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7.0/10
It's finally here. The long-awaited 'UTOPIA' from Houston-born legendary trap artist Travis Scott follows his somewhat critically acclaimed hit-filled project 'ASTROWORLD'. Going into this project, I expected transcending and luscious psychedelic moments, with strong attention to detail in the production due to there being a six-year gap between his last project. However, after multiple listens, I was left a little underwhelmed.
"K-POP", the lead single from the album, was the first red flag for me. Bad Bunny's feature was the best part of the track for me; his energy is great and he matches the beat well. Other than that, the track is pretty boring. The Weeknd comes through with corny and honestly cringe-inducing lyrics at times: "Even though she Korean, get her wet like tsunami". What?
In contrast, "HYAENA" kicks off the album in an attention-catching way, with a bit of a funky and dancey beat off the drop. Travis comes through with a solid flow. I like how rough-sounding the drumbeat is, and the vocal production is on point. The hypnotic synths that close the track are great and solidify "HYAENA" as a solid opener. "THANK GOD" follows with its wonderfully girthy vocal layering on the chorus and great vocals from Kenya-born rapper KayCyy. Travis does a great job to pick up the flow on the third verse but unfortunately, the song is a bit hollow feeling instrumentally from the beginning to the middle. It's just an alright track.
"MODERN JAM" is the perfect example of my main issue with a lot of these tracks: the high highs and the low lows. The snare-lead drum beat to kick off the track is nicely groovy, Travis's Kanye-esque delivery is solid, and the way the sirens close out the track is wonderful. However, most of the song feels unfinished and empty, making the good moments not feel so good anymore; it makes the album have an inconsistent feel. Also, the switch-up from "THANK GOD" to "MODERN JAM" is a bit polarizing--these tracks offer two very different feels. "MY EYES" dives right back into the more psychedelic feel, with a pleasant surprise from R&B singer Sampha, but the uninspired lyrics from Travis and overall overextended interlude vibe in the first half of the track turned me off. The build-up to the more energized second half was smooth, accompanied by the great fast-paced flow from Travis, which unfortunately is cut too short. "GOD'S COUNTRY" follows, a super boring and uneventful two-minute track that bloats the project.
"SIRENS" was a solid experience, with a heavenly plush intro and a super serene outro with calming synths, minimalistic percussion, and plucky strings--taking a sudden turn into this lush spoken word moment with a random girl and Drake. I enjoyed how Travis picked up his flow in the second verse too. Overall, this track offers up a unique and hard-hitting instrumental. Drake continues his spotlight in "MELTDOWN", coming through with a head-bopping delivery. There's a nice moment of dark synths before the beat drops into Travis's verse with slow-paced yet heavy percussion and horns. Travis comes through with a solid flow here, quickly switching it up again with lighter, fast percussion. All in all, a great high-energy track with twists and turns, and somehow not a bland Drake feature.
"FE!N" grew on me with its psychedelic layered synths and slightly muted percussion. The energy is kept up throughout the track thanks to Meechie and Carti, especially on the chorus. "DELRESTO" had a lovely surprise Beyonce feature and great vocals from Justin Vernon from the iconic indie folk band Bon Iver. I enjoyed the synths that built on Beyonce's verse, and how she combined with Travis well. There are little odd production decisions in this track (random breaks that don't make sense), but nothing that's super off-putting at least. It ends beautifully with great vocals from Justin Vernon.
"I KNOW ?" gave me a similar bored feel to "GOD'S COUNTRY", with a monotone delivery from Travis, reminding me a bit of Drake's recent work. "TOPIA TWINS" is a bit better, with 21 Savage coming through with a fine flow on his verse, sounding a bit offbeat at times. Rob49's aggressive delivery went hard, though, and Travis's melody choice on the chorus was great. It's just an alright track.
"CIRCUS MAXIMUS" contains a lovely angelic synth that compliments The Weeknd's unsurprisingly heavenly vocals, and the beat that comes in for Travis's verse along with his flow reminds me of "Black Skinhead". The vocal manipulation was excellent during The Weeknd's outro, and the synths that close the track were great too. However, the low of this track was that Travis's verses didn't really stand out to me and often felt like they dragged on.
"PARASAIL" contains some of the most beautiful production of the whole project. The vocal production throughout is amazing, and that low growling noise is such a beautifully chilling addition. Also, a Dave Chapelle feature? Who would've seen that coming? His spoken word is solid on this track. Overall, a hypnotic and ethereal experience.
"SKITZO" and "LOST FOREVER" are two underwhelming tracks with underwhelming features. Young Thug on "SKITZO" didn't offer up a super gripping vocal delivery, and that cowbell is a little too annoying on this track... I swear I've heard it on Garageband Mobile before. "LOST FOREVER" is instrumentally a little hollow, and Westside Gunn causes a weird vibe shift due to his vocal style; Travis should have done a better job of matching that--Gunn just doesn't fit on this track. "LOOOVE" picks up again, with a dancey, full, and energized beat to kick things off with Travis matching it nicely. The beat refrains for a brief moment before fully coming back into Kid Cudi's verse, and he does well to fit on top of this beat, with a flow similar to that of Travis. Solid track!
"TELEKINESIS" is by far the most outstanding track on the project. The synths on here just fill up the track, it's wonderfully entrancing. The vocal production throughout is done very well, matching the environment created by the synth layers. SZA's verse opens up with lovely aggressive synths that then taper off, showcasing her beautiful vocals. To close out the track are these gorgeous strings--this track is what I expected from the album as a whole. "TIL FURTHER NOTICE" is a great track as well, with a mysterious melody from James Blake and nice delivery from 21 Savage. The vocal layering is done perfectly, matched by a hypnotic humming bass and warm synths. At least the project ends on a good note.
All in all, "UTOPIA" is a bit bloated, inconsistent, and boring at times, but when things pick up, they pick up very well. I expected a more psychedelic, hypnotic, and rich experience simply due to the gap between his last release. I thought he was cooking up a classic.
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