Travis Scott is one of the most significant, if divisive, voices in American rap music. 2023’s ‘UTOPIA’ was – depending on whose opinion you absorbed – either a triumph of world-building, or a hollow gesture of stylish largesse. Or both. Or neither. His reputation still marked by the Astroworld crush and the poor comms emitted during the fallout, it felt as though the way music fans viewed Travis Scott was irrevocably fractured into a million pieces. At one point, though, there was unity. At one point, there was ‘DAYS BEFORE RODEO’.
His 2014 mixtape was Travis Scott’s second major project, and to fans it’s his bedrock. Luminescent tones that offer glimpses of a sci-fi persona, his psychedelic trap sound was built for headphone use – it felt intimate, as though hitting ‘play’ was entering some Alice In Wonderland rap odyssey where all the rules were off.
Placed on streaming for the first time to honour it 10th anniversary, ‘DAYS BEFORE RODEO’ holds up remarkably well. While some elements are of its time, the project as a whole revels in invention – some tricks have become a well-worn part of the rap handbook, but this is literally where Travis invented them.
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Listening to it in 2024 is a kind of mobius strip experience, where past and present are folded into one. ‘Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer’ is a shuddering, bombastic introduction; ‘Mamacita’ is incredible, the Southern soul sample stretched to breaking point. ‘Zombies’ traces an eerie path down your spine, while ‘Backyard’ remains a pivotal Travis Scott anthem.
Some choices are of an era. Would Travis Scott interpolate a song by The 1975 in 2024? Probably not, but ‘Don’t Play’ doesn’t suffer from that – swaggering, arena-worthy sonics that hauled down the barriers between genres, and dared to make Matty Healy sound kinda dangerous.
With bonus cuts promised – retrieved from the studio floor, and preserved for posterity – it seems as though this will become the definitive edition of ‘DAYS BEFORE RODEO’. A must for fans, and the ideal entry point for anyone who has casually flirted with Travis Scott’s work, this anniversary has come at the ideal time – this is his foundation, and his testimony.
9/10
Words: Robin Murray
