Travis Scott is known as one of the greatest musicians of our generation, with highly acclaimed albums like “Rodeo,” “Astroworld,” “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight,” and “Utopia.” With these albums going 10x RIAA Platinum, and with “Utopia” likely to add more platinum nominations to that list, Scott has built one of the most impressive discographies of the 2010s/2020s.
Despite all of the mainstream success, very few fans were aware of his mixtape from 2014, “Days Before Rodeo.” When Scott realized this, he decided it was time to release the mixtape to popular streaming platforms, but as he didn’t want to just re-release music that was already available to anyone who dug deep enough to find it, he released a few songs that were made in past years. It is important to note that these songs are not on streaming platforms and are exclusive to travisscott.com, where you can purchase the digital deluxe for $5
The mixtape starts out with a flow that emulates something closer to a 90s rap style with “Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer” and comes with a beat that sounds like it was made for Nas rather than Scott. Scott uses advanced flow patterns to set the song away from the standard stuff you see in music nowadays. With the good is also some bad. Scott only really raps for a minute of the song, while two minutes of the song is either beat or him repeating the name “Jesus” numerous times. It was unfortunate as this had the potential to solidify this as a top song on the album
“Mamacita” ft Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug: “Mamacita” starts with a solid verse from Scott, but is followed by a mediocre chorus from the late Rich Homie Quan, where he mumbles “That’s my mama, mamacita, that’s my mama, mamacita” for thirty seconds, and is then followed by a poor verse by Young Thug. Quan finishes the song with his good verse but doesn’t make up for a poor chorus and second verse, which is unfortunate as the song could have been very good.
After a forgettable “Quintana Pt. 2” which Scott likely just made as a song that is played in the clubs and nothing more, the song “Drugs You Should Try It,” which is regarded by many as one of the best songs Scott has ever made, is incredible in all aspects. The somewhat unconventional guitar on the beat along with the autotune that is used perfectly in Scott’s verses and chorus make this song perfect for any listener. By far the best song on the album.
“Don’t Play” ft. The 1975 and Big Sean and “Skyfall” ft. Young Thug are alright but aren’t anything special. On “Don’t Play,” Big Sean delivers the only verse by a featuring artist that is better than Scott on the whole album, and Young Thug isn’t as bad as he was on “Mamacita,” but still isn’t anything to write home about.
“Zombies” has a party ambiance and is a solid song and “Sloppy Toppy” ft. Migos and Peewee Longway is a nice song with simplistic lyrics and a solid beat, but “Basement Freestyle” and “Backyard” ruin the vibe of the album. The songs are poorly mixed and annoy the listener, with Scott and his features being objectively bad on these songs, which is a bummer cause this mixtape leading up to this point didn’t have any bad songs.
“Grey” is a great song and would’ve helped the mixtape end on a very high note, but then “BACC (Bonus)” somewhat ruins the ending with Scott trying to tap into what is considered normal style, but the beat combined with Scott’s poorly mixed vocals makes this song something that he should’ve put in the middle of the mixtape, just so it could’ve ended on something memorable.
While “Days Before Rodeo” isn’t bad, it has a lot of room to improve. Despite a weak ending to the album, it did have a strong start that somewhat evens out the mediocre ending. The listener also has to remember that the mixtape was recorded from 2012-2014 and originally released in 2014. The styles of what was considered good music at the time just aren’t the same as it is today, which makes the mixtape even more impressive considering the fact that there are songs that people will listen to with the new stuff that is coming out today. Overall, I give this mixtape a ⅘, as I enjoyed it and will listen to it again, but it isn’t as good as the new Travis Scott music.
Purchase traviscott.com Digital Deluxe here (DAYS BEFORE RODEO – DIGITAL DELUXE ALBUM)
