Since the debut of his first studio album, Travis Scott has built his reputation as one of the current generation’s most versatile and influential artists. With his unique flow and charismatic voice, he quickly took the rap world by storm. “ASTROWORLD,” one of Scott’s biggest career-boosting albums, stayed on the Billboard charts for 43 weeks in 2018, proving how distinguished he is as an artist.
Half a decade later, Scott returns with “Utopia.” He starts off the album with “Hyaena,” an astonishing yet redeeming song that begins with a sample from “Proclamation,” a song by the British hit group, Little Giants: “The situation we are in at this time—neither a good one, nor is it so unblessed.” This lyric hints at the “ASTROWORLD” event in Houston, Texas on Nov. 5, 2021 that led to the death of 10 fans. Scott also refers to this event in the third track, “MY EYES,” where he states that he would have jumped off stage to save a child, specifically nine-year-old Ezra Brown. Brown was hospitalized and later passed away due to fatal injuries he suffered at the “ASTROWORLD” concert.
Shortly after “MY EYES,” Scott collaborates with Playboi Carti and Homixide Gang on “FE!N.” In this exhilarating song, the word “Fein” is repeated, which hints at the drug addiction that Scott suffers from. On the track “I KNOW ?,” Scott opens up to listeners about his struggles with drugs and the denial of addiction.
Scott finishes “Utopia” with “Telekinesis,” a song that gives the listener one final jumble of emotions before the album ends. Scott uses different aspects from the album to summarize what his “utopia” looks like. Scott clearly addresses the “ASTROWORLD” event in many of the songs on his album, but a question arises: is it enough for his fans to forgive the situation? The lack of apologies from Scott and his team make it seem like he was trying to brush off the situation. However, this mindset was quickly crushed with his release of “Utopia,” an album that focuses more on the fans’ love and support rather than tragedy.
