Album Review: Travis Scott’s "Astroworld" Takes Hip-Hop to Infinity and Beyond

Hip-hop’s most melodic rapper becomes a famous dad—and a starman—on Astroworld.

Travis Scott opens his third solo album, Astroworld, with the spellbinding "Stargazing". You’d be forgiven for thinking he was just singing about the view from the Kardashians’ dinner table.

The 26-year-old Houston rapper became an unlikely tabloid figure this past year, when it was revealed he was the father of Kylie Jenner’s baby, Stormi. He’s now the second Kardashian-Jenner beau to release a record in 2018, but unlike that of his almost-half-brother-in-law Kanye West, Travis’ effort isn’t myopic at all.

"Stargazing" may be about the whiplash of Scott’s instant mega-fame (coming after 2016’s excellent, slow-burn-seller Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight), yet sonically it establishes the wide expanse of his album’s intentions. Named for a demolished theme park from his hometown, Astroworld looks backwards, forwards and then upwards. "This right here is astronomical," he sings, and he’s right.

(Coarse language warning.)

Scott has recruited a murderers’ row of producers (including actual Murda Beatz) and guests for Astroworld, in a manner reminiscent of Kanye West’s epic, trade-the-mic party album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It oscillates between dreamy cuts and chopped and screwed slow grinds. Scott’s most disorienting trick is cutting-off songs midway and repositioning guests in unexpected places. Combined, it’s the aural equivalent of taking a pendulum ride without the safety bar down.

On second track, "Carousel", Travis and Frank Ocean float along the amusement park under the influence. On "Sicko Mode", Drake and Swae Lee are tagged in and out while the late Notorious B.I.G. and Big Hawk deliver ad-libs from beyond the grave over Halloween-themed beats. James Blake and Stevie Wonder—on the harmonica—contribute to the haunting, humanising, ego-killing standout, "Stop Trying to be God". A few songs later, on "Skeletons", Australia’s own Tame Impala sends Travis into space, as he recounts how he met Jenner, painting it as an intergalactic venture beyond time itself. It’s a bit romantic, even if it houses Scott’s worst sex puns. (He and Ye have that in common.)

The gear-shifting between nostalgic, spacey singles and menacing dirges continues over Astroworld’s 17 tracks, from the villainous "5% Tint" to the free-form confessional closer "Coffee Bean". Scott gives fast-talking newcomer Don Toliver a star-making platform on "Can’t Say", and then saves the catchiest hook for himself on track 16, "Houstonfornication", which is saying something, given Travis’ ear for melody. And though it’s easy to mock Scott’s puns—"This s*** way too formal/ y’all know I don’t follow suit"—his evocative language—"I feel it creeping/ controlling how you moving, lucid dreaming"—is pretty much peerless, and he so happily detunes and pitches-up his vocals to emphasise it.

Astroworld is a Houston hip-hop album, a light-headed sci-fi story, and a memoir of Travis Scott’s very specific moment in the sun. It also has more heady highlights than any other rap release this year. To quote Hunter S. Thompson (referenced on Scott's collaborative 2017 album with Quavo): Buy a ticket, take the ride.

4/5

Astroworld is now available.

(Coarse language warning.)

Header Image: Epic