Is Travis Scott’s Own Rapping the Only Weak Point on ‘Utopia’?
Travis Scott’s Utopia has only been out for two and a half weeks, but it’s already spawned numerous strands of discourse, from the apparent debt its production owes to various scrapped Kanye West songs to whether its lyrics should have more extensively addressed Scott’s reaction to the fatal crowd crush at his 2021 Astroworld Festival.
But the overwhelming reaction from critics, including Rolling Stone’s own Andre Gee, was that the album’s biggest weakness is Scott himself, who continues to seem like he’s better at producing and choosing collaborators than he is at expressing himself as a rapper. Scott’s fans, meanwhile, are adamant that anyone looking for deep lyrics from Travis Scott are simply expecting the wrong things from his music.
On the new episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Gee joins host Brian Hiatt for a deep dive on the album, from its guest stars (Beyoncé, John Mayer, SZA, Drake, and many more), to its production and place in Scott’s discography, and to the question of the Astroworld tragedy. To hear the whole podcast, go here to the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.
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