The thing to know about Travis Scott? There doesn’t seem to be very much to know about Travis Scott. The 32-year-old rapper and producer is a profoundly uncomplicated star with a complicated public persona – owing mainly to the 2021 tragedy that saw 10 people die during his headlining performance at Astroworld, the festival he put on in his home town of Houston. But unlike his collaborator Drake or longtime mentor Kanye West, or indeed any of the other rappers who have achieved a similar level of superstardom, Scott doesn’t seem driven by a spiritual need to prove his artistry to the world, or a desire to reshape art in his own image, or even an urge to understand his experience through music.
Instead, Scott is a bricolage artist who seems content to make hits with prefab components, pulling together proven ingredients in the hope of alchemising them into something intoxicating. He may not possess West’s nervy charisma, or his Wonkaesque production talent, but he certainly learned one thing from him: sometimes, being a pop star is as much about getting the right people in the room with you as it is about having the best idea possible.
