Travis Scott’s career can be defined by a single word: Rage.
Tailor-made for soldout tours, Jacques Webster II (known as Travis Scott) has blessed hip-hop over the years with albums for the ages. His first breakout moment being Days Before Rodeo in 2014 — a mixtape that not only defined the then-underground era pre-SoundCloud’s rise, but one that remains a staple in Scott’s discography 10 years later.
Amid RODEO, Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, ASTROWORLD and his latest UTOPIA, the Houston mogul has an innate ability to curate worlds within his music, taking inspiration from his mentor Kanye West in how he’s been able to cultivate moment after moment with each of his full-length efforts.
Days Before Rodeo isn’t just a prequel for Scott’s 2015 major label debut, Rodeo, it was a pivotal moment in his rise to stratospheric stardom—elevating his career to new mainstream heights. He wasn’t Travi$ after the dust settled; he became something greater, larger than life in his musical ability to curate not fabricate. Days Before Rodeo achieves that, and acts as a launching pad for the beginning of Travis Scott’s dominance in the mid-2010s and beyond.
In our latest edition of RANKED, we look back at Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo, ranking the Top 5 tracks off the project as it celebrates its official release to streaming platforms (Aug. 23, 2024).
Listen to Days Before Rodeo’ below!
5. Backyard
One of the more innovative and woozy beats on the project, “Backyard” is one of the most infectious songs on the entirety of DBR. Alongside one of Trav’s most animated performances on the record, the Cactus Jack star’s bars and bravado make way for “Backyard” to have a Top 5 berth on the project. Perfect for summertime kickbacks with a tinge of rager energy, it’s such a nostalgic listen and remains atop the list of DBR efforts. “Backyard we chillin…”
4. Basement Freestyle
If you were in high school when this song dropped; you can immediately remember how much of absolute anthem this was for the grodie house parties we all used to sweat over. “I’m offa bean, I’m offa bean” was blurted at max volume well past its heyday, as “Basement Freestyle” acts as a timeless party anthem that defined the tail-end of the swag era.
3. Mamacita
As the only official music video to come out of Trav’s initial DBR era, “Mamacita” is perhaps one of the most recognizable (and replayable) Travis Scott tracks his catalog has to offer. Between coveted Rich Gang features in Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug, you can’t speak on trap classics without “Mamacita” being mentioned.
2. Skyfall
An psych anthem amongst day 1 ragers, “SkyFall” proved to be the beginning of a long-lasting relationship (both professional and personal) for Metro Boomin and Travis Scott. With droning, 007-esque melodies dripped in Metro’s signature sauce, it’s safe to say that anytime Metro and Trav hop on a track together, it turns to gold. Especially on recent cuts like “TYPE SHIT,” the power of a Metro-Travis collab is just as undeniable today as it was 10 years ago.
1. Drugs You Should Try It
An obvious choice for the No. 1 spot, this song is well deserving of its cultural flowers—and some. Scott achieved something otherwordly here on this timeless track: course, hypnotic croons and guitar-laced production make for a psychadelic experience that feels nearly incapable of describing. Between Scott’s brash raps and thick auto-tune, Trav doesn’t settle for anything less than a classic performance on “Drugs You Should Try It.” Perhaps it gets the love it rightfully deserves as soon as it registers on the Billboard charts, as a trap masterpiece of this caliber should.