It’s 2015, and you’re sitting in the front seat of your car with your closest friends, searching for some new, energetic music that has your dusty 14-year-old Honda Civic speakers bumping like never before. You look at the newly released section on Apple Music and see the album Rodeo by an unfamiliar artist from Houston, Texas. You press play, and an hour later, you realize that you’ve found your new favourite artist.
Whenever you hear about rappers from southern U.S. states, people usually think of Atlanta as the main breeding ground for legends of this genre. Go a bit further west and you’ll reach Mo City. Jacques Bermon Webster II, known in the music world as Travis Scott, was born on April 30, 1991. About 35 years later, he became one of the world’s biggest performers of all time.
During an era when hip-hop was shifting towards a more colourful and experimental version of itself, a large portion of the discourse surrounding it was negative. “Mumble rap,” as the old heads called it, was taking over radio stations and clubs overnight. In the wake of this uprising came Travis Scott, who still possessed many of the same characteristics as the mainstream rappers of the time, yet became more popular than them all.
So, how did that happen?
From 2015 to 2023, Scott released four critically acclaimed solo albums that rank among the most beloved and talked-about records in the genre’s history. Let’s take a look at Travis Scott’s discography and discuss its contents, impact, and overall sound, which helped him become one of hip-hop’s only modern-day rock stars.
Rodeo, 2015
On the heels of one of the most impressive mixtapes of the 2010’s, Travis Scott released Rodeo on Sept. 4, 2015, and received immediate praise from critics and audiences alike. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 200, while the hit song “Antidote” peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Antidote” was one of the earliest songs to blow up on social media, appearing heavily on the app Vine in the first few years of its release.
The album was stacked with features from the likes of Future, The Weeknd, 2 Chainz, Chief Keef, Justin Bieber, Quavo, Young Thug and Kanye West, to name a few. West’s appearance on the album was especially important because Scott himself calls the Chicago native one of his two biggest influences and consistently praises him for kick-starting his music career. The two linked up on one of the record’s less popular tracks, “Piss On Your Grave,” fusing rock elements with Scott’s traditional trap style.
The album also featured production from Metro Boomin, Mike Dean and Wonda Gurl, who collaborated on different tracks to provide the perfect backdrop.
While Scott sticks to his roots of trap and rage, this album is a whirlwind of different sounds and genres that helped the artist elevate his career to new heights, thanks to his creativity. While there isn’t a single theme that runs throughout the record, it goes back and forth, discussing topics such as navigating fame, love, drugs and riches.
For those who weren’t familiar with Scott at that point, this album would be the introduction to his now-iconic melodic autotuned voice, which hypnotizes the listener over the hour-plus run of the album. Songs like “Maria I’m Drunk,” “Oh My Dis Side” and his best song according to fans, “90210,” are three of the best examples of how Scott uses his voice as an instrument to create his patented vibe.
“The album revels in its way of presenting an aesthetic that is equal parts soothing and energetic,” said Mark Chinapen of Medium.
While it is easy to fall into a trance when listening to Rodeo, the reason it became so well-received is the rollercoaster of genres it takes the listener through from song to song. One minute you’re listening to a song featuring The Weeknd about love, while the next has Chief Keef rapping on “Nightcrawler” with sirens blaring in the background.
Rodeo was Scott’s welcome party to the mainstream hip-hop world, becoming one of the defining albums of the 2010s. With a boatload of great features, solid production, great rap performances and hit songs, it is no wonder this album became so beloved by the hip-hop community.
It didn’t take long for Scott to follow up his hit record, as just a year later, he would follow Rodeo with another smash, making it clear he was there to stay.
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, 2016
Scott’s second studio album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, or Birds as I’ll refer to it, was released on Sept. 16, 2016. It debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 200, marking it as the first number one record of his young career.
The album received mostly positive reviews upon release but arguably suffered from the “sophomore album syndrome” that many young rappers face. It was going to be hard to top Rodeo, but because he made such a splash early on, fans expected the Houston native to release something even better than his first project.
“Honestly, while I know I enjoyed this more than Rodeo, I’m not sure I could tell you why,” said a writer for Spectrum Pulse.
Though some enjoyed the project more for its party atmosphere and fun songs, others thought it had too many tracks that sounded the same and were no different from Rodeo.
Now 10 years later, the album has stood the test of time and developed a cult following for its underrated songs, which some fans argue don’t get enough recognition. While Birds doesn’t expand on anything Rodeo presented in terms of substance or theming, that doesn’t seem to be the goal of this record. The album is laced with countless fun listens, surprising features and catchy choruses. Scott already showed off his ability to make mesmerizing hooks on his previous work, but Birds took that to another level.
Songs like “Way Back,” “Coordinate,” “Sweet Sweet,” “Pick Up the Phone” and “Sdp Interlude” all hold some of Scott’s most memorable hooks.
Where the album shines in terms of overall fun and catchiness, it lacks the quantity of hit songs that all three of Scott’s other albums feature. The only two songs on the album that are considered hits are “Pick Up the Phone” and “Goosebumps,” the latter of which remains his most-streamed song to this day, with over 3 billion streams worldwide.
“Goosebumps” undoubtedly changed the trajectory of Scott’s career to superstardom, but fans were still clamouring for more hits from the artist.
In terms of features, Scott unleashed another stacked cast of artists on this album, including returning faces like Quavo, Young Thug and The Weeknd. This record also featured two legends, Kid Cudi and André 3000, who both put a clinic on their respective tracks “The Ends” and “Through the Late Night”. Cudi was the other major influence on Scott’s career, with Scott even having used Cudi’s real first name as his last name professionally.
Scott credits Cudi for saving his life and it’s easy to tell that Birds is inspired by Cudi’s work on almost every song. Scott even adapted his own variation of Cudi’s legendary hums, bringing it to the table on countless songs, even in the current day.
Birds may not be the most experimental project in Scott’s discography, but if you’re looking for an album with lots of fun songs and infectious choruses, you can’t go wrong here.
After Birds, Scott took a break from dropping albums for a couple of years. As the summer of 2018 rolled around, fans were speculating about the drop of an upcoming album that had been teased for months. It would be his most successful work to date.
ASTROWORLD, 2018
Four months after the hit single “Watch” dropped to tease the album, ASTROWORLD was released on Aug. 3, 2018, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 200. The album remained on the charts for an astounding seven years before finally falling off in December 2025. The album consists of 17 songs, all of which have been certified platinum, making it one of only a few albums to achieve that status. Famously, it lost the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album to Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy, further fueling Scott for his future work.
If the consensus was that Scott left fans wanting more, ASTROWORLD provided, and then some.
Not only was the album released in the middle of summer, but it was also the height of the artist’s popularity to that point. His real-life relationship with Kylie Jenner was the buzz on social media, as the two had welcomed their first child just months earlier.
The album was an homage to a beloved Houston theme park of the same name that was shut down in 2005. It was a place where Scott spent his childhood riding roller coasters and playing games. The theming and design around the album were out of this world. If you’re all about the vibes, this record doesn’t shy away from pulling you into its summer-amusement-park atmosphere, with spacey sounds, colours and flavours.
Take the intro, “Stargazing,” for example. The two-part song begins with an atmospheric two minutes before entering a majestic beat switch, bridging to a headbanging trap anthem. The next song, “Carousel,” is the first of many to hold a hidden feature not listed on the album. Frank Ocean makes a surprise appearance on the upbeat song, as he had begun to feature on music less frequently by this time. The hidden feature element was a genius idea that kept first-time listeners on their toes with each song.
This idea peaked on the third song, “Sicko Mode.” Taken aback would be an understatement for how fans reacted when they first heard Drake on the song, since his name wasn’t listed among the song’s participants. This led to some truly iconic reactions from internet personalities, helping the song blow up even more. It became Scott’s second most popular song ever, thanks to the Drake feature, endless memes, insane beat switches and raging production. The song now has over 2.5 billion streams across all platforms and is cemented as a staple of the 2010s for Gen Z across all genres.
The rest of the album maintains a fresh, new sound throughout, with each song carrying a unique vibe, making for a great listen as a complete album. There are very few to no lows throughout the record’s entire 58-minute run time, as every song is either a smash hit or a gem.
ASTROWORLD also helped kickstart new careers for up-and-coming artists, including Don Toliver, who had arguably the best performance on the album with his feature on “Can’t Say.” Toliver is now one of the most popular hip-hop artists of the 2020s, signing with Cactus Jack (Scott’s label) in 2018.
Hit songs off the album included the aforementioned “Sicko Mode,” “Butterfly Effect,” “No Bystanders” and “Skeletons,” just to name a few.
Scott’s third studio album is often considered his best work, proving to any doubters that he has what it takes to become a superstar in the rap industry. He was now at the top of the mountain, but little did fans know that he would not release another solo album for the next five years.
Utopia, 2023
Fans waited as each month went by with more rumours about when the next Travis Scott album would be released. Late 2022 brought an announcement that the Houston artist was finally dropping his newest project the next year.
After countless teasers and fake release dates, his fourth studio album, Utopia, came out on July 28, 2023. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 200 and broke the record of most vinyl sales for a rap album since 1991. The successful vinyl sales were in part due to the various secret alternate covers he dropped with the album, along with merchandise packs.
This album was Scott’s darkest and most mature yet. The production featured heavy, grand sounds that served as a backdrop to some of the artist’s deepest tracks to date. It’s also important to note the influence of Kanye West and Kid Cudi, which is spread throughout the record. The West-like production combined with the similar singing of Cudi makes this album sound like a mixture of The Life of Pablo and Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’.
This album was just two years past the infamous Astroworld tragedy, leaving Scott’s reputation in somewhat of a turmoil with the general public. The festival resulted in several fatalities and painted Scott as a careless performer who prioritized his brand over his fans’ safety. To the public eye, he was a reckless rock star on the verge of becoming another victim of cancel culture. However, by the time Utopia was set to release, the storm seemed to have blown past, and people were now more excited about new music than dwelling on the past.
The fourth song on the album, “My Eyes,” is a sorrowful letter to the families of the victims and a reflection on the event. The Giveon feature and slow production play for the first two and a half minutes, then the song takes a complete 180, turning into a fast-paced rap clinic. For an artist known for his beat selection and ability to turn up a crowd, Scott displays an iconic rapping performance on the track, featuring bars about dead fans and regretful decisions.
It’s no surprise that the album also hosts another one of the artist’s biggest songs to date. “Fein” became an overnight sensation after the repetitive Playboi Carti chorus had fans in attendance at his shows chanting for dozens of replays of the song. Other hits included “Meltdown,” “Telekinesis” and the lead single “K-Pop.”
The album is mostly considered a step down from ASTROWORLD, but it still possesses unique flows and sounds that fans were eager to hear.
Since Utopia, Scott has not released another solo project. Still, he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down after dropping the second iteration of the “Jackbyos” series with fellow record label mates.
Travis Scott stood out amongst his peers during a time when artists were guilty of stealing styles. The impact he left on a generation is undoubtedly immense, and with more music to come, Scott looks to have more left in the tank as 2026 progresses.