Rodeo [Deluxe Edition]

by Travis Scott

Overview

While Lady Gaga was working the avant side of pop, hip-hop was doing the same thing without a true figurehead. Artists from Kid Cudi to A$AP Mob were coming at the genre from all sorts of new angles, but with their feet firmly in the rap camp; then producer Travis Scott came along, sounding like Chief Keef but with a much broader brush, offering an attractive version of acid rap that landed him on Kanye West's GOOD Music label with a debut album that's so 2015 it features the ultra-hip trifecta of Future, the Weeknd, and Justin Bieber. Make those three a Venn diagram and Scott is the man in the middle, wonderfully weird and as stylish-sounding as the first two, and yet with a slick appeal that crosses over like Bieber, which is the biggest problem for detractors: it's all for show with no filling. Still, with lines like "Always kept my city on me like it was a Swatch" and "My dick longer than a Pringle box" over beats that honor and match edgy acts like Death Grips (the raw "Piss on Your Grave" featuring Kanye West) and Future (who appears alongside 2 Chainz on the sprawling highlight "3500"), Rodeo is an absurd wonder that thankfully works. That's up to and including Bieber, Young Thug, and Scott's bedroom brain-burner "Maria I'm Drunk," which is the ultra sheen of Taylor Swift with the lust of Miguel experienced via shrooms. "Wasted" sounds like Juicy J did an album for Stones Throw, "Flying High" with Toro y Moi borrows some of Slave's "Slide" so the indie party people get an anthem, then the very big "90210" travels across decades' worth of film soundtrack styles while sampling the late Pimp C as T.I. narrates. Weird that T.I. doesn't rap, and weirder still that Scott barely produces on this album, handing it over to returning and like-minded collaborators like Metro Boomin, Ultra$ound, and Mike Dean. His executive producer credit, however, is on point as the aesthetics of his early work are all here, and with "We designed our love, around these drugs" being the album's most profound lyrical moment, he may not be Nas, but he may be Warhol. As Kanye and Gaga try to bridge the gap between pop and art, this artist thrives in the chasm. Like Warhol said, "I love plastic, I want to be plastic," and with Rodeo, Travis Scott becomes a designer drug. [A Deluxe Edition included two bonus tracks: "OK Alright" and "Never Catch Me."] ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date:	09/04/2015
Label:	Epic
UPC:	0888751033627
Rank:	19340

Tracks

1. Pornography
2. Oh My Dis Side
3. 3500
4. Wasted
5. 90210
6. Pray 4 Love
7. Nightcrawler
8. Piss on Your Grave
9. Antidote
10. Impossible
11. Maria I'm Drunk
12. Flying High
13. I Can Tell
14. Apple Pie
15. Never Catch Me
16. OK Alright

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Travis Scott   Primary Artist
Allen Ritter   Keyboards
SZA   Vocals
Tinashe   Vocals
Kacy Hill   Vocals,Featured Artist
Darren King   Bass,Drums,Guitar
Young Thug   Featured Artist
Toro y Moi   Featured Artist
Justin Bieber   Featured Artist
Swae Lee   Featured Artist
Quavo   Featured Artist
Juicy J   Featured Artist
Kanye West   Featured Artist
Mike Dean   Guitar,Keyboards
Future   Featured Artist
Larrance Dopson   Keyboards
Zaytoven   Keyboards
Terrace Martin   Keyboards
Jordan Lewis   Guitar
ScHoolboy Q   Featured Artist
The Weeknd   Featured Artist
2 Chainz   Featured Artist
Chief Keef   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Albert Chee   Assistant
Ashley Lyle   A&R
Bryan Van Mierlo   Composer,Producer,Programming
Corey Damon Black   Design,Art Direction
Keith Cozart   Composer
Travis Scott   Producer,Executive Producer
Quincy Hanley   Composer
Adam Feeney   Composer
Dalia Glickman   A&R
Stuart Innis   Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Trocon Roberts   Composer
Allen Ritter   Composer,Producer,Additional Production
Ben Billions   Producer
Jacques Webster   Composer
Metro Boomin   Producer
Ebony Oshunrinde   Composer
Nicholas Movshon   Composer
Mark Adams   Composer
Leland Wayne   Composer
T.I.   Narrator
Marc Kalman   Creative Director
Jeffery Williams   Composer
Bryan Simmons   Composer
WondaGurl   Producer,Programming,Additional Production
Zaytoven   Additional Production
Danny Webster   Composer
Seth Firkins   Vocal Engineer
Will Barnett   Composer
Carter Bradley   Composer
Jimmy Cash   Engineer
Darren King   Composer
Nabil Elderkin   Photography
Justin Bieber   Composer
Tom Lockett   Composer
Floyd Miller   Composer
David Guy   Composer
Blake Harden   Engineer
Terrace Martin   Producer
Kacy Hill   Composer
Charlie Heat   Producer
Quavious Marshall   Composer
Illangelo   Producer,Vocal Engineer
Solana Rowe   Composer
Aaquil Brown   Composer
Khalif Brown   Composer
Jermaine Pegues   A&R
Dan Chung   Design
Pharrell Williams   Composer,Producer
Xavier Dotson   Composer
Jason Geter   Executive Producer
Kanye West   Producer
Mike Dean   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Assistant,Mastering,Drum Programming,Executive Producer,Additional Production
Ari Raskin   Engineer
George Clinton   Composer
Frank Dukes   Producer,Additional Production
Noah Goldstein   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Assistant
Homer Steinweiss   Composer
Chad Butler   Composer
Michael Barnett   Composer
Leon Michels   Composer
Thomas Brenneck   Composer
Finis "KY" White   Engineer
Emmanuel Nickerson   Composer
Tim Dozier   Composer
Larry Price   Composer
Orion Wilhoite   Composer
Jordan Houston   Composer
Chris Feldmann   Art Direction
Anita Marisa Boriboon   Creative Director
Mark Hicks   Composer
Joshua Luellen   Composer
Jordan Lewis   Engineer
Glenda Proby   Composer
Thomas Cullison   Engineer
The Weeknd   Producer
Sickamore   A&R
Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke   Composer
Sonny Digital   Producer
Kez Khou   Mixing Assistant
Alex Tumay   Engineer
Carlo "Illangelo" Montagnese   Composer
Nayvadius Wilburn   Composer
Tauheed Epps   Composer
Abel Tesfaye   Composer