Hard bass and 808s, smooth piano melodies, the trademark Travis Scott autotune, and even a tie-fighter, the gem and future classic album Scott released in July of 2023, Utopia, is already considered by the rap community as the album of the year. In 2018, the people of the world didn’t think rap could improve after Travis Scott’s release of Astroworld. With hits like Sicko Mode, Stargazing, and Butterfly Effect, having a cumulative 3.7 billion streams on Spotify and climbing, it was thought that Travis couldn’t improve his art further than this. Then we got Utopia, and the whole world was captivated after their first listen.
Most of the tracks on the album feature extremely experimental and stylistic beats which create a refreshing feeling in the ears of the listener along with a collective of futuristic and mysterious feelings within its composition. Sure, it may take a few listens to appreciate these new sounds and their artistic significance, but once you do, it is clear that Utopia is the greatest album of experimental exploration since the release of Yeezus by Kanye West (Ye) in 2013.
This connection fits too, with the fact that pieces from Ye’s artistic mind can be heard within Utopia, with production credits on “TELEKINESIS” along with his adlib at 3:35 on “SKITZO”. It’s not surprising that two of the greatest rap artists of this generation were able to produce an album of this caliber, especially if one of them has succeeded in this field of innovation before.
Ye isn’t the only artist to contribute to this project, however. Utopia contains features by artists such as Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyoncé, The Weeknd, and even comedian Dave Chappelle. If bringing in this group of independent stars wasn’t hard enough, Scott was able to achieve quality collaboration in his attempt to paint his image, and painted it well. Throughout the tracklist, it’s clear the range of emotion in Travis Scott's arsenal. The vibe can vary from a song such as “PARASAIL”, with its soothing acoustic melody and soft vocals, to a song like “FE!N”, basically a call to mosh. He even switches the tone of the song midway through the track, going from another soothing ballad sung by Lil Yachty at the beginning of “MY EYES”, to a faster adrenaline-boosting verse by Travis Scott that makes you feel like you are speeding down the freeway towards adventure.
This album combines perfect experimentalism in its well-crafted beats and rhythms, with Travis Scott's ability to produce emotion in his art while still making a song that everyone will rock with at a party. It’s this mixture that when blended, makes what I would consider to be a perfect album.
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