Widely known as La Flame, this globally renowned artist is unarguably, one of the wildest and most polarising figures in the music industry. Known for hits like ‘Antidote’, ‘Pick Up the Phone’, ‘goosebumps’ amongst several others, this talented rapper/producer has steadily changed the face of hip-hop music in recent years. And as you might have probably guessed by now, we’re indeed talking about the one and only Travis Scott. Hailing from Houston, Texas, the supremely talented act has undeniably secured his spot as one of the genre’s leading names. So without further ado, let’s welcome our Artist of the Month for August 2018, Travis Scott.
Lesser known as Jacques Berman Webster II, Travis witnessed a humble beginning during his early years as he kicked off his career as a record producer. With listeners from around the world having got to know the energetic and electrifying personality of Travis in recent years, some of his earliest works include projects as part of his former groups, The Graduates and The Classmates.
His first big breakthrough came in 2012 as he signed his first major deal with Epic Records before going on to join Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music imprint and become a part of its production wing, Very GOOD Beats. Soon after, Travis earned production credits for multiple tracks off their Cruel Summer compilation. Come 2013, he finally released his debut mixtape, ‘Owl Pharaoh’ which was led by singles like ‘Blocka La Flame’, ‘Quintana’ and ‘Upper Echelon’.
As Travis Scott quickly began to garner traction within the hip-hop industry, he returned to action in 2014 with his second mixtape, ‘Days Before Rodeo’ which arrived as a prelude to his highly anticipated debut album, ‘Rodeo’. Housing hit singles like ‘Skyfall’ featuring Young Thug, ‘Don’t Play’ alongside Big Sean and The 1975 amongst others, Travis had gotten people talking around the globe. With his eclectic production work and signature rapping style which highlighted his latest body of work, listeners had already started looking forward to the release of ‘Rodeo’.
And come September 2015, fans were finally treated to a masterful debut full length by Travis which helped him become an artist to truly watch out for. Boasting of collaborations with the likes of Justin Bieber, Kanye West, The Weeknd and many more, ‘Rodeo’ certainly proved to be a successful release for the young star, led by singles like ‘Antidote’ and ‘3500’.
In the post-Rodeo era, Webster served up singles like ‘A-Team’, ‘Wonderful’ featuring The Weeknd and ‘RaRa’ with Lil Uzi Vert, all of which quickly went on to become a hit amongst listeners. 2016 saw him deliver his sophomore LP, ‘Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight’ which also boasted of his platinum hit, ‘Pick Up the Phone’ with Young Thug and Quavo alongside ‘goosebumps’ featuring Kendrick Lamar, ‘Beibs in the Trap’ with NAV and several others. Moreover, the album also turned out to be the first #1 album of Travis’ career.
As we quickly shift our focus back to Travis Scott’s career as a producer, it holds up to be equally illustrious, having worked with the likes of some of today’s biggest A-list artists namely Jay-Z, Rihanna, Madonna, Drake, John Legend amongst others. With production credits on humongous hits like ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’, ‘Company’ and many more, Travis surely lets his work do all the talking.
Photo Credit: Sunjay Kohli
2017 proved to be yet another stellar year for the Houston rapper as he went on to embark on his second headlining tour called ‘Birds Eye View’, besides launching his own imprint, Cactus Jack Records. With a string of releases which followed soon after, including tracks like ‘Butterfly Effect’, ‘A Man’, ‘Green & Purple’ alongside Playboi Carti, ‘Lens’ with Frank Ocean and even his hit collaboration with Drake for ‘Portland’, Travis surely was in no mood to slow down.
Appearing on several hit tracks by Major Lazer, SZA, Miguel, 2 Chainz and Trippie Redd as a featured artist, Travis was literally all over the place in 2017. Later that year, fans of Quavo and Travis Scott were also blessed with their highly awaited collaborative album, ‘Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho’.
With 2018 currently underway, the highly rated act has stayed busy inside the studio prepping up his third album, and quite possibly his biggest till date, ‘Astroworld’. Having released a single, ‘Watch Me’ featuring Lil Uzi Vert and Kanye West off the upcoming LP, the countdown is already set in place for the album’s release. With all eyes on August 3rd, 2018, fans of Travis Scott, both new and old have been waiting for this moment. Named after an amusement park which the rapper used to visit as a kid in Texas, ‘Astroworld’ promises to be one of the biggest releases of the year.