walking upstream…
Travis Scott
photo: bobak ha'eri · cc by 3.0 ↗Travis Scott
sourcesWikipedia · Wikipedia — Yeezus
Jacques Bermon Webster II built a maximalist, distortion-soaked strain of Houston trap where sub-bass, gothic choirs, and Auto-Tuned moans collapse into an arena-sized roar. From Owl Pharaoh through the amusement-park mythology of Astroworld, he turned festival mainstages into an extension of the studio, chasing rage and euphoria in the same breath. He remains one of the era's most imitated producers of atmosphere, a Houston kid who rebuilt trap as psychedelic spectacle.
the sound in question
2018
SICKO MODETravis Scott
walk the tributaries ↓
Kid Cudi2000s–2010s · Hip hop / Alternative hip hop / Pop rap
Scott took half his stage name from Scott Mescudi and has repeatedly called Kid Cudi his favorite artist and biggest inspiration, crediting 2009's Man on the Moon era with making him believe he could actually make it as a rapper — the melodic, half-sung hums and moody hooks that run through Travis's catalog trace straight back to Cudi's template.
listen: upstream & heresource: The FADER — How Travis Scott Went From Kid Cudi Superfan To Collaborator ↗
2008
Day 'N' NiteKid Cudi
2015
90210Travis Scott
listen forPlay Kid Cudi's 'Day 'N' Nite' and then Travis Scott's '90210' — hear the same foggy, half-mumbled melodic ache riding a spare, hypnotic beat, one artist's signature mood inherited almost wholesale by the other.
Kanye West2000s · Hip-hop / Conscious hip-hop
Kanye signed Scott to a G.O.O.D. Music publishing deal in 2012 as an in-house producer, and Scott went on to co-produce Yeezus tracks 'New Slaves' and 'Guilt Trip' directly alongside him — the industrial clatter and maximalist scale of that mentorship carried straight into Scott's own festival-scaled production.
listen: upstream & here
2013
New SlavesKanye West
2018
STARGAZINGTravis Scott
listen forPlay Kanye's 'New Slaves,' which Travis co-produced, against Travis's own 'STARGAZING' — the same instinct for letting a beat lurch and mutate mid-song rather than sit still.
T.I.2000s · Southern hip hop / Trap / Gangsta rap
T.I. heard Scott's production work and signed him to a joint-venture deal with Grand Hustle Records in 2013, an early vote of confidence from Southern rap's self-styled 'King of the South' that anchored Scott's sound in the region's trap lineage before he ever became a Houston-specific festival brand.
listen: upstream & here
2003
Rubber Band ManT.I.
2015
AntidoteTravis Scott
listen forPlay T.I.'s 'Rubber Band Man' and then Travis Scott's 'Antidote' — both ride a loping, bass-heavy Southern trap pocket built for a crowd to bounce to, even as Scott smears it in haze and reverb.