UTOPIA

“UTOPIA” is Travis Scott’s fourth solo album and the biggest album of 2023, so I wanted to revisit it.

My biggest fear with this record was that it would be “ASTROWORLD” leftovers the same way “Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight” was from “Rodeo” the time between his past work was huge and how Travis’ managed himself to collaborate with big brands leaved a great space to experiment and expand his sound, but in the meantime the festival tragedy happened, and the creative direction of the project was radically changed. The easy way to remain and please everybody would be to leave the ambition behind and stay to a bland sound, and with the lead single “K-POP” that way seemed more apparent, but fortunately, Travis didn’t took that way.

“UTOPIA” is a dark attraction, it combines the psychedelic sounds of his previous albums and the rawness of his early mixtapes, he sounds more hungry than ever, the intro “HYENA” is a great example for that, it kicks off the album in a very strong note, the heavy boom bap beat is hunting and dark, Travis is rapping like he didn’t make it on this one, it sounds ambitious while staying on earth, the Mike Dean’s outro makes to an amazing transition to the next cut “THANK GOD” which shows the psychedelic side of the record on its first part, where Travis and KayCyy flow intoxicatingly over this detailed trap beat, it’s catchy and intriguing, the song’s second part is introduced with this smooth transition to a finesse violin that leaves space to one of Travis’ most stunning verses of the record, pure gold. The following track “MODERN JAM” is another highlight, the beat: amazing, futuristic and vibrant, Travis develops verses with some cheesy lines but a lot of personality! But not as much as his guest Teezo Touchdown, which impresses with his appearance. The track-list continues its streak with “MY EYES” that may be the best song of the record, its first part remind me of some Frank Ocean, specifically the track “Nikes”, Justin Vernon, Sampha and Travis add beautiful melodies over this heavenly beat whose transition to a more heavenly moment on the record, where Travis gives the best verse on the album, is impressive, he sounds hungry, passionate and experimented, I’m impressed, I was never that impressed since “Rodeo” and that’s saying a lot. The track-list starts taking shape with “GOD’S COUNTRY” and later on “PARASAIL” the first one is a reflect of what Travis is, the track is psychedelic, raw and dark, while the second one doesn’t add anything to the album. The highlights don’t stop there, “SIRENS” is another example of Travis’ hunger in the record, the beat is hunting and raw, while Travis is just delivering verses full of energy, it feels like he cannot be stopped, the song ends on this interlude in which Drake makes a little appearance before the track “MELTDOWN” that for its feature and structure reminds a lot of “SICKO MODE”, but now darker, the production is stellar, Drake’s feature is amazing just as every other section of the track, the song is a banger, even though it feels like a less impactful moment compared to its referent. Speaking of great collaborators for Travis, Playboi Carti makes a great appearance on “FE!N” a song that takes these two in an amazing beat where they show their personalities at full. With the time this track grew off me, the hook is a little beat annoying and they shine more as performers on songs like “Love Hurts” or their next collaboration “BACKR00MS”, even though, it stills sound great. “DELRESTO” is another track that grew off with me, it feels more unnecessary than ever, even if each section of it is amazing, it doesn’t feel cohesive (just like “SKIZTO”), the vocals and performances are great, but you cannot expect less from Beyoncé and Justin Vernon. Eventually things pick up from there, with the song “I KNOW ?” which is a moody trap banger, the flows are so tight and the sound of the track is so rich. The following “TOPIA TWINS” is just 🥱💤😴. Moving on, “CIRCUS MAXIMUS” is another highlight, it takes me back to “Pray 4 Love” back there in “Rodeo” where Travis had fire verses but The Weeknd presence on the track could be more apparent, the opposite occurs here, The Weeknd feature is bright and beautiful, while Travis sounds a little bit washed. The last portion of the track-list remains as consistent as the first one, “LOST FOREVER” and “LOOOVE” are raw and dark, their beats and features are some of the best on the whole record. In the final moments of the album “TELEKINESIS” shines as one of the most beautiful tracks, the melodies on the verses and especially on the chorus are amazing, Future and SZA’s contributions to the track are unbelievable good, it’s an ethereal moment on the album. To finish things up there’s “TIL FURTHER NOTICE” which is my favorite song on the album, James Blake’s soulful vocals leave me speechless, Travis’ verse at the back end of the song is amazing, the dark ride of “UTOPIA” ends in a strong note.

This album is great, Travis expands his own horizons and as always he expands trap as a genre even further, further enough to say “trap” is getting small of an etiquette for “UTOPIA” and Travis.

fav tracks: HYENA, THANK GOD, MODERN JAM, MY EYES, GOD’S COUNTRY, SIRENS, MELTDOWN, FE!N, I KNOW ?, CIRCUS MAXIMUS, LOST FOREVER, LOOOVE, TELEKINESIS and TIL FURTHER NOTICE
least fav track: K-POP