Travi$ Scott has the juice. Summer 2014 was less than stellar musically, until the Houston producer-rapper’s free album, Days Before Rodeo, arrived, which he discussed in detail during a recent interview with GQ.
Scott has yet to create a discography that earns him the genius tag, but he’s damn talented. He also possesses the eccentricities and competitiveness exhibited by top-tier creatives, including his mentor Kanye West. No wonder the 22-year-old replied, “Mostly singers and sh*t. I don’t think any rappers,” when discussing who he see’s as competition.
And Scott may be right, as far as where he’s taking things sonically. Other than West, veterans seem to coast, while reveling in their elder statesmen roles, rather than attempting to push the bar and a bulk of his contemporaries are essentially carbon copies of another, more developed rap star.
Days Before Rodeo is the bubbling rhymer’s most complete work to date, but one cannot help but to wonder if giving it out for free was a bad move. “I felt like this is sh*t that wouldn’t make… I don’t want to say it wouldn’t make my album, but, like, the way I pictured my studio album that’s in stores will be a different genre of music,” Scott explained.
Fans can expect Scott’s next LP to impact later this year or at the top of 2015 if all goes as planned. But in the meantime, he says “Just know Ye is coming to kick some a**.”
Read the remainder of Scott’s GQ interview here. See some photos from the spread and GQ‘s Fashion Week celebration on the following pages.
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Photo: GQ/Jace Lumley/Getty Images for GQ
