Astroworld

He was a gawky teenager from the Texas suburbs who flubbed interviews and wore snapbacks, but when Kanye West first saw Travis Scott's home-made video for his self-released single Lights (Lovesick) he invited him to the studio to work on Cruel Summer immediately. A year later, the 2013 sloppy mescaline-trip mixtape Owl Pharaoh foreshadowed him as one of hip hop’s visionaries.

And within four more years, he was riding a giant animatronic eagle through the air at arenas with a blazing stage presence that even his tour mate Kendrick Lamar faced difficulty following. His third studio album, Astroworld, feels like the grand opening of a vision that took a half-decade to perfect, still using the same psychedelic synth warps, diamond-cut drums, and reptilian hooks that initially skyrocketed him to stardom. (Drowned in Sound).

Tracklisting

1. STARGAZING
2. CAROUSEL
3. SICKO MODE
4. R.I.P. SCREW
5. STOP TRYING TO BE GOD
6. NO BYSTANDERS
7. SKELETONS
8. WAKE UP
9. 5% TINT
10. NC-17
11. ASTROTHUNDER
12. YOSEMITE
13. CAN'T SAY
14. WHO? WHAT!
15. BUTTERFLY EFFECT
16. HOUSTONFORNICATION
17. COFFEE BEAN