How many hip hop artists have you heard of that have produced their own music, created their own cereal line, merch line, Jordan’s and even their own music festival? Can’t think of many? Well, one name that is for sure to pop up in most heads is Travis Scott.
TIMELINE
Much like all great rappers, Travis Scott, found his calling at an early age and began making music when he was just a teenager. In 2009 young Travis Scott, formed a duo called The Graduates with friend Chris Holloway, and later that year released what would be Scott’s first ever EP. Travis Scott attended The University of Texas at San Antonio, but later dropped out, moved to Los Angeles and began recording music on his own. It wasn’t until 2010 that he became a well-known name in the rap world; he was best known for his heavily auto-tuned half-sung/half-rapped vocal style. Moving forward, in 2012 Travis served as co-producer, and featured artist on Kanye West’s Cruel Summer. In a way Kanye was one of the first people to open doors for young Travis Scott, which is why at Astroworld 2019, Travis welcomed Kanye to the stage saying, “I just want to say something real quick, um this mother f***** gave me a chance, he rolled the dice on me, he taught me almost everything I mother f****** know to this day, so I want Houston to shut this mother f***** down. Let’s go!” Thanks to the chance Kanye took on Travis, Travis then had an opening to make a name for himself. In 2014 he released his first studio album, Days Before Rodeo, which includes his hit single Mamacita. Following albums include: Rodeo (2015), Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight (2016), Days Before Birds (2016) and Astroworld (2018). According to Forbes magazine, Travis “parlayed the success of his brand and multi-platinum album Astroworld into collaborations with Nike, a Super Bowl performance, a Netflix documentary, and his own music festival.”
My Astroworld Experience
Astroworld has become a top competitor in the artist-curated festival market. Its ticket sales have outpaced other single-day festivals hosted this year, such as, Pharrell’s Something In The Water and Post Malone’s Posty Fest. Having said that, I was lucky enough to attend this new, popular music festival and witness some of today’s most popular rappers perform live. But, don’t be fooled by the pictures I posted on my Instagram of me smiling at the festival, for it is a fight to get into the gates, and closer to the stage. My friends decided that even though the festival gates didn’t open till noon, we should arrive at 8:30 a.m. and boy, let me tell you, it was crazy. At about 9 a.m. I saw a group of boys pull out a stop sign from the ground! At that moment I knew I was in for a treat- oh and I was. Thirty minutes later everyone started rushing to the gates (when it wasn’t even close to opening time), but hey I guess that’s how ragers do it! While everyone was running, I was pushed against a railing and fell. I was so embarrassed and thought “wow it would be me to fall in our friend group”, little did I know two of my guy friends had fell along with me. I had already experienced a great amount of what it means to be a hard core rager at only 9:30 a.m. Anyways, fast-forward to inside the festival, my friend Dionne, and I waited in the merch line for 3 hours! At the merch line not only did they sell your typical hoodies and tees, they went as far as selling Travis Scott lighters! Talk about the rise of Travis Scott! Finally at the stage, I got to see a number of artists such as Shek Wes, DaBaby, Playboi Carti, Migos, Young Thug, Pharrell, Travis and my favorite Kanye West! Nevertheless, after 12+ hours of being pushed, standing, and sweating I wouldn’t take it back! I not only got to see some of the best rappers today, but I got to be a part of a monumental festival that changed the game for other rappers trying to follow in Travis’ steps.
As you can tell, Travis Scott’s influence in not only the rap world, but the music industry has marked new highs. The driven boy from Houston, now has 4 BET awards, an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation, 1 Teen Choice award and a Billboard Music award for Top Streaming Song (Audio). Travis has dominated all he’s taken on, but some may argue it’s still early in his career, so I can’t help but wonder: what’s next for La Flame?
I’m not into just one thing; I always felt like I had to have my hand in everything revolving around what I do, whether it’s directing videos, making beats, making music, performing.
Travis Scott
Brooklyn Lailani 