#98 – ASTROWORLD

Apple Music Rank: 98

Album: ASTROWORLD

Artist: Travis Scott

Year: 2018

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap

Was I familiar with Travis Scott?  Yes. I have a teenage son and a pulse.

Had I heard ASTROWORLD before?  Yes. Exactly once.

Thoughts on ASTROWORLD:  I have a lot, and it’s not gonna be pretty. I recently listened to The Wonder of Stevie. I would call it a cross between a podcast and an audiobook. It’s available on Audible and I recommend you check it out. Six hours about Stevie Wonder’s amazing run of albums from 1972 – 1976 with commentary from Wesley Morris, Barack and Michelle Obama, Questlove, and Stevie himself, among others. In it, Questlove tells the story of the first time his father heard Stevie’s 1979 album Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. I’m paraphrasing, but Questlove’s dad – Lee Andrews of Philly doo-wop group Lee Andrews & the Hearts – heard that album and said, “I’m done listening to new music.” That was ASTROWORLD for me. I used to stay on top of what’s new. I still do to some degree. Just not with hip hop, and this album was the final nail in the coffin.

I try to keep my writing positive so I will use phrases like, “that just wasn’t for me” or “I’m not the intended audience” as code for, “I hated that shit.” In the case of ASTROWORLD I certainly wasn’t the intended audience, but I would argue that I never was the intended audience for hip hop. It didn’t make me love it any less. But, sometime in the 2010s popular hip hop stopped sounding like the music I used to love. I’d still open iTunes/Apple Music every Friday morning hoping for something new that I’d love, but after years of checking week after week and being disappointed, I gave up. ASTROWORLD got a lot of hype so I checked it out. I was – and still am – baffled. This record just makes me sad, and not in a good way. Sad at how miserable this music is and the direction the genre has taken.

I know I’m old. This is what happens. I’m sure there were people who loved James Brown and hated Sly & The Family Stone. Or loved Sly and hated Prince. Or loved Prince and hated D’Angelo. Or loved D’Angelo and hated…nobody. Nobody follows D’Angelo. Anyway, my point is, hating the progression of music is a fact of life. I was just foolish enough to think it wouldn’t happen to me and hip hop. ASTROWORLD represents that hatred for me and I have nothing good to say about it. I literally can’t find a redeeming quality in this album, so I’m just going to stop writing now and move on.

In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith there’s a dramatic scene where Padme realizes that Anakin isn’t the person that she fell in love with and says, “I don’t know you anymore. Anakin, you’re breaking my heart. You’re going down a path I can’t follow…because of what you’ve done. What you plan to do. Stop. Stop now. Come back. I love you.” In that scene I’m Padme and Anakin represents hip hop in the Travis Scott-era. It went down a path I can’t follow.

Favorite track: I despise every track on this album equally. I’m not saying that to be dramatic. Just a fact.

Will I listen to ASTROWORLD again?  Not by choice.

Would I buy it on vinyl? No

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