TOP TRAVIS SCOTT TRACKS FOR BEGINNERS

1. Sicko Mode

Scott’s Stairway to Heaven and one of the most-played tracks of 2018. Each of the classic sections that make up this everything-and-the-kitchen-sink epic could work as a stand-alone song, yet they’ve all been crammed together with little in the way of cohesion. If anything, this structural sleight of hand fits the perfectly truncated and scatterbrained way we listen to music on streaming services nowadays.

2. Antidote

A smoggy head trip pulled from 2015’s ambitious, ponderous Rodeo that positions the listener in a claustrophobic carnival with little chance of escape. Scott found his hit-making voice here, where hooks and verses bleed into each other and shouted backing vocals take as much precedence as what’s in the forefront.

3. Goosebumps

Scott hit his stride on the two biggest singles from 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. The chorus on this Kendrick Lamar collaboration is a singalong favourite at Scott shows, and for good reason: it’s hard to say the word “Heimlich” so melodiously over such a disorienting loop, but he succeeds effortlessly.

4. Watch

His big pre-Astroworld comeback single, curiously cut from the album when it finally came out. Despite containing all the touchstones of a solid Scott tune, along with coveted Kanye West and Lil Uzi Vert cameos, Watch’s goofy braggadocio (and West’s addiction call for help) didn’t click with audiences as expected. It’s a weird and fascinating attempt at an unconventional hit, even by his standards.

5. Mamacita

A reputation-building single from 2014, and a crowd favourite to this day. Scott delivers the hook like he often does, bathed in vocal effects. Auto-Tune skeptics will scoff at Scott’s dependency, but it’s a technique he and so many other artists today have bent and contorted into their own that has nothing to do with pitch correction. It’s a sound that’s here to stay.