Attention Travis Scott fans: it's time to rage. The Houston artist has delivered ASTROWORLD, a project that has been anticipated for a while now, and he rolled it out in grand fashion this week with back-to-back-to-back unveilings for the release date, cover art, and a merch collection.
The title for the album takes its inspiration from Six Flags AstroWorld, which closed up shop in 2005. The amusement park clearly had an effect on Scott during his adolescent years, and he's made it a point to create his own version of it in musical form. "They tore down AstroWorld to build more apartment space. That’s what it’s going to sound like, like taking an amusement park away from kids," he told GQ in 2017. "We want it back. We want the building back. That’s why I’m doing it. It took the fun out of the city."
He's also positioned this new project as a continuation of his debut album Rodeo. In an interview with Beats 1 Radio's Zane Lowe, he explained, "ASTROWORLD's been set in stone since Rodeo. My whole idea was, if you locked in to Rodeo, you definitely locked into ASTROWORLD. I’m just finishing the saga I started on my first album. This is supposed to be my second album. I had to go quick, because like I said, I had all these ideas, I just had to get off real quick, but now I’m finally back home with ASTROWORLD."
Scott, whose 2016 album Birds in the Trap Sing McKnightdebuted at No. 1, will have some competition this time around as ASTROWORLD drops alongside YG's Stay Dangerous and Mac Miller's Swimming. Friendly competition at that: YG posted an alternative cover for ASTROWORLD donning a familiar title, which Scott also shared on Instagram Live.
The release of ASTROWORLD comes on the same night as Scott's headlining set at Lollapalooza. He's also expected to hit the road in support of his new album, with a headlining tour to be announced soon. If you've ever been to a La Flame show, you know what time it is.
Contributions on ASTROWORLD come from Drake, Frank Ocean, the Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Migos, among others. Stream it below via Spotify or grab it on iTunes/Apple Music.
You can check out Travis Scott's ASTROWORLD listening party below.
