a wonderfully weird and versatile one that allows Scott to cover a lot of sonic ground. Melody is the main thing here. In his verses and choruses, Scott is masterful with hooks. The Big Sean-featuring “Don’t Play” feels stadium ready and lands just on the right side of cheesy, while the malformed stomp of “Zombies” features Lex Luger going chiptune on the beat and somehow still works. Towards the end there are a handful of classically minded soul flips, while on highlight “Skyfall” Scott and Thug tear apart a minimal, heavy industrial crawl with verses that are just as melodically captivating as the ridiculously insistent chorus.

The music is definitely what brings this album together. Scott is a commanding rapper, a bonafide presence. At his best, he’s a force of nature. But lyrically there isn’t much to go on. There are a couple of nice brags—at one point he asks “did you ever get high with your muh-fuckin’ jeweler?”—but really Days Before Rodeo is about how he’s rapping and the beats he’s rapping over. This is one of those rare hip-hop albums that gets by on its own merits, through sheer force of will, without really having anything to say. That’s probably more than enough for his label bosses, but it would be kind of disappointing if it remains so when his album rolls around. For now though it’s genuinely enough to drop a major release that sounds this commandingly singular.

4 out of 5