September 4th will mark exactly 10 years since Travis Scott came through with his debut studio album, Rodeo. This is an occasion that's definitely worthy of discussion, not only because of how good the album's contents were, but also because of how impactful it was for Travis's career and the overall rap landscape going forward.
Back during the first half of the 2010's, if you were aware of Travis Scott, it was probably only as a protégé to Kanye West via his GOOD Music label. He'd shown potential with mixtapes like Owl Pharoah and especially Days Before Rodeo, but still had yet to come into his own and fully break out. The release of Rodeo changed that forever.
The past decade has seen Travis Scott blow up into nothing short of a household name. He's undeniably one of the biggest stars in music today, hip-hop or otherwise. Now, with its 10 year anniversary upon us, it is the perfect time to look back at Rodeo, the album that catalyzed Travis's insane trajectory.
Travis Scott's Rodeo was a standout in 2015, and it stands out today
Rodeo was a one-of-a-kind album when it first dropped, and that has only become clearer with each passing year. It's obvious that with his background and come-up in the rap game, Travis Scott was uniquely positioned to create the masterpiece that Rodeo is.
Travis hailed from Houston, a city that'd made distinct contributions to the southern hip-hop genre. He'd also developed connections to another southern rap town, Atlanta. He was affiliated with T.I.'s Grand Hustle label, and had features with even more Atlanta artists, such as Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, and Migos.
Simultaneously, Travis was very much inspired by his time working with Kanye West. Before his deserved fall from grace in recent years, Kanye had built up a reputation as one of the best composers in rap. He was renowned for his ability to captivate with elaborate song structures and larger-than-life vision.
Rodeo was the natural outcome of these various influences on Travis. It was a southern trap album, but it went far beyond the more usual formulas that the style offered, also displaying the detailed song craft and grandiosity that Kanye was known for. The result was a project that stood out, and in the best way possible.
This grandiose, trap hybrid dynamic manifests itself in several different ways throughout Rodeo's tracklist. One such example of this is the way in which T.I. pops in to provide a spoken narrative element for the album, which he does on several different tracks like "Wasted" or the album's opener.
Another is through the album's many other features, which are supplied by quite an eclectic group of artists. One moment you'll be getting a smooth verse from Future, and in another, Toro y Moi will be delivering a beautiful bridge. Even Justin Beiber shows up at one point to lay down some surprisingly adequate rhymes.
Regardless of which guest artist is on a given track, Travis always fits them into the fabric of the album seamlessly, and frequently brings out their best. Notable standouts include a comedic 2 Chainz appearance on "3500", Kacy Hill's gorgeous singing in the first half of "90210", and The Weeknd's melancholy hook on "Pray 4 Love".
Yet another way the dynamic manifests is through the production of the album. There's significant tonal range, but everything is brought together by a psychedelic trap energy. These beats consistently wow, whether it's the nocturnal banger "Nightcrawler" or the wavy "Maria I'm Drunk". They truly take trap to new artistic highs.
The presence of beat switches is further evidence of that, with a significant chunk of these songs including one at some point. Some of the starkest are on "Oh My Dis Side", which goes from cavernous to flowery, and "90210", which switches from a frigid vibe to what feels like a tender embrace instrumentally.
It's at least worth mentioning that this project isn't particularly deep lyrically, but that's never been the appeal of Travis Scott's music. On top of that, Rodeo is still Travis's most introspective album to date, with moments like the second half of the aforementioned "90210" easily being amongst his most reflective ever.
On the whole, Rodeo is a journey of a record featuring plenty of highs and lows, but with all of it coming together into one epic expression. Every single song has merit to it, and listening through it is an incredible ride to take. Then, even beyond its quality, the album had an outsized impact on hip hop post-2015.
Rodeo was massively important for two reasons. For one, it established Travis Scott as an artistic force going forward. Every one of Travis's solo albums since Rodeo has gone number one, and his signature sound has been endlessly ripped off by others, though rarely has it been executed as well.
Additionally, Rodeo played a significant role in paving the way for the mainstreaming of trap music generally, which would occur over the next half decade. It isn't the only factor in that development, but it's also not shocking that trap's peak in pop culture came in the years immediately following Rodeo's release.
Even though Travis Scott has reached far greater levels of commercial success in the years since it dropped, Rodeo is still Travis's magnum opus. He's remains a trendsetter, but for all the hits he has spawned and the records he has sold, nothing has quite reached his debut album creatively.
On "Apple Pie", in Rodeo's final moments (not counting the bonus tracks), listeners hear T.I. give a monologue in which he openly wonders if Travis Scott will make it, win, and survive the rodeo. Now that a decade has passed, it can be said with no doubt that he did.