The trav post 07/26/2023

Travis Scott

After five years of waiting, it's time for Travis Scott to drop the long-awaited Utopia. His last album Astroworld released back in 2018. Other than the seven-track label collab album Jackboys (2019) and a few singles here and there, Travis has been out of the spotlight. As a resident of Houston, Utopia is one of my most anticipated albums of this decade. Houston has a reputation of having a rich and impactful history of Hip-Hop. That impact is well and alive today but there have been plenty of dry periods. Despite being the fourth largest city in the U.S. we've had a lack in representation from the city outside of its limits. This week is focused on Travis Scott and how important his impact is to Houston.

Houston's Hip-Hop History

One of the first acts out of the Houston were the Geto Boyz. The group formed in 1986 with MCs Bushwick Bill, Willie D, and Scarface. They're responsible for the first Hip-Hop Houston anthem with the song "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" that dropped in 1991. I wasn't around at the time but from what I hear, the song had a similar impact to "The Message" by Grand Master Flash and what it did for New York in the early 80s. Each member of the Geto Boyz had a solo career in the 1990s. However, the most notable from the group is Scarface. Face had a fantastic solo career, dropping classic albums like The Fix, The World Is Yours, and of course The Diary. He is so well received that he's widley considered to be a top 50 rapper of all-time. At the point of the early 90s when the Geto Boyz had made a name for themselves outside of Houston, Hip-Hop had already been a genre for almost 20 years. But after they popped off it helped put other Houston artists on the map in the early to late 90s. You have legends like Lil' Keke, Fat Pat, DJ Screw, Mike Dean,DJ Premier, Big Moe, and of course Bun B and Pimp C of UGK fame. Most of these guys were signed to Rap-A Lot-Records who have contributed to every corner of Houston's evolution in Hip-Hop. There are a handful of other acts from the 90s, but none of them stood out as much as these guys. UGK is one of the most popular groups in Hip-Hop history. Not only did they have a song with JAY-Z, but they had a platinum song in "Big Pimpin" with JAY-Z in 1999. Years after that in 2007 they created Houston's current and eternal anthem with the song "Int'l Players Anthem". The song features Outkast and is genuinely inescapable if you live in Houston. It evokes the essence of the time period while also sounding timeless. It truly is a beautiful piece of art and solidifies itself as a Houston staple.

DJ Screw

On the side of production, we have Mike Dean and DJ Screw. Mike Dean started his music career by playing keys for Selena in the 80s. In Houston he helped produce The Fix by Scarface and UGK's last album UGK For Life along with others. Outside of Houston he's produced with so many people it's easy to forget that he's from here. He's produced for Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, The Weeknd, Gangstar, Tha Dogg Pound, E-40, Beyonce, JAY-Z, Pusha-T Nas, and Madonna and much more. And Mike hasn't "just" produced for them in a quick one-time song or album. Mike Dean is a main stay, a household name in Hip-Hop. He works intimately with these artists. Mike plays a huge role in Travis's career, producing on all of his projects since his debut Owl Pharoh (2013). Similar to Beyonce, due to his current reach it's easy to forget he's from here. He's been around so long and has so much influence you have to be reminded he's from here. The same, however, cannot be said for DJ Screw.

 DJ Screw is responsible for creating the chopped and screwed production style. He gets the spotlight on this post because he's one of the most important people in Houston history and has a direct impact on Travis and Hip-Hop alike. Chopped and Screwed music is everywhere, it isn't rare to see artists make chopped and screwed versions of their albums. And if you had any doubt that it's still around just listen to the "slow and reverbed" music on Youtube. It's directly pulled from the chopped and screwed production style. DJ Screw also elevated the careers of Big Moe, Fat Pat, and Lil' Keke. I like to think of the duo of Lil' Keke and DJ Screw as the Houston version of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. They had such a unique chemistry; featuring on each other's albums and curating a sound that was unique to Houston. In 2000 DJ Screw passed. I know I was only three years old at the time, but I know his passing was a huge deal in the city. As the 2000s started to creep up, the south started to take over Hip-Hop with the bling era. With this new era some new faces started to pop-up in Houston.

2000s

Now I'm not gonna lie to you, the 2000s isn't my favorite stretch of Hip-Hop aesthetically. It took me awhile to find a transition photo that I liked enough to use. True as that may be for me, Houston had a run of hits and MCs that's unrivaled to any other era in Houston history. You had artists like Slim Thug, Chamillionaire, Devin the Dude, Trae the Truth, Paul Wall, Z-Ro, Big Pokey and Mike Jones who were running the city all at the same time. They achieved national and local fame. Some notable hits out of this era are: "Ridin Dirty", "Still Tippin", Mo City Don", "Back Then", "Check On It", "Sittin' Sidewayz" the list goes on. I was a kid living in Tennessee when most of these songs came out. I was living in a suburb at the time, in a household that listened to Radio Disney and Christian CDs. Yet, these songs still found their way to me. When I moved back to Houston in 2005, it was still the prime of Houston's run. The first song I remember hearing in Houston that had a Houston artist in it was "Grillz" by Nelly featuring Paul Wall. This era put Houston on the map, more so than the eras that came prior. "Check On It" was especially huge because Beyonce in all her star power featured Slim Thug and Bun B on the track. The song had global recognition even then, charting in 10 countries in 2006 alone. That song opened even more doors for Slim Thug in my opinion. In 2006 he went on to feature on The Clipse album (Hell Hath No Fury) and Pharrell's first solo album (In My Mind). I wasn't in the mix back then because I was a child, but I have to assume plenty of people thought Houston was next to run Hip-Hop.

Hip-Hop in the 2000s was dominated by the south with the inception of the bling era, but Memphis, New Orleans, St. Louis, and Atlanta were complete power houses in the era, in turn overshadowing Houston. Houston undeniably had an impact on the bling era with grillz and slang that other regions drew from, but the other cities had the upper hand. We saw acts like Ludacris, Lil Jon, Lil Wayne, Nelly, Outkast, Missy Elliot, Akon, The Clipse, Bow Wow, Juvenile, Three Six Mafia, Project Pat, T.I., Jeezy, etc. And those're just southern rappers. As we started to enter the 2010s those cities continued to thrive in their Hip-Hop scenes but for Houston it was the beginning of an insane dry spell.

2010s/Regions

Kirko Bangz

After 2008 I think Houston fell way off the national spotlight. Lil Wayne started his run and everyone had their eyes on New Orleans. I think part of the problem was the fact that all of Houston's rappers had been around since the 90s and early 2000s. Their audience were the same people who grew up with them. These people were in or entering their 30s at that point. There weren't any new quality rappers coming out of Houston from 2008-2013 which is a long ass time in music. Sorry Kirko Bangz, I refuse to add you into my personal Houston rapper hall of fame. The youth needed someone to listen to that wasn't way older than them and who was good enough to have legitimate staying power and impact. In 2011 I was in 9th grade and I was listening to everything but the music Houston had to offer. I didn't hate the 2000s music but I wasn't interested in recycling the same songs from years past. In my opinion we hadn't had a song since 2007 with "Int'l Players Anthem". I was 10 and in fifth grade when that came out. Now it's 2011 and we don't have any notable music? These are formative years and there isn't a new act in Houston to rally around (sorry Kirko Bangz). By this point if you aren't into Hip-Hop or aware of the culture in itself, you might be wondering why regional impact matters in the genre. It isn't hard to tell that the importance of regional representation is unique to Hip-Hop.

City and regional representation is something that's been important since the inception of Hip-Hop. The genre started in the Bronx in 1973 and soon spread into the four other boroughs that were all in competition with each other. The sound back then was heavily inspired by funk, soul, and jazz samples using vinyl that DJs like Afrika Bamaattaa and Grand Master Flash would mix in the late night. As the genre grew, other cities started to develop their own sound that was unique to their area. There's G-Funk coming out of Compton in the early 90s, Drill in Chicago in the 2010s, Bounce in New Orleans in the 90s-00s, Hyphy in the Bay Area, Grime and drill in London in the mid 2000s, not to mention Detroit, Philadelphia, Miami, and others that all have a or have had a unique sound at some point. All of these cities set themselves apart by creating a sound, a cadence, a flow, that's unique to where they live. This is likely due to the different influences these cities have. Every one of them have a different terrain, culture, nightlife, accent, musical influence, etc to capitalize off of. In New York mixing records with a jazz vinyl made sense in the 70s because of the bustling jazz scene that existed at the time. While New Orleans and Miami sounds were heavily inspired by the club scene of the 80s and 90s. So, the sport of creating with what you had, and competing with other cities across the nation developed naturally over the years. One of the most beautiful aspects of Hip-Hop is the hierarchy of cities fighting for their spot at the top, or in some cases just being put on the map in the first place. There's a national spar to see who can set themselves apart with artistic expression. While Houston has undeniably made its mark in Hip-Hop history, our golden days were well behind us in the early 2010s. That is until Travis Scott came along a rejuvenated the city.

Travis Scott

Travis Scott

It all started in 2012 when the Cruel Summer album by the GOOD music label came out. Track 8 (Sin City) at the 13 second mark when I heard the new energetic and sinister voice of Travis Scott. He's spitting while the 808s roll and the synths creep their way into the front of the production. I didn't know who I was hearing, but I knew I wanted to hear more. The only problem was, he wasn't credited on the track. This eerie presence on this track was a lost cause that I had to find. However, I never did. It wasn't until senior year in 2014 when my friend Miles played the first half of Days Before Rodeo on our way to school one morning. I remember sitting in traffic while passing into the Galleria area when I heard the chilling and haunted organs of the first track "The Prayer". The minute he spoke on the track I immediately realized this was the guy who was on "Sin City". Based on my first listen of the entire mixtape he was exactly who I thought he was. A raw and grimy rapper with grim production. Travis easily became one of my favorite rappers after hearing this tape, I played that shit for a whole year with no shame. Finding out he was from Houston took my admiration for the music to a whole other level. It was completely different from anything I'd heard come out of Houston. I can't stress enough how important it is that this tape came out my senior year. I had a car and freedom to move around the city with new deeply inspiring and energetic music from Houston. I can't describe the emotions I felt then or even in this moment. It was "crash the fucking car" music; we'll figure it out later. It was truly trans inducing, pure energy. I know I wasn't the only one who felt that way either. That's the thing about energy, some energy materializes by a shared experience in a vibe that looms over the youth.

 A year later Travis outdid himself and released his first album Rodeo. With Rodeo came Houston's latest anthem "90210". A song about ambition and the changes around you. A song that agitates your tear ducts and makes you feel like you can accomplish absolutely anything. A song that makes dreams tangible every time it plays. A song that anyone can connect to, but a feeling that stood out to the youth the most. Travis had respect and loyalty from the youth of Houston. We started to look at the city differently because of the vibes that he provided. It may sound dramatic but there is a stark difference in the vibe of Houston pre and post Travis Scott. I was a kid when Houston was on the map before. Furthermore, I had zero emotional connection to Hip-Hop in the early 2000s, so this feeling was foreign and extremely valuable. For the first time in years, Houston had a marque artist coming out of the city. And we didn't just have a new artist that was cool, we had a genre bending marvel who was carving his own lane in Hip-Hop itself. Years later in 2018 he dropped Astroworld, that release took our relationship with him to a whole different level.

By the time 2018 came, Travis dropped his album Birds in the Trap Sing Mcknight (2016) and the collab album Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho (2017) with Quavo. He'd worked with everyone in the genre and was getting branding deals everywhere you looked. He'd reached superstardom. So, for him to dedicate an entire album to the city was next level for everyone who lives here. For those who don't know, Astroworld was an amusement park in Houston that was around from 1968-2005. Numerous generations of Houstonians have memories of Astroworld before it was torn down. Travis naming his album after the famed local park did so much for branding and brand loyalty from Houstonians. To go even further he started Astroworld fest in the same year; thus, resurrecting the park and making it his own for a new generation to enjoy under a similar, but more music-based context. Thinking about it now, it's still a genius idea to this day. That move cemented his legacy in Houston forever. Now it's five years later and Travis has his own music label in Cactus Jack, opened his store Space City in Rice Village, signed another Houston artist in Don Toliver, and is finally back with a Utopia which is set to drop this Friday. When it comes to Travis Scott, it isn't easy to forget that he's from here. He's made his presence known through his art, his business, and his actions. All the other eras of Houston were beautiful and needed, but the Travis Scott era has lasted a decade. A decade of constant innovation coming from one man. Travis has managed to stick around as long as the guys who were still around in the early 2010s, but his music and growth in his craft keeps all eyes on him and keeps the Houston energized.