After five years of touring, collaborating with other mainstream artists and climbing to the highest level of musical fame, Travis Scott finally released Utopia, his fourth studio album. Since his highly praised Astroworld in 2018, Travis Scott had not released a solo album or EP until this July. Although he had a large role in the production of JACKBOYS, it was a compilation of songs from various artists and not a solo work. Because of this, fans were ready for new music. This was also a symbolic comeback from the devastating events of his Astroworld Festival in 2021 that have loomed over his career ever since.
Opinions on Utopia varied greatly — everyone seemed to have a slightly different take. For senior Frankie Kpetigo the album definitely did not disappoint.
“I got a call from my friends that Travis just dropped and I jumped out of bed and put my airpods in and I just listened to the full hour and thirteen minutes,” Kpetigo said. “I loved the production on the album and the features. This was kind of like Travis’s Yeezus, where he switched up the flow, switched up the style and tried experimenting.”
This change in style can be heard most on songs like “THANK GOD” and “CIRCUS MAXIMUS” where Scott creates a supernatural feel in the music. Many enjoyed this aspect of the album although the more popular songs were those that sounded similar to Scott’s previous work. These songs featured popular artists such as Drake, Future, 21 Savage, Beyoncé, The Weekend and SZA. Amongst the favorite tracks were “I KNOW?”, “MELTDOWN” and “TELEKINESIS”, but these songs are just a fraction of the album. The other tracks with less popularity have caused some not to enjoy UTOPIA as much.
Like many, sophomore Meher Parsinni was somewhat underwhelmed by the album.
“I had mixed feelings about all of it. I expected it to be groundbreaking, and it was good, but for five years I expected more,” Parsinni said.
“It was definitely a good album and I liked it. It was not worth the five year wait though,” Kpetigo added.
The amount of time listeners spent waiting for new Travis Scott music evidently had an effect on their opinions. Leaving fans to anticipate new music gives them time to build up expectations that can end up being hard to meet. Junior Zein Saleh thinks that this may have been the case for UTOPIA.
“I think a lot of good albums are looked at as not being as good because the artist waits too long to drop them and the hype becomes too big,” Saleh said.
Another factor that could have impacted the opinions on UTOPIA is Scott’s other music. For fans, Scott’s other albums are so hard to top that this one was bound to be under tough judgment.
“It would be a nine out of ten in my opinion had he not just dropped a ten out of ten album before. It’s just a lot to live up to and for that reason I would give it an eight,” Kpetigo said.
Parsinni felt similarly. “I liked the features and how it was made. I thought it was good but it wasn’t his best work,” Parsinni commented.
The unique style and production of the album has divided listeners. While many appreciate the change,others would rather get more music that sounds like “old Travis.” People commonly share the belief that UTOPIA was not worth such a long period of anticipation.
“Five years is a long time. If you’re gonna wait five years to drop an album it has to be really good,” Saleh said.