Travis Scott

Travis Scott was born Jacques Bermon Webster II on April 30, 1991, in Houston, Texas, and grew up in nearby Missouri City. Before releasing albums under his stage name, he made music with Chris Holloway as the Graduates and with OG Chess as the Classmates. His early solo releases, the mixtapes *Owl Pharaoh* (2013) and *Days Before Rodeo* (2014), established a sound built around heavy bass, layered vocals, and abrupt shifts in atmosphere. He signed with Epic Records and became associated with Kanye West’s GOOD Music production circle; he also worked with T.I.’s Grand Hustle imprint during his early career.

His debut studio album, *Rodeo*, arrived in 2015 and included “Antidote” and “90210,” the latter featuring Kacy Hill. *Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight* followed in 2016, reaching number one on the Billboard 200. Its songs included “goosebumps,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, and “pick up the phone,” with Young Thug and Quavo. In 2017, Scott and Quavo issued their collaborative album *Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho*. His next solo album, *Astroworld* (2018), took its name from a former local Houston amusement park and debuted at number one in the United States. “Sicko Mode,” featuring Drake, became Scott’s first Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.

Scott launched the Astroworld Festival in Houston in 2018. At its November 2021 edition, a crowd crush during his performance killed ten people and injured many others. The disaster brought extensive scrutiny of event planning and crowd safety. Beyond his solo recordings, Scott founded the Cactus Jack label, whose artists appeared on the 2019 compilation *JackBoys*. He staged *Astronomical*, a virtual concert inside *Fortnite*, in April 2020, and partnered with McDonald’s on a limited-time meal that September. His 2020 single “Franchise,” featuring Young Thug and M.I.A., debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, marking another major commercial milestone in his career.

In July 2023, Scott released *Utopia*, his first studio album since *Astroworld*. It entered the Billboard 200 at number one and featured “FE!N,” with Playboi Carti, “MELTDOWN,” with Drake, and “TELEKINESIS,” with Future and SZA. The album also contains “MY EYES,” a track whose contrasting sections move from subdued singing to rapid rapping. Scott accompanied the release with the film *Circus Maximus* and later took the album on the Circus Maximus Tour. *Days Before Rodeo* received an official streaming release in 2024, a decade after its original mixtape release. The tour brought his elaborate stage productions to large international audiences.