![]() The latest music, videos & news relating to your favorite hip-hop, R&B & future beats artists. If you’re in the mood for some melodic Atlanta trap, you could certainly do much worse.Welcome to /r/HipHopHeads! /r/Hiphopheads COVID-19 Donations Thread But McKnight has enough interesting ideas that I don’t consider the album a disappointment. I never really expected Scott to live up to the bar that he set himself. I don’t think McKnight holds much of a candle to Rodeo, and that’s fine. I suppose the best thing that I can say about McKnight is that despite many of the tracks failing to leave much of an impression on me, Scott is a solid enough curator that the beats, flows, melodies, and production make me hesitant to skip any of the tracks: Scott’s music is rarely ever unpleasant. The Weeknd-featuring “Wonderful” isn’t quite as good as their previous collaboration, “Pray 4 Love,” but it’s a solid way to close the record. The record picks up more steam with the dancehall-infused “Pick Up The Phone,” which will become ubiquitous on urban radio pretty soon. Newcomer Nav’s hook is infectious and surprisingly relatable: “I just poured a 8th in a liter / Throw some Jolly Ranchers in, make it sweeter.” Unfortunately, McKnight suffers from a lull in quality halfway through aside from the Lamar-featuring “Goosebumps,” tracks six through ten are completely forgettable. The very next track, “Beibs In The Trap,” is another solid party song. It’s an odd mix of R&B and trap music, and the finished product comes together nicely. The lyrics are a nonstop stream-of-consciousness, and Scott even samples Cudi’s huge “Day N’ Nite” for a few bars. “Through The Late Night” is a great banger-it’s very reminiscent of “Oh My Dis Side” from Rodeo. Stunningly, Kid Cudi (whose Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven was the worst album of last year) is my favorite guest on the entire album. Thankfully, most of McKnight is far more lighthearted. Rodeo was ominous, but this is darker and more real than any of Scott’s material yet. The aforementioned Lamar shows up, which is remarkable in itself, but the most shocking appearance is that of the elusive André 3000, who stops by for an intensely personal verse on the album’s opener, “The Ends.” “I came up in the town, they was murdering kids / And dumped them in the creek up from where I live,” André pants, referencing the 1979-1981 Atlanta child murders. The only thing really surprising about McKnight is the guest list. Leave that to the Kendrick Lamars and Killer Mikes of the world. And that’s fine, because that’s not really Scott’s lane. He also remains very much anonymous he never reveals much about himself or his views and motivations. The themes never stray far from drugs and hedonism, and the production is full of the lovely synth flourishes and booming sub-bass that Scott has pretty much mastered. So, after multiple delays and false starts, we finally have Scott’s new project, Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight-and it’s about exactly what you would expect from a Travis Scott record. Scott has a way of taking the over-saturated Atlanta trap sound and making it artful and engaging, and it’s that talent that had me excited for his latest release. Highlights abounded, from the inescapable “Antidote” to the gargantuan “3500” – with many more. The aesthetic of Rodeo made it perfect for nighttime parties and drives. I say this because Rodeo is pretty much the embodiment of one word: nocturnal. I think that had more to do with the Houston rapper’s reputation as a musician, rather than the music itself. For some reason, the album didn’t generally resonate well with either indie tastemakers or hip-hop omnivores. If someone were to ask me to name the most overlooked hip-hop record of last year, I would probably land on Travis Scott’s Rodeo.
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