Days Before Rodeo Travis Scott
Looking back at a popular artist’s early discography and witnessing him/ her in the process of discovering and solidifying his sonic style can be a delightful experience. Houston rapper Travis Scott, now one of the most popular artists in his genre, got his start off the massive buzz built by his mixtape Days Before Rodeo in 2014. Trained under Kanye West, Travis makes music that reflects his mentor’s knack for maximalism and grandeur, though blending elements in a way that is distinctly his own.
Travis Scott Days Before Rodeo Vinyl
View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 2014 File release of Days Before Rodeo on Discogs.
On his debut mixtape, we see Travis beginning his journey as a trap-rap maverick by sowing the seeds of this ambitious sound. The fact that Travis isn’t just another SoundCloud rapper begins to reveal itself right when the opener Days Before Rodeo The Prayer rolls into focus with its interplay of piano, synths and booming vocal samples. Travis aims to be an outlier and he wastes no time in informing us about it.
Days Before Rodeo Travis Scott
While his lyrics are built around age-old rap tropes and he seldom uses flashy flows, these limitations hardly seem to matter in the context of his dark and cinematic soundscapes. The emphasis, more than anything else, is on mood and style.