Travis Scott

Travis Scott
Scott performing in 2014
Background information
Birth name	Jacques Webster
Born	(1992-04-30) April 30, 1992[1] Houston, Texas, U.S.
Genres	Trap
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter record producer
Instruments	Vocals drum machine keyboard
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Grand Hustle Epic Very GOOD Beats UMPG
Associated acts	Young Thug Metro Boomin 2 Chainz Kanye West
Website	travisscott.com

Jacques Webster (born April 30, 1992), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American Trap recording artist and record producer from Missouri City, Texas. In 2012, Scott signed a record deal with Epic Records. In November of the same year, Scott signed a deal with Very GOOD Beats, as an in-house producer, after appearing on the label's debut compilation album Cruel Summer (2012). In April 2013, it was announced he signed with T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint. He released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled Owl Pharaoh, in May 2013. He then released his second mixtape Days Before Rodeo in August 2014. His debut album Rodeo, was released on September 4, 2015. His sophomore album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, was released on September 2, 2016.

Early life

Travis Scott was born Jacques Webster on April 30, 1992 in Houston, Texas. He grew up in Missouri City, a middle-class suburban area bordering southwest Houston. Scott stayed with his grandmother "in the hood" from ages one to six, but later moved to the suburbs, where his mother worked for Apple and his father ran his own business.^[2] Scott attended the University of Texas at San Antonio before dropping out to fully pursue his music career.^[3][4]

Career

2009–12: Career beginnings and record deals

At the age of 16, Scott began producing beats, and subsequently entered into his first musical partnership with longtime friend Chris Holloway. Scott and Holloway referred to themselves as The Graduates. In 2009, they released their first EP on Myspace. In 2010, Scott formed a duo with OG Chess, named The Classmates. In 2011, The Classmates released two full projects. The first project was titled Buddy Rich, and the second titled Cruis'n USA; Scott produced all tracks for both projects. In 2011, after personal differences and financial disputes, OG Chess and Scott would break up. Scott moved from Houston, Texas to Los Angeles, California after leaving college. Scott then had help from his friend Mike Waxx (who owns the website Illroots), in recording and releasing music. Rapper T.I. subsequently listened to one of Scott's songs, titled "Lights (Love Sick)", released while Scott was staying in Los Angeles, and contacted Scott, asking him to come down to a studio to meet. T.I. then freestyled his verse over Scott's produced track, titled "Animal".

2012–14: Owl Pharaoh and Days Before Rodeo

Scott performing in 2013.

His first project, titled Owl Pharaoh was set to be released for free download in mid-2012. However, it was delayed and was slated for the 2012 release. After re-making the project^[5] with American rapper and producer Kanye West, and fellow record producer such as Mike Dean, the project was once again delayed for sample clearance issues. Afterwards, Scott released his track, called "Blocka La Flame". The song was produced by Young Chop, additional production by Travis Scott and Mike Dean. On March 22, 2013, Scott released another single from his new project, "Quintana". It was released accompanied by a music video. The mixtape's version of the song features guest vocals from American hip hop recording artist Wale, with the production handled by Scott himself, alongside Sak Pase, BoluwSound, ChuSound and Mike Dean. On March 27, XXL Magazine revealed that Scott was a member of the XXL's Freshman Class of 2013. On March 29, following his interview with British DJ, DJ Semtex, Scott premiered a snippet of his next single, called "Upper Echelon" featuring 2 Chainz. On April 2, 2013, Scott stated that his new project that had later been revealed to be his debut mixtape, Owl Pharaoh would be released on iTunes on May 21, 2013.^[6] On April 23, the song was sent to Urban contemporary radio.^[7] The EP would end up being released for free.

Scott performing in 2014.

Scott performed a supposedly new single from his debut studio album, which was tentatively named "1975" featuring Big Sean, at the Texan festival South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 13, 2014.^[8] Scott later confirmed via his Twitter account that the song is not called "1975", however, it would be included as the first single for his second mixtape, titled Days Before Rodeo.^[9] He was once again on his Twitter account, announcing the name to his official debut album, titled Rodeo.^[10][11][12] On May 5, 2014, Scott released the full version of the new single, now named "Don't Play" featuring Big Sean and the band The 1975, on his SoundCloud and Twitter accounts.^[13][14] Following the success of Days Before Rodeo, on his Twitter, Scott announced that he would headline his tour, called The Rodeo Tour with Rich Gang's rapper Young Thug and producer Metro Boomin. The tour started on March 1, 2015 in Santa Ana, California and ended on April 1, 2015, in Portland, Oregon. The tour ran through major cities such as Denver, Colorado, Houston, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, Philadelphia, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington. Second shows were added to some cities such as Los Angeles and New York City, after his first shows had sold out too quickly towards the eyes of his fans. Artists such as Kanye West, Chris Brown, Wale and Birdman made special guest appearances in certain cities.^[15] Scott's Rodeo Tour has been acclaimed to be one of today's wildest rap tours.^[16]

2015–present: Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

Scott performing in 2015.

Rodeo was released on September 4, 2015, by Grand Hustle and Epic Records.^[1] The album features guest appearances from Quavo, Juicy J, Kanye West, The Weeknd, Swae Lee, Chief Keef, Justin Bieber, Young Thug and Toro y Moi, and includes production from several producers such as Mike Dean, Kanye West, WondaGurl, Suber, DJ Dahi, Metro Boomin, 1500 or Nothin', Sonny Digital, Southside, Terrace Martin, Zaytoven, Pharrell Williams, Illangelo and Travis Scott himself, among others. The album was supported by two singles: "3500" featuring Future and 2 Chainz, and "Antidote". The latter became his highest-charting single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 16. Rodeo received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200. It also debuted at number one on Billboard's Top Rap Albums chart.

On January 4, 2016, Scott would make the announcement on Mike Dean's instagram that he already had a new album on the way. On February 8, 2016, it was announced that iLoveMakonnen, Vic Mensa and Travis Scott will be part of the "WANGSQUAD", an Alexander Wang campaign.^[17] On March 29, 2016, 300 Entertainment executive Lyor Cohen revealed that Scott and Young Thug were releasing a single soon and called Scott's upcoming album a "classic".^[18] On April 7, 2016, Travis Scott previewed a single with Young Thug at one of his shows.^[19] On May 17, 2016, Travis Scott announced that the title of the album would be Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and the title of the next album would be called AstroWorld. On August 31, 2016, Scott announced that Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight was finally finished in a post on Instagram.^[20] Scott premiered the album on his third episode of .wav radio on September 2, 2016,^[21] and was later released on iTunes and Apple Music. On September 11, 2016, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.^[22] On September 12, 2016, Universal Music Publishing Group's CEO, Jody Gerson announced that the label signed a worldwide deal with Travis Scott.^[23]

Musical style

Spin magazine compared his 2013 mixtape Owl Pharaoh to that of Cudi's Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.^[24] Scott has stated that he is influenced by Kid Cudi, M.I.A., Kanye West, Toro y Moi, and T.I..^[25]

Discography

• Rodeo (2015)
• Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight (2016)
• AstroWorld (2017)^[26]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

BET Hip Hop Awards

The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors.

MTV Europe Music Awards

The MTV Europe Music Awards are an event presented by MTV Networks Europe which awards prizes to musicians and performers.

MOBO Awards

The MOBO Awards are an annual awards show, honouring artists of any ethnicity or nationality performing black music.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Travis Scott.

• Travis is Scott at AllMusic
• Travis is Scott discography at Discogs
• Travis Scott discography at MusicBrainz