Travis Scott

Jacques Bermon Webster II, (born April 30, 1991) known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His stage name is the namesake of a favorite uncle combined with the first name of one of his inspirations, Kid Cudi (whose real name is Scott Mescudi).
In 2012, Scott signed his first major-label contract with Epic Records. In November of the same year, Scott signed a publishing deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music, as part of its production wing Very GOOD Beats. In April 2013, Scott signed a recording contract with T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint. Scott's first full-length project, the mixtape "Owl Pharaoh", was self-released in 2013. It was followed with a second mixtape, "Days Before Rodeo", in August 2014. His debut studio album, "Rodeo" (2015), was led by the hit single "Antidote". His second album, "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight" (2016) became his first number one album on the "Billboard" 200. The following year, Scott released a collaborative album with Quavo titled "Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho" under the group name Huncho Jack. 
Among the world's best-selling music artists, with over 120 million records sold. In 2018, his third studio album "Astroworld" was released to critical acclaim and produced his first "Billboard" Hot 100 number one single, "Sicko Mode" (featuring Drake). In late 2019, Scott's record label Cactus Jack Records released the compilation album "JackBoys" which became the first number one album on the "Billboard" 200 of the 2020s. After the release of his single "Franchise" (featuring Young Thug and M.I.A.) in September 2020, Scott became the first artist on the Hot 100 to have three songs debut at number one in less than a year. He has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards and won a "Billboard" Music Award and a Latin Grammy Award.
Early life.
Jacques Bermon Webster II was born on April 30, 1991 in Houston, Texas. From ages one through six, Webster lived with his grandmother in South Park, Houston. Located in south-central Houston, the neighborhood was notorious for crime and had an impact on a young Webster, "Growing up, my grandmother stayed in the 'hood so I seen random crazy shit. [I saw] mad bums and crazy spazzed out motherfuckers, I saw people looking weird, hungry, and grimey. I was always like, 'I gotta get the fuck out this shit.' It gave me my edge—[it made me] who I am right now." Webster moved to Missouri City, a middle-class suburban area bordering southwest Houston, to live with his parents. His mother worked for Apple and his father ran his own business. Webster's father is also a soul musician and his grandfather was a jazz composer. Webster attended Elkins High School and graduated at seventeen. During high school, he participated in musical theater. Webster then attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, before dropping out his second year to fully pursue his music career.
Career.
2008–2012: Career beginnings and record deals.
Webster formed a duo with his longtime friend Chris Holloway known as The Graduates. In 2008, the duo released their untitled first EP on social networking website Myspace.
The following year, Scott and OG Chess, one of Scott's schoolmates, formed the group The Classmates. The Classmates released two projects, with "Buddy Rich" in 2009 and "Cruis'n USA" in 2010. Scott mainly handled production work on both projects. The duo remained together until late 2012, when personal conflicts and financial disputes led to the disbandment of the group.
After leaving college, Scott moved from Houston to Washington Heights in New York City where Scott began working with friend Mike Waxx, who owned the music website Illroots. After moving to New York, Scott slept on the floor at his friend's house and spent most of his time at Just Blaze's studio. Eventually frustrated in New York and the lack of progression, Scott moved to Los Angeles, California, after only four months in the state.
In Los Angeles, Webster was abandoned by his friend who had promised to help him by providing housing. His parents cut him off financially and he eventually was forced to relocate back to Houston, where his parents kicked him out of their home. Webster moved back to Los Angeles once again and began to sleep on the couch of a friend who studied at University of Southern California. Atlanta-based rapper and owner of Grand Hustle Records, T.I. would later hear one of Webster's productions, titled "Lights (Love Sick)". While in Los Angeles, T.I.'s representative contacted Webster, asking him to attend a studio for a meeting. During the meeting, T.I. freestyled over "Animal", one of Webster's productions.
2012–2014: "Owl Pharaoh" and "Days Before Rodeo".
Scott's first solo full-length project is a mixtape titled "Owl Pharaoh", which was set to be released as a free download in 2012. However, the project was delayed, and was announced to be slated for a later release. The project was later re-created by Kanye West and Mike Dean, and was then again delayed for sample clearance issues. In promotion Scott would release the track, "Blocka La Flame", a remix of fellow GOOD Music label-mate Pusha T's single "Blocka" (which features production and vocals from Scott). The song was produced by Young Chop, with additional production by Scott himself, alongside Mike Dean. On March 22, 2013, Scott released the music video for a song titled "Quintana", set to appear on "Owl Pharaoh". The mixtape's version of the song features guest vocals from fellow American rapper Wale, while the production was handled by Scott himself, alongside Sak Pase and Mike Dean. On March 27, "XXL" revealed that Scott was a member of their Freshman Class of 2013. On March 29, 2013, following his interview with British disc jockey, DJ Semtex, Scott premiered a snippet of his commercial debut single, titled "Upper Echelon", featuring 2 Chainz and T.I. On April 2, 2013, Scott stated "Owl Pharaoh" was his official debut mixtape and would be released on the iTunes Store on May 21, 2013. On April 23, 2013, "Upper Echelon" was sent to urban contemporary radio. The EP was released for free download.
On March 13, 2014, Scott performed a new song, tentatively titled "1975" featuring Big Sean, from his upcoming project at the time, at the Texan music festival South by Southwest (SXSW). Scott later confirmed via his Twitter account that the song is not called "1975", and would be included on his second mixtape, titled "Days Before Rodeo". He would later take to his Twitter account to announce "Rodeo", as the official title for his major-label debut studio album. On May 5, 2014, Scott released the full version of the song, with its new title "Don't Play", featuring a sample of the song "M.O.N.E.Y" by the English rock band the 1975. On July 11, 2014, "Don't Play" was officially released as the lead single from "Days Before Rodeo", via digital distribution.
Following the success of "Days Before Rodeo", Scott announced that he would headline a concert tour, called The Rodeo Tour, with rapper Young Thug and producer Metro Boomin. The tour started on March 1, 2015, in Santa Ana, California, and ended on April 1, 2015, in Portland, Oregon. The tour ran through major cities such as Denver, Colorado, Houston, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan, New York City, Atlanta, Georgia, Philadelphia, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, California and Seattle, Washington. Second shows were added to some cities such as Los Angeles and New York City, after his first shows had sold out too quickly towards the eyes of his fans. Artists such as Kanye West, Chris Brown, Wale and Birdman made special guest appearances in certain cities.
2015–2016: "Rodeo" and "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight".
"Rodeo" was released on September 4, 2015, by Grand Hustle and Epic Records. The album features guest appearances from Quavo, Juicy J, Kanye West, The Weeknd, Swae Lee, Chief Keef, Justin Bieber, Young Thug and Toro y Moi, Big Buck and includes production from Mike Dean, Kanye West, WondaGurl, Suber, DJ Dahi, Metro Boomin, 1500 or Nothin', Sonny Digital, Southside, Terrace Martin, Zaytoven, Pharrell Williams and Scott himself, among others. The album was supported by two singles: "3500" featuring Future and 2 Chainz, and "Antidote". The latter became his highest-charting single on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 16. "Rodeo" received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the US "Billboard" 200 chart. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Rap Albums chart.
On January 4, 2016, Scott would announce that he has a new studio album on the way. On February 8, 2016, it was announced that iLoveMakonnen, Vic Mensa and Scott would be a part of the "WANGSQUAD", an Alexander Wang campaign. On March 29, 2016, 300 Entertainment executive Lyor Cohen, revealed that Scott and Young Thug were releasing a single together and called Scott's upcoming album a "classic". On April 7, 2016, Scott previewed a single with Young Thug at one of his shows. On May 17, 2016, Scott announced that the title of his second album would be "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight", while also confirming the title for his third album to be "Astroworld". On June 3, 2016, the collaborative single between Thug and Scott was released, titled "Pick Up the Phone". The single, which also features vocals from Quavo of Atlanta-based rap trio Migos, reached number 43 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
On August 31, 2016, Scott announced that "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight" was finally finished in a post on Instagram. Scott premiered the album on his third episode of .wav radio on September 2, 2016, and was later released on iTunes and Apple Music. On September 11, 2016, the album became Scott's first number one album on the US "Billboard" 200. On September 12, 2016, Universal Music Publishing Group's CEO, Jody Gerson announced that the label signed a worldwide deal with Scott.
In the same episode Scott premiered "Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight", he also announced that he would be executive producing on Kanye West's "Cruel Winter", a follow up to his G.O.O.D. Music label's debut compilation "Cruel Summer". In the episode he described the upcoming album as, "very youthful, straight to the point, like the illest ever, man, like the illest album."
2017–2018: "Cactus Jack Records", "Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho", and "Astroworld".
Scott performed at All-Star Weekend on February 16, 2017, in New Orleans, Louisiana at Champion Square. He also performed at New Orleans BUKU Music + Art Project festival on March 10, 2017. On March 5, Scott announced a concert tour called "Birds Eye View". The next day, the dates and cities for the tour were unveiled, with it beginning on March 10, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and coming to an end on June 2, in Eugene, Oregon. In the same month, Scott was also featured alongside American rapper Quavo from the hip-hop group Migos on Canadian rapper Drake's single "Portland", from Drake's commercial mixtape, "More Life". The song peaked at number nine on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming his first top ten song as a featured artist. In March 2017, Scott announced he would be launching his own imprint, under the name of Cactus Jack Records. During an interview, Scott said, "I'm not doing it to have financial control over my music. I want first and foremost to help other artists, launch new names, to provide opportunities. I want to do for them what happened to me, but better. By better I mean no bullshit. No lying to the artists about album release dates or the budgets of videos and albums." On June 15, 2017, Scott announced he would be doing a European leg of the "Birds Eye View Tour". The European leg started on the June 23 in Paris, and concluded on July 9 in Turku, Finland. This leg was mainly festival sets or in smaller club settings.
On April 3, 2017, it was reported Scott had been working on a collaborative studio album with Quavo, potentially to be released later in 2017. Speaking to "GQ", he confirmed: 'The Quavo album is coming soon. I'm dropping new music soon. You know how I do it though: I like surprises. In addition to the collaborative album, Scott announced his third studio album "Astroworld", named after the defunct Houston theme park of the same name, is nearing completion and would most likely be released in 2017.
On May 16, 2017, Scott released three new tracks on SoundCloud, after teasing on social media for some time. The tracks were named "A Man", "Green & Purple (featuring Play boo Carti)", and "Butterfly Effect". The latter was also released on every other streaming service, as the only track. The music video for "Butterfly Effect" was released on July 14, 2017. On August 10, 2017, Scott tweeted "ALBUM MODE" as he had just finished the "DAMN. Tour" as a supporting act for Kendrick Lamar, the night before. This tweet signified that he was now working on his album "AstroWorld" full-time. On August 27, 2017, Scott performed with Thirty Seconds to Mars at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on their single "Walk On Water".
On September 18, 2017, Quavo and the Migos did an interview. Quavo stated that his album with Scott is coming "real soon". He also stated that he and Scott have over 20 records ready. In October 2017, Scott was featured in a special piece titled "Deserve", by Chinese born Canadian rapper Kris Wu. On December 7, 2017, a clip of Quavo being interviewed by Zane Lowe was posted on the official Twitter account for Beats 1. When asked about the title of their upcoming project, he confirmed it would be "Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho."
On December 6, 2017, Scott was featured on fellow American rapper and singer Trippie Redd's single "Dark Knight Dummo", the lead single from the latter's debut studio album, "Life's a Trip". The song peaked at 72 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. On December 21, 2017, Scott and Quavo released their collaborative studio album, "Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho", under the name "Huncho Jack", a name which comes from Quavo's nickname "Huncho" and a play on Scott's first name "Jack". The album debuted at number 3 on the "Billboard" 200 and had seven tracks chart on the "Billboard" Hot 100. After the release of Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, Webster was spotted in the studio a lot more frequently and "Billboard" slated an expected first quarter release for "AstroWorld".
On May 4, 2018, four days after his 27th birthday, Scott released a single titled "Watch" featuring American rappers Lil Uzi Vert and Kanye West. The single was released as promotional material for his third studio album "Astroworld". "Astroworld" was released on August 3, 2018, to critical acclaim, and debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200. "Sicko Mode", the album's second single, peaked at number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming Scott's highest charting solo single. On the same month of the album's launch, Scott announced that he was going to launch Astroworld Festival, a music festival with the same name as the album. The festival took place on November 17. On November 2, 2018, Scott was featured on five tracks of Metro Boomin's debut studio album, "Not All Heroes Wear Capes": "Overdue", "Dreamcatcher" (alongside Swae Lee), "Up to Something" (alongside Young Thug), "Only 1 (Interlude)", and "No More" (alongside Kodak Black and 21 Savage). In December, "Billboard" reported that Scott was to make a guest appearance at the Super Bowl LIII halftime show during Maroon 5's set. This performance was met with major backlash.
2019–2020: "Look Mom I Can Fly", "JackBoys", and "The Scotts".
On April 18, 2019, Scott released a single with SZA and The Weeknd for the popular HBO series "Game of Thrones". It is titled "Power is Power" and is a reference to a scene that took place in the first episode of the show's second season The track is the second song on the "Game of Thrones" soundtrack album entitled "". On May 23, 2019, Scott was featured alongside J. Cole on Young Thug's single, "The London", which later appeared as the lead single on Thug's debut studio album, "So Much Fun". On August 28, 2019, Scott's documentary film, "Look Mom I Can Fly", was released on Netflix. On October 4, 2019, Scott released a single, "Highest in the Room", which debuted and peaked at number one on the Hot 100, being his first song to debut at the top and his second number one following "Sicko Mode" in 2018. The same month, Scott was also featured on the remix of Young Thug's single, "Hot" with Gunna, who was featured on the original song as well. The song was later added to the deluxe edition of "So Much Fun" in December of that year. Scott also was featured on the track "Hop Off a Jet" from the deluxe edition.
On December 2, 2019, Scott announced a compilation album with his Cactus Jack label members, consisting of Don Toliver, Sheck Wes and producer Chase B, titled "JackBoys". On December 24, Scott revealed the album's release date via Instagram. The album was released on December 27, 2019, and featured a remix of "Highest in the Room" featuring Spanish singer Rosalía and American rapper Lil Baby, the latter's verse being leaked months prior. On the same day, Scott released the music video for "Gang Gang" performed by Wes, with uncredited vocals and cameo appearances from Scott, Toliver, and rapper Luxury Tax 50. On December 30, 2019, Scott released the music video for "Gatti", performed with the now-late Pop Smoke. The lyrics of "Gatti" references Scott's breakup with his ex-girlfriend Kylie Jenner. On March 20, 2020, Scott released the music video for "Out West", performed featuring Young Thug.
Scott performed five virtual live shows in the video game "Fortnite Battle Royale" from April 23 to 25, 2020 with visuals based on his "Astroworld" tour. It received more than 27 million viewers and boosted the sales of Fortnite-branded Cactus Jack products such as action figures. The performance also included the premiere of his new song with Kid Cudi, who released the song, "The Scotts", as a duo under the same name. Tying with the performance, numerous cosmetic items for player avatars based on Scott and the concert were available to purchase by players of "Fortnite Battle Royale". The song debuted at number-one on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming Scott's third US number-one. In May he collaborated for a second time with Rosalía on her track "TKN", where he raps in Spanish for the first time. Scott was on the cover of "GQ"s September 2020 issue, and revealed he will be releasing a collaborative album with Kid Cudi. This follows their number-one single, "The Scotts", released earlier in May. No additional information has been provided yet.
2021–present: "Utopia".
On the second anniversary of his third studio album "Astroworld", Scott teased he was working on a new project. On August 22, 2020, Scott released the single "The Plan", the theme song to Christopher Nolan's film "Tenet". He released the single "Franchise" featuring rappers Young Thug and M.I.A. on September 25, 2020. The song was previously previewed on Scott and Chase B's WAV radio, titled "White Tee". It debuted at number one on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100, and Scott became the first artist in "Billboard" chart history to have three songs debut at number one in less than a year. A remix with an additional feature from American rapper Future, was released on October 7, 2020.
After canceling the third annual Astroworld Fest due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Scott announced the return of the festival in 2021 and expanded it to a multi day format.
On April 30, 2021, Scott was featured on “durag activity” by Baby Keem.
Other ventures.
Fashion.
On April 30, 2019, Scott announced a collaboration with Nike to release his Cactus Jack Air Jordan 1’s in May that year.
McDonald's.
In September 2020, Scott collaborated with McDonald's to launch a limited edition meal that was introduced in participating McDonald's restaurants in North America, called "The Travis Scott" and a variation on their Quarter Pounder with Cheese. The partnership marked the first celebrity-endorsed McDonald's meal since McDonald's collaborated with Michael Jordan to launch a "McJordan" burger in 1992. Due to high demand, some McDonald's branches ran out of ingredients tied to the promotion, causing a break in the supply chain. Scott and McDonald's also launched a line of McDonald's and Cactus Jack–branded merchandise, including a number of clothing items, a rug, and a McNugget-shaped body pillow.
PlayStation.
In October 2020, Scott announced he was joining the PlayStation team as a Strategic Creative Partner to promote the PlayStation 5 console. Together, they released special merchandise, which includes a previously unseen version of Nike Dunk Lows. They also uploaded a special unboxing video of the PlayStation 5 console to YouTube. The video features footage of Scott playing the console alongside fans, a piano performance by James Blake, and a tribute to Pop Smoke.
On January 15, 2021, Scott released a remix of his hit song "Goosebumps" with producer Hvme.
Artistry.
Scott has stated that he is influenced by Bon Iver, Kid Cudi, M.I.A., Kanye West, Toro y Moi, Tame Impala, T.I., and Thom Yorke. "Spin" magazine compared his 2013 mixtape "Owl Pharaoh" to Kid Cudi's "".
Scott makes heavy use of audio manipulation effects such as Auto-Tune, phasing, delays, and stereo-sculpted chorusing and harmony structures, predominantly influenced by producers Mike Dean and Alex Tumay. Scott's musical style has been characterized as "ambient"; Scott himself has said "I'm not hip-hop". "Vulture" described Scott's sound as "unremittingly dark, syncretic, hi-res, and above all unnatural."
Scott has said that he is a fan of Broadway theatre and would like to do an album of show tune covers. He has said that he would like to write his own musical in the future.
Cactus Jack Records.
Cactus Jack Records was founded in 2017 by Scott. His first signees are record producer Chase B, Sheck Wes, Don Toliver and Luxury Tax. The label released its debut mixtape "Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho" in 2017 followed by Scott's third studio album "Astroworld" in 2018, and Toliver's debut studio album "Heaven or Hell" in 2020.
Personal life.
Scott began dating reality television star and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner in April 2017. On February 1, 2018, Jenner gave birth to their first child, daughter Stormi Webster. The couple broke up in September 2019. However, they have been spotted together since, sparking rumors of their reconciliation. Scott was raised in the Christian faith, and occasionally includes religious themes in his music as a result, saying he "still find[s] faith in everything."
Discography.
Studio albums
Collaborative albums
Mixtapes
Awards and nominations.
Grammy Awards.
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Scott has eight nominations.
Latin Grammy Awards.
The Latin Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Scott won one award from one nomination.
Concert tours.
Headlining
Supporting