Astroworld

by Travis Scott

Overview

Travis Scott sees Astroworld as the real follow-up to Rodeo, having alluded to the recording of Birds in the Trap Sing Brian McKnight as rushed. The Quavo collaboration Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho and appearances on SZA's "Love Galore," Drake's "Portland," and 2 Chainz' "4 AM," among a slew of other tracks, also preceded this third official solo studio full-length, heralded by the single "Watch," conspicuously absent given its direct reference to the demolished Houston attraction the album is titled after. Astroworld undoubtedly feels more like a spectacle than Birds in the Trap did. The sprawling theme park concept, however loose, is a cunning way to rationalize the tactically hospitable variety of producers and featured artists, which numbers somewhere around 50 -- a large supporting cast, even by Scott's standard. A long line of unsurprising guests like the Weeknd, Frank Ocean, and Swae Lee are thrown into play with Stevie Wonder, Philip Bailey, and John Mayer, the latter class of which seems like a bid for Grammy appeal. The beats, contributed by over 30 figures, are neatly sewn together by co-executive producer Mike Dean, who eases the twists and turns taken by the all the slinking rhythms and whirling atmospheres. Scott's voice slithers through the murk, rapping and singing in graphic-as-ever detail about his lifestyle of narcotics, air travel, hotels, and trysts, energized most when boasting about fans "stage divin' out the nosebleeds" and urging all to "fuck the club up." He's clearly not bothered by indulging in thrills reflective of the album's title. The modulation and echo treatments on the vocals, combined with the frequently torpid tempos, nonetheless make Astroworld ideal for being pumped through an (18 and over) amusement park's sound system near closing time, when the challenge of hitting all the rides has started to turn into an overindulgent, overheated chore. Beyond potent highlights "Butterfly Effect," "Sicko Mode," and a levitating tribute to hip-hop pioneer and Houston legend DJ Screw, there's a pair of Scott's most moving and personal cuts in "Coffee Bean" and "Astrothunder." The former, the finale, deviates from the rest of the album with a gently knocking Nineteen85 beat and Scott sounding positively Guru-like as he laments, "Fighting over your seeds, writing over your deeds, sliding over your keys." ~ Andy Kellman

Product Details

Release Date:	11/16/2018
Label:	Epic / Grand Hustle / Cactus Jack
UPC:	0190758883618
Rank:	8123

Tracks

1. STARGAZING
2. CAROUSEL
3. SICKO MODE
4. R.I.P. SCREW
5. STOP TRYING TO BE GOD
6. NO BYSTANDERS
7. SKELETONS
8. WAKE UP
9. 5% TINT
10. NC-17
11. ASTROTHUNDER
12. YOSEMITE
13. CAN'T SAY
14. WHO? WHAT!
15. BUTTERFLY EFFECT
16. HOUSTONFORNICATION
17. COFFEE BEAN

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Travis Scott   Primary Artist,Vocals,Lead Vocals
Isaiah Gage   Cello
21 Savage   Vocals,Lead Vocals
NAV   Vocals
Takeoff   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Tim Suby   Guitar,Co-Producer
Sheldon Ferguson   Guitar
Tame Impala   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Gunna   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Sheck Wes   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Juice WRLD   Vocals
Don Toliver   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Felix Leone   Co-Producer
Big Hawk   Vocals
John Mayer   Guitar,Co-Producer
Pharrell Williams   Vocals
Philip Bailey   Lead Vocals
Nineteen85   Bass
Roget Chahayed   Co-Producer
Shane Lindstrom   Vocals
Swae Lee   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Quavo   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Mike Dean   Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Lead Guitar,Synthesizer
Stevie Wonder   Harmonica
Kid Cudi   Vocals
Drake   Vocals,Lead Vocals
Stephen Feigenbaum   Strings
James Blake   Vocals,Lead Vocals
BJ the Chicago Kid   Vocals
Frank Ocean   Vocals,Lead Vocals
The Weeknd   Vocals,Lead Vocals

Technical Credits

Ramy   Producer
Shayaa Joseph   Composer
Jon Sher   Assistant Engineer,Assistant
Bryan Higgins   Composer
Kevin Gomringer   Composer
Tim Gomringer   Composer
Cubeatz   Producer,Additional Production
Christopher Breaux   Composer
Osten Harvey   Composer
Brandon Whitfield   Composer
Abel Tesfaye   Composer
Travis Scott   Design,Mixing,Engineer,Producer,Art Direction,Creative Director,Executive Producer,Additional Production
Adam Feeney   Composer
Shin Kamiyama   Engineer
Dalia Glickman   A&R
June James   Composer,Producer
Tom Gomringer   Composer
Trocon Roberts   Composer
Murda Beatz   Producer
River Tiber   Composer,Additional Production
Carla Guerrero   A&R
Samuel Gloade   Composer
FKi 1st   Producer
Navraj Goraya   Composer
Sheyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph   Composer
Vegyn   Additional Production
Rupert Thomas   Composer
Paimon Jahanbin   Composer
Tim Suby   Composer,Producer,Production Coordination
Nima Jahanbin   Composer
Wallis Lane   Producer
Tay Keith   Producer
Matty   Additional Production
Sergio Kitchens   Composer
Chandler Durham   Composer
Ronald LaTour   Composer
Corey Damon Black   Creative Director
30 Roc   Producer
Sevn Thomas   Producer
Rico Wade   Composer
Jamie Lee   Composer
Jordan Houston   Composer
Christopher Wallace   Composer
Bryan Simmons   Composer,Composer
Ray Murray   Composer
Patrick Brown   Composer
808 Mafia   Additional Production
Christopher Martin   Composer
Lola Mitchell   Composer
David LaChapelle   Design,Photography,Art Direction
John Armstrong   Assistant Engineer
Jimmy Cash   Mixing,Engineer,Assistant,Mixing Assistant
Fred Scruggs   Composer
Brock Korsan   Composer
Willie Knighton   Composer
Hit-Boy   Producer
Tame Impala   Producer
Donald Paton   Composer
Khadimou Fall   Composer
Brytavious Chambers   Composer
Don Toliver   Composer
Jarad Higgins   Composer
Jamie Lepe   Composer
Mirsad Dervic   Sounds,Composer,Instrumentation
Johnny Stefene   Composer
James Austin Cyr   Composer
Felix Leone   Producer,Production Assistant
London Cyr   Producer,Production Assistant
Sean Solymor   Assistant,Mixing Assistant
Skyler McLean   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Misrad Dirvic   Sounds,Instrumentation
WondaGurl   Producer
Turbo   Producer
Tyrone Taylor   Composer
Cydel Young   Composer
Ozan Yildirim   Composer
J Beatz   Producer
Sonny Digital   Producer
Cardo   Producer
Chauncey Hollis   Composer
David Stromberg   Additional Production
Bekah Connolly   A&R
T.I.   Executive Producer
Paul Beauregard   Composer
Sigurjon Sigurdsson   Composer
Keith Elam   Composer
Big Hawk   Composer
Kirk Jones   Composer
Bjoerk Gudjmundsdottir   Composer
Khujo   Composer
Lamont Porter   Composer
Chylow Parker   Composer
Luther Campbell   Composer
John Mayer   Composer,Producer,Production Assistant
Pharrell Williams   Composer
Ricky Dunigan   Composer
Jason Geter   Executive Producer
Rick Rubin   Composer
Kanye West   Composer
Allen Ritter   Composer,Producer,Additional Production
Jacques Webster   Composer
Nineteen85   Producer
Ebony Oshunrinde   Composer
Harry Casey   Composer
Robert Barnett   Composer
Paul Jefferies   Composer
Roget Chahayed   Composer,Producer
Trevor Smith   Composer
Thomas Paxton-Beesley   Composer
Matthew Tavares   Composer,Additional Production
Gezin   Additional Production
Ben Sedano   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Quavious Marshall   Composer
Shane Lindstrom   Composer
Khalif Brown   Composer
Kirshnik Ball   Composer
Kaan Gunesberk   Composer
Brandon Korn   Composer,Producer
Ali Shaheed Muhammad   Composer
Mike Dean   Mixing,Sounds,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Mastering,Instrumentation,Mixing Assistant,Additional Production
Oz   Producer
Boi-1da   Producer
Kamaal Fareed   Composer
Cameron Gipp   Composer
Frank Dukes   Sounds,Producer,Instrumentation
Malik Taylor   Composer
Adam Yauch   Composer
Stephen Bruner   Composer
James Litherland   Composer
Richard Finch   Composer
Adam Horovitz   Composer
Reine Fiske   Composer
Darnell Carlton   Composer
Aubrey Graham   Composer
Michael Diamond   Composer
Robert Phillips   Composer
James Jackson   Composer
Chris Martin   Composer
Blake Harden   Mixing,Engineer
CyHi the Prynce   Composer
Thundercat   Producer
James Blake   Composer
Ramiro Morales   Composer
Kevin Parker   Composer
Matthew Samuels   Composer
Joshua Adams   Composer
Jbeatzz   Producer
Zach Steele   Engineer
BWheezy   Producer
Thomas Cullison   Assistant,Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Sickamore   A&R
Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke   Composer