The record marks the Houston rapper’s first full-length solo release since 2018’s Astroworld
The extensive wait for Travis Scott’s highly-anticipated new album Utopia is over. The Houston rapper had his elaborative project rollout momentarily derailed when his concert at the Pyramids of Giza was cancelled just days before it was set to take place, but he didn’t let that push the album off any further. Utopia, the long-awaited follow up to 2018’s Astroworld, has arrived.
Scott has been teasing Utopia for months. In May, during an Astros game in his hometown, the rapper revealed that he had played the album for the baseball team ahead of their matchup with the Chicago Cubs. But his teasing really was just that: a tease. Scott hadn’t provided any firm insight into the record beyond stating that it evoked the same feeling of his early career releases like Rodeo and the Owl Pharaoh.
“It just takes me back to the motherfucking days where we used to just flip shit upside-motherfucking-down,” he told the audience during a performance at Wireless Festival earlier this month. The wording of his statement, though likely unintentional, brings to mind one prevailing reason why it took five years to follow-up Astroworld in the first place. In November 2021, 10 individuals died in a crowd rush at Scott’s Astroworld Festival. Last month, a Texas grand jury decided not to pursue criminal charges against the rapper.
In February, Epic Records CEO Slyvia Rhone told Billboard that a new record from Scott was expected to arrive in June, so he isn’t too far off schedule with his late-July release. Over the last few months, the rapper has shared collaborative singles with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd (“K-Pop“); Chase B, Quavo, Ty Dolla $ign, and Don Toliver (“Ring Ring”); Trippie Redd (“Embarrassed”); and more.
Scott had six different album covers designed for Utopia. Some of the images are distorted, while others channel a zombie apocalypse. “The journey thru the album took me all over the world and can’t wait to finally drop the album,” he wrote on Instagram earlier this week. “The main cover will drop Thurs. Until then a cover everyday. Love u see u in Utopia.”