Travis Scott - Rodeo (Deluxe)

 

Travis Scott

Rodeo (Deluxe)

2015

Travis Scott may be one of the most bipolar artists in Hip Hop today. On his new full album Rodeo He is at the same time intensely prolific, sensitive and in touch while also being overly bombastic, drug addled and repetitive. This album has so many different points of view that latching on to one can either mean you love this record or you absolutely hate it. He leaves no room for any kind of middle ground. First and foremost; this record feels and is so so long. "3500" which is actually one of the better tracks (due in part to collaborations with Future and 2 Chainz more than Scott himself) tops out at almost eight minutes long, most of which is just repeating the same trap lines over and over. It becomes infuriating when listening to the Deluxe version because it seems never ending. His beats throughout the album are soft to say the least, none of these will be rocking any subs anytime soon. Scott seems to take a page out of 808s & Heartbreak in his beat selection, which has the same weak effect on both the lyrics and the beats. His collaborations alone should elevate the album, but it all just ends up sounding exactly the same. Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Toro y Moi, 2 Chainz, Future and The Weekend is not even the full list of the artists on this album, but none of them shine or elevate Scott. Most just fall flat. 

Scott also seems to float between the message of get high, get money and understand and experience life two philosophies that often to flow together all to well. When He is attempting to describe his reality and put a message to it He sounds great, it works. When He is flexing or talking about how many percocets He can shove in his mouth it is completely uninteresting. People have done that and done that better than He can, so why try? There just is so much that is trying to be something on this record, that it really ends up being a bunch of nothing. It seems like Scott is more focused on being a part of the industry and being a name more than making music that really matters or means something, a problem that often comes with the younger vibe rappers. Rodeo just isn't worth it, don't waste the massive amount of time this album will take you to get through. 

3 out of 10