“Utopia”, an Album by Travis Scott
8.0 / 10
Water movin’ fast, washin’ memories, tryna make it last.
Originally published August 15th, 2023
By the time the UTOPIA briefcase was first spotted, the expectations for Travis Scott’s fourth studio album were off the charts. Devoted fans from the ASTROWORLD era and before were ready for the same upbeat trap beats and autotuned swagger they’d become accustomed to. Yet while Travis always delivers on production value, his route this time around was a bit unexpected. The Houston native’s projects aren’t necessarily the go-tos when looking for storytelling or deep lyricism, however, UTOPIA’s nineteen tracks manage a tale of moving forward. The sounds are vibrant, melodic, rooted in psychedelia. While a few tracks pander to the fans of the 2018 hit, the majority signal a new light in Travis’s eyes. UTOPIA is not ASTROWORLD, and while the rapper discusses the difficulties and fears of moving on from such a successful period of his life, the album beautifully accentuates the growth that comes from leaving the past in the past.
The album kicks off by sampling British progressive rock band Gentle Giant’s “Proclamation”, a sharp sign that the influences here are a bit different from the Travis we’ve come to know. However, the lyrics are as braggy as ever, aware of the fame and fortune he’s amassed and setting himself up for what looks like a perfect life, a utopia of sorts. But utopias are notorious for being ultimately unreachable, and it’s George Clinton’s outro that further sets the tone for a contradictory, dystopian tale laced with hard work, hard lows, and notes of LSD. “For I knew I had to rise above it all or drown in my own shit.”
From the top of the album to the bottom, you see Travis using different songs sprinkled meticulously throughout to cover up a life full of internal conflict with images of grandeur, fun, and filth. “FE!N” brings the amped up energy of ASTROWORLD without discussing much personal information; “MODERN JAM” depicts a man on top (or “outta space”) with one of the best features on the whole project from Teezo Touchdown and not a thing to keep either of them down; “LOST FOREVER” brings out Westside Gunn, The Alchemist, and a couple of gritty, coked up triple entendres to remind everyone his lines are strictly designer. Yet, despite the distraction tactics, Travis Scott is caught in a struggle between past and present and it ravages the entire project.
Two things are happening at once: a personal relationship of his is struggling yet he can’t seem to let go, and the success from his previous work makes it hard for him to move on to a new sound.
“MY EYES” starts out with dreamy production full of light synths and a very minimal drum track. It marks the beginning of the end of a personal relationship, as Travis finds himself busy with his career and giving less time to his partner. Lines that indicate his wealth and success in music detract from his focus on his partner, as they make it seem as though monetary wealth is more important than the emotional connection between the two. He keeps repeating bars about how much money he has or is making while it’s Sampha, short, sweet, and stunning, who sings the most romantic words in the song.
In track nine, “DELRESTO (ECHOES)”, Beyonce’s surprise feature is a sonic compliment to Travis’s message. With production reminiscent of the house sounds of her Grammy award winning album RENAISSANCE, the two duel over the idea of being stuck in one phase of their lives. Echoes from the past follow them in love and life making it hard for them to break free and create something new. Then, in the following track, the rapper blatantly reaches for that echo, for the familiar. His vices are put on display as he struggles to figure out what he’s doing with his life and continues in this harmful cycle with love.
Perhaps the most interesting and risky song on UTOPIA appears about two thirds of the way through. “PARASAIL” is a hazy, psychedelic rock inspired hallucination. The autotune, paired with Don Toliver’s vocals layered behind Travis’s own tired delivery, create this effect of longing and regret so strong it suffocates the listener. You can’t help being consumed by his helplessness in saving his failing relationship. Sampling “Drug Song” by Dave Bixby and interpolating Burton Cumming’s “Stand Tall”, the song is a struggle to fight for something that is already slipping through his fingers. It’s a beautiful addition to the album, and something that is truly exciting to have been done by an artist like Travis.
In terms of his struggle with his personal sound, the album itself displays this conflict. While it’s clear he wanted to experiment with something new, several songs fall a little short as they feel as though they were simply left off the tracklist of his previous record. Drake was clean on “MELTDOWN” with a whispery delivery that was inherently aggressive and enticing at the same time. However, it’s hard to ignore the production switch up halfway through that eerily mimics another from their massive hit “SICKO MODE”. Now, having amassed nearly two billion plays on Spotify, it makes sense that they would try to follow that formula, I’d only hoped it wouldn’t have been so jarringly obvious. “SKITZO” also features a consistent Travis Scott collaborator in Young Thug, as well as four beat switches and not much to show for it. While the song isn’t wholly inspired by his previous album, echoes of the past can be seen in the production and flows that make the six minute song a bit convoluted. Finally, “TOPIA TWINS” definitively falls into the ASTROWORLD inspired trap, the chorus being the most interesting piece of the song with verses and production that are otherwise repetitive and forgettable.
The outro to the album may as well happen twice in both tracks 18 and 19. The former provides an ending to his struggle with finding a new sound, while the latter attempts to bring closure to his burned relationship. With production credits from Ye, the backdrop of “TELEKINESIS” sounds like a trip through galaxies. It’s grand, decisive, polished, with orchestral and machine sounds meshed so well it feels eerily natural. The verses from Future and SZA are as sure as Travis, confident in their context. All three musicians know the future they want and how to get it, it’s only a matter of moving the right pieces to get there. Something has finally clicked in Travis’s musical journey, and the result is a song both otherworldly and familiar. “TIL FURTHER NOTICE” is just as stunning in its musicality but less sure about the future. James Blake and 21 Savage shine on the final track, both artists regretful and reluctant over the ending of relationships that they themselves destroyed and can no longer get back. Travis’s final thoughts are ambiguous. While the relationship remains imperfect, he’s decided that the comfort in familiarity is worth both the good and the bad and that no ending is permanent.
It’s my opinion that UTOPIA would have been perfect with seven less tracks, but that would have completely defeated Travis’s point in its creation. Utopias aren’t real. It’s clear that the last five years have been spent painstakingly orchestrating its sound to carry over some of the roots his fans will recognize while also introducing them to a craft he genuinely enjoys. And the least interesting tracks being those with musical tropes Travis has used before truly embodies the necessity to leave the past in the past in order to continue moving forward. Maybe he didn’t mean for it to come off as a perfectly imperfect album, but even so, what he’s created works well as an all inclusive bundle. It certainly isn’t the most experimental hip hop album by any means, but it’s fascinating to see someone known for songs like “90210” drop a track as slow and full as “PARASAIL”. If his interests keep evolving down this sonic path, no one will be able to guess the sound of a Travis Scott album again.