Travis Scott had been mostly silent since the release of his 3rd Studio album Astroworld, and  he had been especially quiet since the Astroworld Concert incident where 10 people died. But in February 2023, Travis revealed that his newest album would be released after each respective member of his record label “Cactus Jack records” would release their albums. The hype train went into full effect as soon as the news of UTOPIA came out; the train didn’t slow down either as the album hit a billion streams in a month.

“UTOPIA” is an absolute blockbuster of an album when it comes to features, featuring many huge artists including the Weeknd, Beyonce, Drake, Bad Bunny, SZA, Pharrell, Kanye West, Future, 21 Savage, Young Thug, James Blake, Playboi Carti, Bon Iver, Swae Lee, Kid Cudi and Dave Chappelle. UTOPIA features many different styles we have seen from Travis before, from songs that feature “Rodeo’s” dark melancholy style, to songs that feature the bombastic nature of “Astroworld”. UTOPIA is a culmination of all of Travis’s career into one album.

In the beginning of the first track “Hyaena” Travis does not shy away from describing the elephant in the room saying,  “The situation we are in at this time. Neither a good one, nor is it so unblessed.” At the beginning of UTOPIA Travis is chasing after this perfect place (a UTOPIA), but at the moment he is just living his day-to-day life. Following these lines “Hyaena” has a hostile and aggressive sound new to Travis. One thing Travis is very well known for is the insanely impressive beat switches on his albums and no song represents that better than the track “MY EYES.” “MY EYES” begins very softly; it maintains this softness until about two minutes where it transforms into an upbeat song in an absolutely magical transition.

The theme of UTOPIA doesn’t return again until the end of the track “Sirens.” Travis croons,  “I thought we were going to utopia? What makes you say this isn’t utopia?I mean, I don’t know, isn’t it supposed to be some perfect destination? This is just your hotel room. Yeah, it looks perfect to me.” Following “Sirens” is the track “Meltdown.” “Meltdown” is the first track with a major feature, that being Drake. “Meltdown” evokes a hype feeling with its boomy 808s and Drake’s in your face aggressive vocals. “Meltdown” is a perfect example of  UTOPIA’s sound:  its bombastic, has massive features, and represents the totality of Travis’s career.

Although UTOPIA is an excellent album, it does tend to drag on too long. The album features a massive 19 song track list, and has a run time of an hour and 13 minutes. UTOPIA also has several songs that in my opinion should have never been included in the album. “K – POP”, for example, was an especially controversial track. “K – POP” was the first and only single released for UTOPIA, and  the public reaction to the track was not great and led many fans to believe UTOPIA would not be a worthy sequel to Astroworld.

Production: 9/10

“UTOPIA” has jaw dropping production, and  it consistently has incredible backing tracks.

Lyrics: 7/10

The lyrics are excellent in this album, especially in the slower songs like “MY EYES.”

Vocals: 8/10

Travis’s vocals are average in this album, but the vocals in this album really shine from the features. SZA and Beyonce in particular have vocals that are out of this world and really carry their respective songs.

Instrumentals: 9.5/10

Travis is well known for the beats to his tracks and he did not disappoint in this album. The album consistently has incredible beats from start to finish.

Features: 10/10

This album is stacked back-to-back with features from huge artists.

Consistency: 8/10

This album only really has two songs I didn’t enjoy, those being “LOOOVE” and “K-POP.” The rest of the album is very consistent in its high quality, but those two songs honestly bring this album down a lot.

Length: 6/10

 Length is one of this album’s biggest problems, it has points in songs that I feel are long for no real reason. One good example is the final quarter of the song “SIRENS” where it repeats  one sample over and over for a very extended time.

Replay Value: 9.5/10

 The replay value on this album is insanely impressive, I find myself listening to this album all of the time.

Enjoyment: 9.5/10

 My first listen to this album was magical. I had highly anticipated this album as I loved Travis’s previous albums, and this album did not disappoint me. My first listen is something I will never forget.

Creativity: 7/10

This album does resemble Travis’s work in Kanye’s album Yeezus, however it has heavily expanded this style.