Utopia (Travis Scott album)
Utopia is the fourth studio album by American rapper Travis Scott. It was released through Cactus Jack and Epic Records on July 28, 2023. The album features guest appearances from Teezo Touchdown, Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyoncé, Rob49, 21 Savage, the Weeknd, Swae Lee, Yung Lean, Dave Chappelle, Young Thug, Westside Gunn, Kid Cudi, Bad Bunny, SZA, Future, and James Blake. Physical releases of the album feature additional guest appearances from Lil Uzi Vert and Sheck Wes. Production was handled by a variety of record producers, including Scott and Blake themselves, WondaGurl, Ye, Allen Ritter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Wheezy, Buddy Ross, Vegyn, 30 Roc, Jahaan Sweet, Boi-1da, Vinylz, Tay Keith, Bnyx, Oz, Justin Vernon, the Alchemist, Dom Maker, Illangelo, DVLP, and Metro Boomin, among others. The album serves as the follow-up to Scott's third studio album, Astroworld (2018), as well as JackBoys (2019), his compilation album that was released in collaboration with Cactus Jack. It is a concept record that was accompanied by a film titled Circus Maximus which was released the day before the album.
Utopia
July 28, 2023
73:27
- 30 Roc
- The Alchemist
- Allen Ritter
- Bnyx
- Boi-1da
- BoogzDaBeast
- Buddy Ross
- Cadenza
- Dez Wright
- Dom Maker
- FnZ
- Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
- Illangelo
- Jahaan Sweet
- James Blake
- Justin Vernon
- Metro Boomin
- Nami
- Nik Dean
- Noah Goldstein
- Oz
- Scotty Coleman
- Sevn Thomas
- Slim Pharoah
- Tay Keith
- Travis Sayles
- Travis Scott
- Vegyn
- Vinylz
- Wheezy
- WondaGurl
- Ye
Utopia divided reviewers, with some critics praising its appeal and production, while others criticized its lack of cohesion and excessive familiarity to Kanye West's works. It debuted at number one on Billboard 200 chart, in which it earned 496,000 album-equivalent units, of which 252,000 units were pure album sales. All 19 songs from the album debuted in the Billboard Hot 100, making Scott the 15th artist in the chart's history to log 100-plus career entries. Commercially, the album became Scott's first number one album in the United Kingdom, also reaching the top in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden. The album was supported by five singles: "K-pop", "Delresto (Echoes)", "Meltdown", "I Know ?", and "Fe!n".
Background and recording[edit]
On July 8, 2020, Scott first revealed the title of the album when he posted a picture on Instagram with its name, which would later be revealed to be the title.[5] On August 3, 2020, he further teased the title of the album in a thank you letter to fans on the second anniversary of his third studio album, Astroworld (2018).[6] In October, Scott continued to tease the album in a series of tweets.[7] Recording for the album began in 2019 with Scott posting updates throughout recording sessions on social media.[8]
In a February 2021 interview with i-D, Scott said he had been collaborating with new artists while attempting to expand his sound and making songs on his own instrumentals that he had created.[9][10] In May 2021, record producer and audio engineer Mike Dean stated that Scott was recording music that was alike to that from his debut mixtape, Owl Pharaoh (2013), for Utopia. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in June, Scott described the sound of Utopia, stating that he is "in this new album mode where it's like psychedelic rock".[11] In February 2023, Scott revealed at the 2023 NBA All-Star weekend event in Salt Lake City that Utopia would be released after Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, and SoFaygo, who are his artists signed to Cactus Jack Records, would release their respective projects.[12]
Release and promotion[edit]
On August 2, 2022, Scott announced a one-week-long residency in the Zouk Nightclub in Las Vegas, known as the Road to Utopia from September 17 to 24.[13] In December, it was reported that the album and a world tour would be scheduled for early 2023.[14]
In May 2023, photos of Scott wearing an unreleased Air Jordan 1 Low shoe with the presumed Utopia logo and his bodyguard holding a Utopia labelled briefcase surfaced online.[15] Record producer and audio engineer Mike Dean also shared his involvement in completing the record with an Instagram post later that day.[16] On June 15, 2023, Scott was seen leaving Abbey Road Studios with his bodyguards, recreating the cover art for the Beatles' eleventh studio album, Abbey Road (1969).[17][18] On June 27, Scott updated his website with the Utopia logo and a decoded pre-order link.[19] Shortly after, new Utopia billboards began to appear across Los Angeles featuring a clock and a lock that fans speculated at a July 21, 2023, release date.[20]
On July 9, 2023, Scott shared videos linked to Utopia on social media, including one in which he can be seen working on the project with Rick Rubin.[21] Following the announcement, an insider told Complex that a release date for the album had not yet been confirmed.[22] Scott updated his website again to share tickets for the event, pre-order links, CDs, vinyl records, and merchandise.[23] On July 22, in Miami, Florida, during his headlining performance at Rolling Loud, Scott said that the performance would be the last time he performed the setlist from the Astroworld era and that Utopia will be released alongside a film called Circus Maximus six days later.[24] The film featured segments directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Gaspar Noé, Valdimar Jóhannsson, Kahlil Joseph, and Scott himself.[25] On July 25, Scott tweeted out Utopia's release date of July 28, 2023,[26] and revealed the trailer for Circus Maximus, which would have an AMC Theatres premiere the night before Utopia.[27][28] The following day, Metrograph reported they were invited to a private screening. The same day, Utopia totems were found in Utopia, Texas, playing a siren-like sound.[29] Scott posted four alternative cover arts with different versions to his Instagram profile in the days leading up to its release.[30]
Live events[edit]
On July 9, 2023, Scott announced a launch event for Utopia scheduled to be livestreamed from the Pyramids of Giza on July 28.[31] On July 17, 2023, rumors circulated that the Musicians' Syndicate of Egypt released a statement, claiming that due to "information about peculiar rituals performed by the star during his performance, contradicting our authentic societal values and traditions, the Syndicate's president and board of directors have decided to cancel the license issued for hosting this type of concert, which goes against the cultural identity of the Egyptian people." However, Scott's manager, David Stormberg, confirmed that the articles that stated that the concert was cancelled were fake. Live Nation, the concert's promoter, would also come with a statement citing such articles as false and that the show would continue as is.[32][33][34]
On July 26, Live Nation Middle East revealed that the launch party at the Pyramids of Giza would be canceled due to problems with the construction in the desert,[35] to which Scott responded in a series of tweets that he was looking for a new date and would be hosting four more listening parties for Utopia.[36][37] The day of the release of the album, Scott announced a concert in Pompeii, Italy, coming soon.[38] On August 1, 2023, the rapper announced "Circus Maximus", a concert at the Circus Maximus in Rome, Italy, as replacement show for the canceled Pyramids of Giza concert, for August 7, 2023.[39]
On August 29, 2023, Scott announced the Circus Maximus Tour, starting on October 11, 2023, in Charlotte at Spectrum Center and concluding on December 29, 2023, in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena.[40] On November 10, 2023, Scott announced the second leg of the tour, starting on January 3, 2024, in Louisville at KFC Yum! Center and concluding on January 31, 2024, in Orlando at Amway Center.[41]
Songs[edit]
In June 2021, Scott appeared on the Cactus Jack for Dior Summer 2022 show in which two new songs were played, "In My Head" and "Lost Forever", which feature fellow American rappers Swae Lee and Westside Gunn, respectively, but the former song did not appear on Utopia.[42] In August 2021, Scott signed a picture deal with A24 and teased his own film based on the album.[43] On August 6, 2022, Scott performed at the O2 Arena in London that weekend, where he performed the song "God's Country", which was Kanye West's song that was originally supposed to appear on his tenth studio album, Donda (2021), but it is speculated that West had given the song to Scott for him to use for Utopia.[44]
In May 2023, Scott unveiled a preview of "K-pop", a collaboration with Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny and Canadian singer the Weeknd, and was released as the lead single from Utopia on July 21, 2023.[45][46][47] Later that month, the songs "Gold Blackberry" and an early version of "Til Further Notice" leaked on May 11, 2023, with the instrumental for Gold Blackberry previously used for the Travis Scott Air Jordan 1 Low Reverse collaboration ad and later for a Nike Attack collaboration advertisement, but Gold Blackberry did not appear on the album.[48] That same month, Scott reportedly played songs from the record for the Houston Astros, and revealed that the record was in its mastering stage.[49] "Delresto (Echoes)", a collaboration with American singer Beyoncé, was released through her imprint Parkwood Entertainment as the second single from the album alongside its release July 28, 2023.[50][51] "Meltdown", featuring Canadian rapper Drake, was also released as a single alongside the album and debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.[52][53] "Fe!n", the album's eighth track, a collaboration with American rapper Playboi Carti debuted at number five on the Hot 100,[53] while the album's tenth track "I Know ?" debuted at number 11.[54] "I Know ?" was sent to US rhythmic radio on September 26, 2023, as the album's fourth single.[55]
Commercial performance[edit]
In the United States, Utopia debuted at number one on Billboard 200 chart, earning 496,000 album-equivalent units (including 252,000 in pure album sales) in its first week. This became Scott's fourth album to top the chart and the third that he was credited for. The album also accumulated a total of 330.68 million on-demand streams of the album's songs.[74] All 19 songs from the album debuted in the Billboard Hot 100, making Scott the 15th artist in the chart's history to log over 100 career entries.[75]
In United Kingdom, Utopia debuted at number one of the UK Albums Chart, becoming Scott's first album to achieve it. It also earned the biggest streaming week in 2023 for an album in the country.[76] The album also topped the Irish Albums Chart.[77] In Australia, Utopia became Scott's second studio album to debut at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, after Astroworld (2018). In addition eighteen tracks from the album debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart, including "Meltdown" at number six.[78]
Notes
Sample credits
Musicians
Technical