Introduction
One week shy of a full 5-year wait, Travis Scott has finally released his fourth studio album “Utopia”. Coming off the 2019 release of the “Jackboys” compilation album with his fellow Cactus Jack labelmates, Utopia was first teased in 2020 and was steadily hinted at throughout 2021. Utopia was described as being “psychedelic rock” by Travis himself, a concept that he had been working on “with new artists” while “attempting to expand his sound”, with Mike Dean referring to the album as something alike to Owl Pharaoh, Travis’ debut mixtape. Travis would tease many different tracks in 2022 and 2023, with songs being played at the Dior Summer 2022 show, the O2 Arena, club shows, Nike advertisements, and finally at his Rolling Loud performance this month. Guest appearances were teased earlier in the album's creation stage with artists wearing chains gifted by Travis, and more recently by artists being spotted with the so-called “Utopia Briefcase”. With a plethora of billboards, a full-length feature film, and an insane Europe concert run as promotion, the release of Utopia finally arrived on July 28th, after years of rumors and speculation.
Preface
I am writing this from the perspective of someone who considers Travis his favorite artist, the only artist I will buy merch from and attend concerts of and furiously defend online. That being said, this review might provide points of disagreement between myself and readers. You can skip to the end and read why I thought the album was underwhelming, or read the track-by-track reviews individually, which are color coded for positive/lukewarm/negative sentiment, and then see my closing thoughts.
Track Reviews
(1) Hyaena: The intro was a little strange, but the beat was the one first heard in the movie promo and I thought it was fire, I really liked it, so I enjoyed having this as the first song. Strong verses from Travis and a good song structure on top. Outro was also a little strange, but the synths wrapped up the first track nicely. It was a fine warm-up.
(2) Thank God: 10/10. Instantly started bopping my head when it began. KayCyy did his thing, his hook/chorus was pretty fire. I think the drums took a little too long to kick in, but that’s just a personal thing. When Travis yelled out “ohhhh” I legit felt electricity in my body, highlight of the album for me, I’ve not felt goosebumps like that in a really long time and I woke right up. Drums kicked in after this and my jaw dropped, it was incredible execution, a good verse was laid down right after, he started rapping his ass off here. Was kinda tethering not knowing when or how the song would end, but holy fuck. Song was brilliant, and I was amped up like hell.
(3) Modern Jam: I froze a little, didn't instantly like the beat coming off the two I had just heard, and I thought Kanye was gonna hop on and start rapping on this. The yelling parts were also not good for me, I understand the hype aspect of such an approach and how it specifically wanted to be heard on this song, I see the vision, but it did not work for me. I specifically recall liking the “pat me dowwwnnnn” lines, but they just kind of went to waste for me, I’m not gonna sit through this song just for two lines. By the end, I was a bigger fan of the beat, but still a weaker song for me, call me a white suburban kid or criticize my taste if you’d like, I stand by this. After several listens and watching the movie, where the song played like six times, it went from a 5 to a 6.5, it somehow improved with visuals, but still, I doubt I’m going to be revisiting this song a lot.
(4) My Eyes: Solid song. Intro thing was good, and I was starting to hope the entire song would sound like that. Clear Travis vocals came in tho, and they were high-pitched, so it kind of ruined what was just laid down. The verse fixed it though. Chorus was repeated, and I thought the song was finished, until it started picking up, FAST. Definitely liked this beat switch, it was very smooth, it glided, really. Travis started rapping his life off again, the head bopping came back, but my first listen was with no lyrics, just eyes closed in my bed so I had no fucking clue what he was saying half the verse, it was all auto-tuned “neuh neuh neuh” for a second there, but it still sounded great.
(5) God’s Country: Instant cut to this song. I thought for a second this was just a rip of his performances of the song due to the muffled “watching in” at the start lol, but then Travis started the little howling he does on this song and it was like I was hearing it for the first time again. Used to be a personal grail of mine, and it made me very happy to discover it had no features, I was wondering when Kanye would come in or if the Drake feature was somehow gonna be on this song lol. One-fourth of the album down, at this point I was excited because I was 4 for 5 so far. 9/10 at this point.
(6) Sirens: I felt like I had heard the beat somewhere before, I haven’t looked into it though. Regardless, the song is kinda good? I wanted more out of it, I don’t know in what way, but the second verse came very close to scratching that mental itch. I thought the song ended before the Drake hotel part, but I guess it’s on here. Makes zero sense to have that Drake part in there at the end. Def removing it, would have removed it anyways if it was on the next song. But going back to the song, production was pretty heat, I do feel like it came a bit short, just a tiny bit, I just can’t put it into words why. The song is fine.
(7) Meltdown: I will always find Drake silly talking about gang shit. I’m definitely making an edit without his part, I could not take it seriously, I did not even believe it was hard. Travis picked up very nicely, and laid down a much better verse in the second part. However, a SECOND beat switch occurred, and now I know this was just Sicko Mode Pt. 2. I mean, even the title, Meltdown, and the Drake feature, it’s just so obvious. Lost a bit of respect for what was just played in my ears, it seemed like a cash-grab, but the 2nd and 3rd part were hard nevertheless. This was more of a rap song than some of the songs before it, but even the fact that it's more “AUX-safe” did not help, I would have preferred Drake’s part removed because it was the slowest portion of the song, and this is a song that attempts to be harsh and hard-hitting. BPM wise, the second part is the slowest, but something about Drake’s verse made the first part feel weaker for me. Coming off a song named “Sirens” and now one called “Meltdown”, I was feeling a little let down by both the songs, they had hard titles that kinda went to waste, for I was eagerly waiting this album's version of Skeletons/RIP Screw and could not help but use the song titles as a guide.
(8) Fein: I do not like Carti. But this song. Absolutely hard. The intro before the hook was beautiful. No clue who was saying the “fein, fein” part, but I did not care at that moment. Could've been Jojo Siwa, Ken Carson, Fantano, I legit did not care who was on this song, I just knew it was just beautiful and wonderful and this was clearly a feature that meant something, I love when features get to work like this. Like I said I’m not the biggest fan of Carti and I easily dislike half of WLR, but this was such a fun song to listen to and I was surprised to know it was him the whole time. The beat was electric and wiggly. What did take me aback was the deep croaky voice, I didn’t like it and I just found out it was Carti as well, it’s odd but it’s not that big of a deal, song is still fire, and it brought me back to the album very nicely after being let down a little by Sirens + Meltdown.
(9) Delresto: For like the third time now, I thought Kanye was gonna appear. Beyonce’s feature was spoiled for me so I was instantly able to confirm it was her on this song, not that I couldn't tell. This really felt like a Beyonce song with a Travis feature on it, which is not necessarily bad but I came here for Travis. Anyways, great song, this is another textbook example of a feature getting to work and stunting shit for the listeners. The “walk-walk-walk” element was very catchy, a standout of the song, I just wish Travis was on the song more, his bridge left me yearning for more of him. Good song anyways, just didn't care for the outro. Also, watching it in the movie with the masked driver was stunning, best part of the movie for me, I needed that shit to be the music video.
(10) I Know: 10/10. Nothing else. This is what I came for. It’s not the most “utopian” or some mind-shattering shit, but it is a perfect song. It is a 10 out of 10.
HALFWAY POINT
After hearing Delresto and I Know back to back, I was at that moment back to being hyped as shit, I felt like Travis had a couple small hiccups (Modern Jam, Sirens, Meltdown) that could be ignored, but overall up to that point, the album was fantastic. The album is a 8/10 for now with the album half done, and I was anticipating a better, more polished half. Only one previewed song was present thus far, with only Till Further Notice and Lost Forever being present in the tracklist of the second half. Took five minutes and then came back for the second half.
(11) Topia Twins: Started okay, I thought it was a reworked Gold Blackberry for a second. I don’t know who the fuck Rob49 is, and with 21’s inclusion in this song, I immediately knew what type of song this was aiming for. Very tempted to remove 21 savage and Rob49 in an edit, or to even just skip this song. This is what you get when features are present but do not contribute to the song. The song would've been the same thing as a Travis solo, these features were fine and their verses were okay, whatever, but they did nothing to progress the song or add glimmer to it for me. Could’ve swapped in Thug, Lil Durk, Lil Baby, I don’t fucking know, take your pick, and it would've been the same exact thing. Worthless features. I would like to mention I am particularly biased against 21 as I have found his features to be extremely played out and repetitive, there has been zero innovation from the man. Regarding the song, it did not belong on an album named Utopia, this is like the WHO/WHAT of Astroworld (or NC-17, which also has 21 Savage in it…).
(12) Circus Maximus: I heard Swae Lee and got excited. Beat made me think yet AGAIN Kanye was gonna appear. Good verse from Travis, Weeknd is on it and it’s fine, the song is fine in general, I just don’t think I will be replaying this a lot, simply stated, there’s not enough in this to make me revisit it. Props to the last-minute-thirty-seconds, a very nice way to wrap up a song, I feel like this song would have been an excellent contender for what the final track of this album should have been. Production was fire. My complaint is that the Weeknd could have replaced Swae Lee at the start and the song would have been identical. Very gimmick-y to place Swae Lee in a song like that, felt like he deserved more.
(13) Parasail: 10/10. Haunting, sorrowful. Heard the guitar and instantly my ears perked up. I will cry to this one day, absolutely beautiful song, this is what I wanted from Utopia. Spoken parts were a little odd, they took me away from the song, that’s my main complaint. Going back to what I said about Swae Lee on Circus Maximus, I wish Yung Lean was allowed more room to do his thing. It is a truly sorry thing to witness, him finally being on the album just to have five lines.
(14) Skitzo: Hide Mine snippet was mid when I heard it, but this is much better sounding. 1st part isn’t some mind blowing shit, but it’s fine I guess, it might grow on me because it’s easier to get into than some of the other songs, but for now it is basic. The 2nd part is much stronger, and the 3rd part is EVEN more so. The 4th part was the best for me, so very slick and suave, I actually thought Don Toliver was going to come in here with some elegance and lay down work. A bit disappointed as the 4th part deserved its own song and was only a minute-twenty long, but the other parts were good. Regarding Young Thug, he was fine. But this track was very close to being a solid four-part solo Travis song, which would have been incredible, if Thug had been kept off. At this point, the album is 75% over, and standing at a 7.5/10, after being let down by Topia Twins, and a little let down by Circus Maximus and Skitzo. This track could have been 2 better songs with two parts in each, easily. Regardless, I really needed the album to pick up and give me something more psychedelic after hearing three snare-and-drum beats on the same song that followed the beauty of Parasail.
(15) Lost Forever: I’ve seen both arguments. “The beat switch makes Gunn’s verse better”, or “it makes it worse”, blah blah. I personally do agree and think the Gunn verse fits much better on a harsher beat rather than a soft, gentle beat. From day one I’ve said his “NEOOO SKRRTTT BRRMM” craziness does not belong on the Lost Forever beat. The second beat is fine, no problems with it. But that does not take away from the fact that the gentle part of the song should be a WHOLE song by ITSELF. The second part only tainted the essence of the song for me, hard verse/beat or not. I just waited for the song to be over. I already had made an edit for this song, will be revisiting that. Gunn should have just been placed on a different song if Travis wanted him so badly, and I would likely have less of a problem with it as well. This is the instance where I had a real problem with a beat-switch.
(16) LOOVE: Shock when I heard this. Never been a fan of the song but I always respected its grail status. Why it was on this album, no clue. I don’t like it. This is just me, I know everyone else loves it. Kid Cudi on it fit, I think. Thought Kanye would be on it, if anything. Still will not be replaying this one, neither Cudi or Travis convinced me to put this in my playlist.
(17) KPop: Was starting to get frustrated at this point. The album was closing out and the last good thing I had heard was the 4th part of Skitzo. Wasn’t a fan of this song when it released.
(18) Telekinesis: Eyes flew open in the worst way possible. I had held out hope that this song would be Vision or the space rage snippet. Nope. Fucking future sounds, another song I did not like. Reworked, sure, but still. The most “utopian” of all the songs, maybe, but still. Better than the original? Maybe, maybe not, but still. I sat up at this point and was like “fuck fuck fuck no no no”. This was basically the end of the album. The fact that it was yet AGAIN a Kanye song did not help my mood, this shit was absurd. I had now gone 5 songs straight with only one minute seconds of good material. Future was not welcome on the song at all. SZA was fine, but it will be a waste for me. I know y’all liked this one, feel free to flame me.
(19) Till Further Notice: Heard the leak, its great, eerie, whatever, but what the fuck man. 5 songs in a row with nothing. I couldn't believe it. I was so fucking pissed. Didn't even listen to this song properly, I instantly hopped online and screamed at my laptop realizing the album was over, and at this point I began looking at everyone’s reactions online.
Thoughts
I was initially really upset at how the album ended. The album basically ended for me back on track 14. One fourth of the album was recycled music, and some songs I just straight up disagreed over being on this album, a 5-year-awaited, Travis Scott, “Utopia” named album. If we’re going to recycle music, there’s a plethora of tracks Travis could have reworked. KPop and Topia Twins are the songs I would've easily kept out of this album, more space for better music. Several Utopia-era snippets to choose from, or even revisited tracks like In My Head and Vision. As for the other “weaker” songs, I’m not yet sure if I would remove them, I need to give the album time to breathe.
Now, when it comes to production I really don’t have any solid critiques for this album, the production might be better than Rodeo’s, maybe Astroworld more, it will have to be something I examine at a later time. I do have small little things to point out, but they're insignificant. Where it REALLY fell apart for me was the features. Half the features we heard, maybe a bit more, are a MUST on this album, no way in hell anyone would remove them. But the rest only came here for the participation award. I did not need Drake, Rob49, 21 Savage, Cudi, or Future on here. Maybe they could have worked well on other songs, but their performance was lackluster. People wanted all sorts of ideas being implemented in this track, all sorts of features were being tossed around on-site, on Reddit, in Discord servers, and I understand Travis could not be able to please everyone 100%. But I definitely desired a bit more from the features. Swae Lee deserved more. Yung Lean deserved more. Beyonce and Carti were absolutely stellar and I don’t even fucking listen to them, when I say they were stellar I say it from a completely 100% genuine standpoint. I would also say this for Gunn and Teezo, because while I did not like their parts, their presence on their songs could be justified as something that adds to the flavor of the track they are on. This is the type of features the album needed, for the features to count. It’s something that bothers me when I consider some of the wonderful performances heard in Astroworld and Rodeo…
A small detail that didn’t sit right with me was the album being overwhelmed with Kanye’s outright presence, and even influence (I am a god, Black skinhead). It’s not a bad thing itself, but it makes you have 2 questions. One, would the album have been better if Kanye had a hand in every song? If yes, what does that tell us about Travis? Is Utopia a Kanye album? On the other hand, would the album have been better if there was LESS Kanye in it? It’s just a question where you need to have every song in consideration to be able to answer it, but it still made me pissed because I came here for Travis. After all, we had heard this man would be really getting nitty-gritty with this piece of work and provide some raw content for us. Come to find out one fourth is old leaks, one third is Kanye, and the whole concept fell apart for me very quickly.
None of this matters in the end. You could argue I set myself up for disappointment by expecting certain songs or a certain direction, fine. You could argue my disappointment with features is due to my personal taste, fine. You could argue in favor of irrelevancy regarding the “reworking” of the songs in the third act of the album, fine. But the worst part for me was that I truly believed this could be Travis’ best work yet. Absolutely not. This album is not better than Astroworld or Rodeo, I say that firmly for the time being. Could it age spectacularly, yeah, I fucking hope so. But Astroworld blew my socks off at the end of each and every song, save for NC-17 and WHO/WHAT. I did not feel that in this album. Save for six songs, this experience was overall tame, non-ecstatic. And that’s why I feel that it both fell short and was not worth a 5 year wait. Could this be due to the fact that the music wasn't as "safe" as the music found in Astroworld, maybe. It could also be due to the fact that I had heard one third of the album before release, too. But honestly, this album could have been a two-year-wait album, maybe 3, and I would have swallowed it better. I understand the fact that he recorded a lot of other music, and that the album was a very kinetic concept, especially throughout the years. But it fell short of being worthy of the name “Utopia” for me. And that, for such a huge fan of Travis, is a bit disheartening.
- OVERALL RATING: initial 6, now at a 7 after pushing myself to like it.
- TOP 3: Thank God, I Know, Parasail. A “Top 5” would include Delresto and Hyaena.
- Better half: First half, so fucking obviously.
- Was it worth the wait: No
- Am I hoping for an album worth of throwaways to be played on .WAV radio: Yes
Discord and Reddit love the album. This site seems to be a bit critical about it. Don’t even want to look at what Twitter is saying. I encourage any sort of comment that can detail why you like a song that I didn't like, perspective is valuable. I have been listening to the album extremely diligently and taking notes of things I do not agree with for my personal edits to swap into local files, so I eagerly welcome any sharing of ideas, no matter how small or just related to the writing of this review in general. Questions are also very welcome, I’d love to further expand on thoughts shared here.
My closing thought, I will continue to be excited for Travis’ work, I’ll just have my guard up now. Despite what I think of the album, there are some very great pieces of work in here and I will continue to cherish the art as an enjoyer of his craft.
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