Hip-hop music has seen a wealth of household names drop albums drop in 2016. The likes of Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, Drake and Kendrick Lamar have all release studio albums to decent fanfare. West protégé Travis Scott is no different, as his latest LP "Birds in the Trap Sing Mcknight" released Sept. 2 as an Apple Music exclusive.
"Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight," which may be in the running for best album title ever, is the second studio album by Scott coming in 11 months after his debut album Rodeo. Although he isn’t a superstar yet, “Antidote” was one of the more successful singles of 2015, while he also lent his pen to Drake and Rihanna songs.
In the process, Scott is gaining a growing fan base that feeds off his legendary rabid energy. Today’s microwave society in regards to music fits Scott’s dark-trap hymns to a tee and his schedule, too. Dropping a body of work every year since 2013, an album per year is becoming typical of Scott and the question of quality over quantity begs to be asked.
After soaking in "Birds," the answer is a bit unclear: Scott certainly makes good music, but it doesn’t necessarily amount to anything. A quick glance at the album title suggests a conceptual story about youth (birds), maybe young black men, in a proverbial trap trying to break out.
What we get is a collection of 14 decent to great songs that don’t correlate or tie into each other. Scott sequences his songs as if there is an underlying narrative and his style of eerie production can put the listener under a spell.
As soon as the album is over though, a realization occurs that the album was much ado about nothing. The intro, “the ends,” is rattling and has a promising verse from Scott and Andre 3000 rapping about their respective neighborhood. By the time the outro, “Wonderful” ft. The Weeknd, ends, the promise isn’t fulfilled.
Scott produces high-quality filler songs for the most part. A lot of the tracks contain minimal rapping and rely on lengthy production. Such is the case with “way back”, a two-part song that touches on fake friends and then switches to a hedonistic late night affair while the beat rides out for the last minute.
The best aspect of "Birds" and, quite honestly most Scott projects, are the mood and atmosphere he places the listener in. His tendency to overproduce, probably a nod to his mentor West, does well in that nobody else is producing trap music with a dark twinge to it.
Scott adds everything from ambient sounds, to 808s, synths, drums and strings that work as an enthralling soundscape. The mixing on the album is terrific, as a lot of the songs have two-parts to them with instant transitions and no hiccups between songs.
He also improves as a songwriter, if only minimal. The range in topics is the most obvious improvement such as the trap love ballad, “first take” ft. Bryson Tiller, a style Scott previously shied away from. “Guidance” is the clear dancehall club track and a brighter point on "Birds."
Among the major criticisms on his debut "Rodeo," the featured artists outshining Scott is back on "Birds" albeit not as detrimental. Scott enlists the likes of 21 Savage, then on the next song has Lamar. He invites them into his world instead of the guests completely taking over the song.
"Birds" is good in that it is captivating for the duration of the hour it takes to listen to it. The beats are wonderful, the rapping has improved and the features are top notch. Did Scott actually say anything though? Perhaps not, but the rest of the pros outweighs that major con and leaves "Birds" as an above average album in today’s hip-hop.
Hip-hop music has seen a wealth of household names drop albums drop in 2016. The likes of Chance the Rapper, Kanye West, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar have all release studio albums to decent fanfare. West protégé Travis Scott is no different, as his latest lp Birds in the Trap Sing Mcknight released September 2 as an Apple Music exclusive.
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, which may be in the running for best album title ever, is the second studio album by Scott coming in 11 months after his debut album Rodeo. Although he isn’t a superstar yet, “Antidote” was one of the more successful singles of 2015 while he also lent his pen to Drake and Rihanna songs.
In the process Scott is gaining a growing fan base that feeds off his legendary rabid energy. Today’s microwave society in regards to music fits Scott’s dark-trap hymns to a tee and his schedule too. Dropping a body of work every year since 2013, an album per year is becoming typical of Scott and the question of quality over quantity begs to be asked.
After soaking in Birds, the answer is a bit unclear: Scott certainly makes good music but it doesn’t necessarily amount to anything. A quick glance at the album title suggests a conceptual story about youth (birds), maybe young black men, in a proverbial trap trying to break out.
What we get is a collection of 14 decent to great songs that don’t correlate or tie into each other. Scott sequences his songs as if there is an underlying narrative and his style of eerie production can put the listener under a spell.
As soon as the album is over though, a realization occurs that the album had much ado about nothing. The intro, “the ends” is rattling and has a promising verse from Scott and Andre 3000 rapping about their respective neighborhood. By the time the outro “Wonderful” ft. The Weeknd ends, that promise isn’t fulfilled.
Scott produces high-quality filler songs for the most part. A lot of the tracks contain minimal rapping and rely on lengthy production. Such is the case with “way back”, a two-part song that touches on fake friends and then switches to a hedonistic late night affair while the beat rides out for the last minute.
The best aspect of Birds and quite honestly most Scott projects are the mood and atmosphere he places the listener in. His tendency to overproduce, probably a nod to his mentor West, does well in that nobody else is producing trap music with a dark twinge to it.
Scott adds everything from ambient sounds, to 808s, synths, drums and strings that work as an enthralling soundscape. The mixing on the album is terrific, as a lot of the songs have two-parts to them with instant transitions and no hiccups between songs.
He also improves as a songwriter, if only minimal. The range in topics is the most obvious improvement such as the trap love ballad “first take” ft. Bryson Tiller, a style Scott previously shied away from. “Guidance” is the clear dancehall club track and a brighter point on Birds.
Among the major criticisms on his debut Rodeo, the featured artists outshining Scott is back on Birds albeit not as detrimental. Scott enlists the likes of 21 Savage and then on the next song has Lamar. He invites them into his world instead of the guests completely taking over the song.
Birds is good in that it is captivating for the duration of the hour it takes to listen to it. The beats are wonderful, the rapping has improved and the features are top notch. Did Scott actually say anything though? Perhaps not, but the rest of the pros outweighs that major con and leaves Birds as an above average album in today’s hip-hop.
One release for an album cover of Travis Scott's "Bird in the Trap Sing Mcknight"
