(Jul 28, 2022 ● Oslin Pierrette)
Rodeo is one of the most instrumental(significant) albums in my musical upbringing. It’s one of my first favorite albums. Travis Scott is probably one of my first legitimate favorite artists. I remember a car was passing by, and I heard this amazing sound. It was like Oooooowaaaaaaa. I kept trying to google the lyrics, but I knew I didn’t have a sufficient sample to figure out the amazingness I just heard. Then at different parties and hangouts. I kept hearing this other song. Due to my pride at the time, I could not ask and wasn’t privy to shazam. Streaming services weren’t really a thing yet. Youtube didn’t have authorization to have songs on there like they do today. So it was a tough find.
Finally I found the culprit. Travis Scott. The initial songs I heard were ‘Skyfall’ on ‘Days Before Rodeo’, and ‘Maria I’m Drunk’ off ‘Rodeo’. I played these songs, blasted these songs relentlessly. Never heard things like this, but it deeply affected me. I got more into Travis Scott. Who he was, his upbringing of this sound. That he was the Kanye protege, who did the drums on Yeezus. Also produced his own songs. I thought to like Hip-Hop, you had to prioritize bars and lyrics. So I went through a phase before this, listening to lyrical rappers. I liked it, but researching Travis, he was a production first artist. In the mid ’10s, he really had a strong signature sound. That you could recognize early in the song. This rustic dusty rodeo-like sound. The sounds and production were amazing. It helped me care more about the whole soundscape, product, and production of the song. Rather than just prioritizing lyrics. Music was way more enjoyable doing that. I thought being a producer rapper was the coolest thing.
Rodeo the album is a top 15 album of the 2010s, arguably top 10. It’s like a perfectly produced album. The production is some of the highest quality you’ll hear. The production is densed, and amazingly layered. Especially when you got the best producers in the world working on the album. Travis Scott, Mike Dean, Kanye, Metro Boomin, etc. So you’re hearing the best mix of sounds.
This was deeply in the soundtrack of one of the golden eras of music. Lots of notable hits on the album. Antidote, probably his breakout song. One of the best rager songs. Then you have Maria I’m Drunk. It was like a perfect song to sing with your friends. It was so crazy. Travis Scott, Young Thug, and J. Biebs is the wildest pairing you wouldn’t expect to see on paper for one song. For the emo kids, you had the very euphoric song Impossible. He had a great club record with 3500. Oh My Dis Side is a song I heavily played, using one of my favorite Jodeci samples. Also Trav & Quavo was a magical pairing on that song. Then you have one of Travis Scott’s best songs 90210. The production and rapping on that was just perfect. This album had all types of vibes, centered around Travis’ sound though.
There’s a lot of great things about this album. Just looking at the album cover, you just feel the icon this album is. The transitions this album had were amazing, taking you to another world. Some amazing sequencing, it had a great flow to it. This album felt really clean, where you could just listen straight through. A concise, no skip 14 songs with 2 bonuses. This is definitely Travis Scott’s best album. I would really just like him to do a Rodeo show.
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