After seeing Circus Maximus, Travis Scott’s film that was released exclusively through AMC theaters around the US and that helped lead to the hype for Utopia, his long awaited fourth album, I stopped in a 24-hour diner called Bob and Edith’s. Since I was wearing an Astroworld t-shirt, there was a guy who asked me if I had listened to the new album yet. It was 12:25. The album was released at 12 AM. Just goes to show you how rabid Scott’s fanbase is, and the proverbial third the ragers had felt for the 1,650 days since Astroworld dropped.

The “Utopia” title floated around at the end of the Astroworld tour cycle but it seems like Travis didn’t really stay in line with the theme of actual utopia. Between what I saw in the Circus Maximus movie and the album it seems more to reference aspects of a dystopia more than building utopia.  Even a lot of the covers that were released the week of in the lead up to the release of the album portrayed a man grasping at money in a impoverished area, a washed out image and a image of four black men around white woman which obviously raised some collective eyebrows on Twitter (excuse me, I mean X).  

The one single we got from the beginning of the album cycle was “K-Pop,” the seemingly algorithmic picked song featuring The Weeknd and Bad Bunny, which was collectively met with yawns and sighs given that it felt like Travis was picking a safe Latin inspired single to simply capture Bad Bunny’s market share, which I guess makes sense but it seems a little out of range and disingenuous in comparison to Travis’s usual cutting edge music. But this misstep tended to be overlooked by the marketing of Utopia, with Travis Scott carrying a brown suitcase around labeled with the words “Utopia” on it to megastars like Tom Brady, Kevin Durant, and The Weekend to listen to it. But once the actual day came it seems that the entire music world collectively refreshed their music streaming app of choice at midnight to listen to Utopia.  

The album starts off with a harpsichord beat on the intro “Hyaena,” which caught me by surprise because it definitely didn’t sound like anything sonically or structurally from Travis had done in the past. He is also doing his best to give us rapid-bar-after-bar rapping which isn’t his strong suit, but I appreciate the effort. Then there is “Thank God”’s second half transition, which features the most consistent sonic technique within the album. I am not certain if this is because of previous Travis songs that feature beat changes, *cough*”Sicko Mode”*cough* or if it’s just another way to keep the evergoing TikTok music listener enthralled and connected with a song over 3 minutes without losing there attention,  but this technique works most of the time, even if it is overused. When you watch “Modern Jam” on Travis’s accompanied musical movie, Circus Maximus, the visual is bright andcolorful, showing Travis in around-the-web sports sunglasses that make him look like an X-Men villain. It stands out out of place visually, like Jay-Z’s “Sunshine” video did in relation to the other songs fromIn My Lifetime Vol.1, but with better success. The song seems like a late 2000s riff that could have been a backup record for Black Eyed Peas with Fergie on it. “Moden Jam” is absolutely taken to another level with the addition of Teezo Touchdown, who sings from the perspective and cadence of some type of the Phantom of the Nightclub peering down from the rafters like the wrestler, Sting.  Teezo establishes himself with this feature as one of the most versatile and interesting artists in music right now.  

The day after Utopia was released I was littered with texts from my group chat saying “did you hear what Drake said” and “uh oh there goes Aubrey starting shit again.” To my chagrin, I had not caught the bar on my first listen of the inevitable Travis/ Drake collab “Meltdown”.  The lyrics my groupchat were talking about were these: 

Man, fuck all that spinnin’ the narrative shit

I melt down the chains that I bought from yo’ boss

Give a fuck about all of that heritage shit

Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit

Don’t come to the boy ’bout repairing some shit

Don’t come to the boy about sparing some shit

You lucky that Vogue was suing, ’cause I would’ve been with the Wassas in Paris and shit

As a staunch Pharrell fan and supporter, I could not believe the blasphemy of these lyrics. It seemed like this point of view was reflected online as well, with it seeming like Pharrell caught a stray via the Pusha T and Drake beef. But while there is the controversy of these bars, I can’t help but think this is one of the crescendo moments of the album – the beat change, Travis’ engaging and powered up lyrics match the vibe and energy of the song. This song is followed up by what seems like the definitive fan favorite, “Fe!n” with Sheck Wes (who was playing French international basketball last year after taking a “break” from music) and Playboi Carti.  “Fe!n” has Carti not rapping in his patented “baby voice” but a deep voice that surprised and took the internet by storm. This portion of this album serves as a climax and both songs will undoubtedly be moshpit staples for concert goers.

The album then has high energy moments after this, such as “Topia Twins” with Rob 49 and 21 Savage and “Skitzo” with Young Thug, but it’s hindered by songs that seem out of place and disjointed like “Parasail” which references the Astroworld incident in which 10 people died at Travis’s festival. While I appreciate Travis trying to take on this topic,the song just doesn’t work and is at times not audible; not even the Dave Chapelle monologue at the end of it can bring some life into it. I also wonder how much of an effect the Astroworld incident had on the direction of this album as a whole. Travis is known for his wild concerts, raging and starting moshpit,s but what happens to his music when he has to actively subdue parts of that energy since that same energy that was the propellant of the deaths at Astroworld? It feels like this had a big impact on the direction of this album and some of the song choices, I believe for the worst. 

The album went up without the features labeled on streaming services, which was a great way to keep them a surprise; when Westside Gunn appears on “Lost Forever” it is was a true surprise, and his charisma is welcome on Utopia and validates his claim of being one of the true visionaries of the rap world. Other features are highlighted through the conclusion of the album, such as on “Telekinesis” which will make you feel like your are levitating with SZA vocals that seem syrupy, raunchy and out of this world all at the same time and Future giving one of his better features of the year with lines like:  

I hear the demons clear when they callin’ (Yeah)

Flyest on the Earth, so I had to name myself a planet (Pluto)

The album closes out with “Til Further Notice,” a James Blake assisted and Metro Boomin produced song that seems like an apt conclusion to the album. Travis is rapping the strongest and most lyrical he has on the entire album on this song. While Travis finishes on a high note, a lot of the songs just seem old or out of place vibewise when compared with the rest of Utopia.  Most of the album’s sonics reflect more of a dystopia than a utopia. Cactus Jack label GM David Stromberg talked about world building in an issue of Billboard magazine, stating “Our focus is primarily on the music and world building.” Hopefully with Utopia, this is just the beginning.