Utopia is the most hyped-up and talked-about album in the past year. It is the 4th studio album of the well-known rapper that goes by name Travis Scott, with his recent projects being Rodeo, Birds in the Trap Mckight, and the fan favorite Astroworld. Taking over a 5-year break from releasing music and going quiet after the tragic incident at Astrofestival, people had high expectations for this album. They questioned if it would live up to the hype. Well, today, we break that question down. Was it worth the wait and publicity, and will it be the album of the year?
Taking a look at the album, we have 19 tracks with hidden features. The track names consist of HYEANA, THANK GOD, MODERN JAM, MY EYES, GODS COUNTRY, SIRENS, MELTDOWN, FE!N, DELRESTO (ECHOES), I KNOW?, TOPIA TWINS, CIRCUS MAXIMUS, SKITZO, LOST FOREVER, LOOVE, K-POP, TELEKENISIS, and finally TILL FURTHER NOTICE. The hidden features are well distributed throughout the album and contrast very beautifully with the sounds Travis goes for. The most memorable features of the album are PlayboiCarti, Teezo Touchdown, Kid Cudi, Rob 49, and the most notable feature, Beyonce. Travis uses his features as artists and instruments, making them blend very well with the music. He has a vision of the way he wants to use these features and makes them not just sound good together but go into areas that are uncomfortable but make it work. The performance of the features on this album is well-balanced and plays an essential role in making the album come together. The features of this album get an “Amazing” rating.
Moving on to the performance of Travis himself. Travis approached this album with a different vision, wanting to produce a different type of music other than just trap, which at the time was very dry. This is most noticeable just right off the start of the album with HYEANA. He uses different types of instruments that seem very odd but make them contrast very well together. His rapping style throughout the album was excellent, and you can see where he wants to switch things around a bit. In the song MODERN JAM, Travis raps over an old-school beat in sections where he is clear and others where he is more muffled. On a piece like MY EYES, he starts very slow but then brings the listener in by rapping non-stop for a whole minute and 5 seconds straight. During this song, he talks about the AstroFestival, quoting, “I replay them nights, and right by my side, all I see is a sea of people that ride wit’me, If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child, the things I created became the most wieghted, I gotta find balance and keep me inspired.” He is showing sympathy and regret for what happened that night, telling people that he would jump off the stage if he just knew that someone needed help. Travis’s performance gets an “Amazing” rating.
Lastly, there is the album’s production, which is the best part of the whole album. The exhibition is so different and so addicting that it keeps on making the listener want to listen to more. He gathers very different and weird beats, instruments, and sounds that don’t sound good on their own, but he composes them together, and they sound beautiful. On the song GODS COUNTRY, he raps over a very evil/scary beat that continues to say “LALALALALALA,” which sounds weird at first, but the more you listen, the more it sounds good with how Travis raps over it. Many songs on the album have multiple beat switches, and even on a song like SKITZO, there are four-beat switches, which is insane, but he makes it work, and not once during the song you are bored. The production of this album gets a “Perfect” rating.
Overall, the album lived up to the hype and will be the album of the year. Only a few albums have dropped this year, and they don’t compete with this album. Utopia has diversity, which makes anyone like at least one song on the album. Travis took his time to master his work and give us a very well-made album yet again. People won’t like the album because they aren’t willing to give it a chance and listen to it for what it’s for. The album isn’t just an album you take certain songs from; it is a whole artwork, a complete album. Only a few artists want to put in the work to make something different from what they’re used to and are afraid to take that step. Travis is the first to take this step, and it will cause a whole new level of trap. If one man can make a new trend into a trap, it will be Travis Scott.
