Rodeo is the first solo album from Houston rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer Travis Scott. It was released on September 4th, 2015, so it’s reaching its 10 year anniversary soon. I was in high school when this album came out and during that time I had only heard three songs from the album all of which I really enjoyed, which I will dive into more detail. Travis has easily had one of the most fascinating careers in hip hop, as he’s always reinventing himself somewhat, while also sticking to his own signature vibe. Anyways, here are my thoughts.

    I will preface this by getting this point out of the way, Travis is by no means a technical or super lyrical rapper. His music is meant to feel like an experience for the listener. He’s got solid lyrical talent and his flows are tight and concise, and I really like his usage of autotune and other various vocal effects. I really like his hedonistic flow on the first track, “Pornography.” Despite what many view as lyrical shortcomings, Travis manages to tell a very engaging story about his rise to fame on “Oh My Dis Side,” as his mom basically kicked him out of the house and made him find a career, he chose to pursue a career in hip hop. Quavo’s feature is a strong addition, as well. Next, we have the lead single off the album, “3500,” featuring Future and 2 Chainz. The title of the track refers to a $3,500 dollar coat worn by Kim Kardashian, as this track was originally intended for Kanye West’s scrapped album, So Help Me God. I love the bass and snare heavy production from Travis and Metro Boomin. Travis not only rapped/sang on this record, he also handled a lot of the production. It’s easily one of my favorite tracks on the record as I love the beat and Future’s verse especially, even if it is really long at nearly 8 minutes. I really liked the Pimp C sample on the song, “Wasted,” which features Juicy J, even if the subject matter, like a lot of the album, is mostly just about being drunk and high. Following that, is another strong track in “90210,” featuring Kacy Hill, which according to Travis, is his favorite song on the album. Kacy Hill’s vocals are haunting, and Travis goes from singing about pornstars in Beverly Hills to turning the page to himself and how drugs and fame have affected not only him but his family and those he’s close with. I really liked the samples of “Intinerario Romantic,” by The Blue Sharks and “Family Business,” by Kanye. 

   The religious symbolism of the track, “Pray 4 Love,” featuring The Weeknd, is executed very well, and I actually think it’s one of Travis’ strongest lyrical performances on this album as even with a few weak lines, he’s still talking about the destructive nature of alcohol and drugs when tied to fame, as well as police brutality. The Weeknd’s vocal performance is strong on this song as well. “Nightcrawler,” featuring Swae Lee and Chief Keef is another one of my favorite tracks on the record, I really like the production on it and the hook is extremely catchy, as well. And while it’s not really important in the whole grand scheme of things, “Nightcrawler,” is a fucking cool name for a track. Following that is another banger of a track, featuring Kanye West (before he was a Nazi scumbag), “Piss On Your Grave.” I love the bluesy guitars and underwater sounding synths, as well as Travis and Kanye’s aggressive no fucks given verses. It was actually intended to be on Kanye’s 2016 record The Life of Pablo as well as featuring Sir Paul McCartney, but Travis requested to have this song in exchange for Kanye using “FML,” instead. The Yeezus influence is clearly visible on this track both vocally and instrumentally. After that, we continue with bops, to probably my favorite track on the entire record, “Antidote.” It was one of my favorite songs back in 2015, along with “Nightcrawler,” “Piss On Your Grave,” and “3500.” And sure, lyrically it’s just about popping pills, smoking weed, and partying I don’t care, the plodding guitars, heavy synths and hard-hitting trap drums as well as Travis’ psychedelic vocal melody, make it a standout on this record, and cemented Travis Scott as an exciting new figure in hip hop in the process. “Impossible,” lyrically is a nice change of pace, but I feel like instrumentally it’s weaker than the other tracks on this record. It’s by no means a bad track, as I really liked Travis getting introspective and using the line “Nights like this I wish I could do the impossible.” It’s a double meaning, as he’s speaking about nights where he feels alone, wishing he could do anything he wants when it comes to alcohol and drugs, which is impossible, and replacing the girl he loved which is also impossible. “Maria I’m Drunk,” featuring Young Thug and Justin Bieber, is a two-part trap song, which surprisingly enough features Bieber rapping and it’s actually pretty fire. The first part, “Maria,” is weed personified as a girl, while the second part, “I’m Drunk,” is pretty straightforward. After “Antidote,” I have to say, the rest of the album is mostly solid, but definitely not as consistent and strong as tracks 1 through 9 are. “Flying High,” featuring Toro y Moi, really sticks out like a sore thumb in the grand scheme of the album as sonically it just really doesn’t fit with the grand presentation of the album. “I Can Tell,” has pretty simple production, but it’s catchy and anthemic, and I like how Travis provides visually fascinating stories about his life before fame and I like the “made it out the wood,” line, especially. His rags-to-riches story is a nice change of pace from the majority of the subject matter on the record, and I love Mike Dean’s guitar solo at the end. The final track, “Apple Pie,” talks about the ruthlessness of the music industry, using apple pie as a metaphor, saying achieving dreams isn’t as sweet as his mother’s apple pie. I like the piano heavy instrumental, and the self-awareness Travis displays on this track.

    For a debut record from a then 24 year old, Rodeo both vocally and sonically sounds like a record made by a seasoned veteran. The features on this record are phenomenal, but Travis clearly shines and isn’t outdone by his features at all. He holds his own very well, and the fact that he not only singing, rapping, but also handling much of the production was nothing short of impressive. It’s not uncommon, but his sound truly stood out in a crowded field of hip hop in 2015. He wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel or do what everyone else was doing, rather he was trying to make something that would put him on the level of a Kanye West or Kid Cudi, and something that would truly last the test of time. That being said, it’s a strong album, but tracks 11 through 14 are sort of inconsistent. The only really bad track on this record is “Flying High,” all the other songs are good to great, and “Maria I’m Drunk,” is very overrated. That being said, I liked this album in high school, and I still enjoy it immensely today.

Overall Score: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: “Antidote,” “3500,” “Pornography,” “Pray 4 Love,” “Nightcrawler,” “Piss On Your Grave,”

Least Favorite Tracks: “Flying High,” “Maria I’m Drunk,”

Listen: https://youtu.be/KnZ8h3MRuYg?si=YF4-lCtAtO31Fl3c

Genres: Hip Hop/Trap/Southern Hip Hop/Neo-Psychedelia