The 3 'Utopia' Clues Travis Scott Dropped in 2013

It’s a big week for updates on Travis Scott’s Utopia—a pyramid party and secret A24 film were added to the rollout—and the YNW Melly trial. In other news today:

• Billboard Hot 100 & album chart 📈 

• Everything we know about Travis Scott’s Utopia 💿️ 

• Witness testimony leaves YNW Melly in hot water 🤯 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• Industry Insights 🔎 

Hot 100 Chart & Streams

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking this week and the corresponding US song streams for June 30th to July 6th, as reported by Spotify Charts. Hot 100 ranks songs based on a combination of streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Gunna’s “fukumean” moves to #8, becoming his first solo Top 10 hit. Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and “Flooded The Face” is the highest charting song from the album at #11. Pink Tape is notably the first #1 hip-hop album of 2023, finally dethroning Country artist Morgan Wallen’s chokehold on the top spot.

The 3 ‘Utopia’ Clues Travis Scott Dropped in 2013 & Everything Else We Know

A master in the art of self-promotion, it was assumed that Travis Scott would go hard for the Utopia rollout but not perform at the pyramids of Giza hard. He also announced five different album covers and rumors of a secret A24 Utopia film are circulating, but the release date remains unconfirmed. Parts of the rollout have been years in the making—going as far back as 2013—find out why below.

At the Wireless Festival in London, Travis announced that he’ll perform his 4th studio album on July 28th at the pyramids. “Every time I listen to Utopia, it takes me back to Rodeo days and the Owl Pharoah days. It just takes me back to the motherfucking days where we used to just flip shit upside-motherfucking-down,” Travis said to the crowd. The pyramids of Giza are the seventh wonder of the world, but could Utopia be the eighth?

The performance will be live-streamed, a nod to Kanye’s Donda era, and tickets to the event were sold out in 15 mins, according to Egyptian Streets. An insider told Complex that the July 28th date is for the performance only, not the album.

Would it be a Travis release without merch galore? Under categories A, B, and C, different merch bundles are available for the five mysterious album covers. Die-hard fans can even purchase every Utopia cover and merch, 25 items total, for a casual $1.4K.

Utopia is going to be a movie—literally

In August 2021, Travis’ Cactus Jack Films signed a production deal with A24, sparking rumors of a Utopia movie, but no further news was reported until now. According to The Film Stage, filmmaker Harmony Korine secretly directed an A24 movie written by and starring Travis. Allegedly, it’s an action-oriented film shot entirely in infrared, but it can’t be released until Travis signs off.

‘Utopia’ Themes & Collaborators

Travis posted three videos to IG that reveal snippets of information about the album. The “Houston” clip is from the archives—a younger Travis in choir practice while the narration explains that he began dreaming of other worlds at a young age because his hometown had limited exposure to different cultures.

The “Miraval” clip focuses on the production of Utopia, Travis is making his beats again—reminiscent of the early days of his career—and working on the album in France.

In the “Malibu” clip, Travis works alongside the legendary producer Rick Rubin on a track you can’t hear. Rubin advises Travis on the creative process of music and praises the song’s production, presumably a Travis original.

The Weeknd and Mike Dean, known Utopia collaborators, will likely be in attendance at the pyramids and may even perform. The Weeknd also commented “🍭 🍭 🍭” on Mike Dean’s latest Utopia post, suggesting a lollipop-titled song will be on the album.

Fatherhood & psychedelic rock influenced the album

Speaking to WWD in 2021, Travis hinted that Utopia leaned into “psychedelic rock,” but that was before Lil Yachty’s experimental album. In an interview with i-D that same year, Travis said he wanted to make a “new sound” and felt no pressure to follow up the success of Astroworld because he approaches each album as a new world where nothing is the same.

He credits his daughter Stormi with changing his approach to music, telling i-D that fatherhood inspires him and opens his eyes to the generational difference between himself, his younger siblings, and Stormi.

Context for those of you out touching grass

The first reference to ancient Egypt was Owl Pharoah, Travis’ debut mixtape first announced in 2011 but was reconstructed with help from Kanye, T.I, and Mike Dean and officially released in 2013. The lead single, “Upper Echelon,” feels like a manifestation of the upcoming pyramid performance containing the lyrics, “Party at the Sphinx, damn that’s so outlandish (straight up).”

In 2018, he released the music video for “Can’t Say” which has a visual of pyramids burning—almost like the inception of the Utopia world started long before the album’s creation.

Coupled with his quote from Pin-Up magazine’s design alphabet, “With every album I live in these worlds in my mind—I’m trying to show people experiences where utopian things can exist, and you can enjoy yourself and have a good time,” elements of Utopia were likely dreamed long ago but only coming to fruition now.

Why this matters

The lack of hip-hop at the top of the Billboard charts (shoutout to Lil Uzi for the first #1 rap album of 2023) and the genre’s market share point to a decline as of late. How does Travis tie into this? His merch bundles are more important than you think for Utopia becoming a #1 album.

Billboard requires at least 1,250 streams to equal 1 album being sold. It’s a lot more efficient to sell an album via merch bundle, vinyl, or CD than to solely rely on streams in the hopes millions will convert to 6 figure sales numbers.

Travis is one of the few rappers that labels will allocate limited supplies of vinyl materials for a release, and his merch is guaranteed to encourage album sales. When Utopia is released, it will likely debut at #1, but if you look at the numbers, his physical sales are probably more aligned with a Beyoncé than a Lil Durk, and that’s what moves the needle for #1 albums across all genres.

Witness Testifies YNW Melly Changed Clothes the Night of Alleged Murders

After taking the 4th of July week off, YNW Melly’s trial resumed this week with the theme of social media and smoking as the state wraps up its case with 2 more key witnesses. But first, in a tasteful turn of events, BetOnline.ag, is encouraging fans to bet on the outcome of Melly’s verdict with a signup bonus of up to $1,000.

On Tuesday, the prosecution called Treveon Glass a producer who worked with the YNW collective, to the stand. Glass confirmed the YNW collective booked a 12-hour studio session with him the day of the murders, but it was cut short when everyone, except Juvy and Sakchaser, fell asleep.

More significantly, his testimony confirmed that Melly was at Fredo Bang’s house later that night and was not wearing the same clothes as he was in the studio. Melly’s location and appearance after the murders were previously unknown.

Glass brought some much-needed humor to the serious setting when questioned about his marijuana use. When asked if he smoked weed before taking the stand, he replied, “No,” before adding, “I should’ve,” evoking laughs from the courtroom.

As usual, Melly’s defense tried to turn the tables during cross-examination, probing for information that would discredit or cast doubt on Glass’ testimony. He revealed that he was testifying, and cooperating with the state, because of charges outside this case that could lead to jail time. He also didn’t know of Melly having any problems with Juvy or Sakchaser before their deaths.

Melly’s defense used the chronic weed consumption, along with Glass’ “I do not recall” answers, to question if Glass’ testimony is reliable given his lapse in memory about certain events. The judge ruled that the defense could use Melly’s weed habits from a similar angle, citing weed as the culprit for Melly’s difficulty in recalling events.

Wednesday’s testimony

Miramar lead detective Mark Moretti took the stand. He testified to the validity of Snapchat conversations between Melly and his friends. During a convo on November 9th, 2018, a few weeks after the murders, Melly told his ex-girlfriend that Cortleon had saved his life and he was “coming everywhere” with him.

Moretti’s testimony on Wednesday was largely uneventful but confirmed that the Miramar police obtained a warrant to go through Melly’s IG DMs. Messages reviewed today showed that Sakchaser said Melly was the face of YNW, but he was the CEO. The prosecution also presented a video of Melly turning up at a music video shoot the day after the murders.

Context for those of you out touching grass

Before the trial took a hiatus, the most convincing testimony was from crime scene detective Sgt. Williams who dispelled the narrative of a drive-by shooting and clearly outlined the projectile of the bullets shot from inside the car. The judge later denied the state’s motion for the jury to view the car where the murders occurred.

Why this matters

The prosecution’s case is expected to wrap Wednesday or Thursday this week, giving the public a wide-angle view of the evidence allegedly proving Melly is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So far, nothing that points to Melly as the shooter has been presented, as reflected in the betting odds with a higher payout for the riskier bet of a guilty verdict.

There is still no murder weapon, no evidence that directly ties Melly to the crime scene, and no clear motive other than the gang narrative, which remains speculation. Melly’s defense will call on several witnesses to try and prove his innocence, and their case is expected to last until the end of the month.

The Rap Index ft. Lil Uzi Vert, Jay Rock, Lil Baby, 42 Dugg & More

The Rap Index is a way to follow and discover new music. Divided into 4 categories, describing rap subgenres, songs are placed according to their style and sound—giving you a better idea of what songs will appeal to your musical taste. Only releases from the previous New Music Friday are included to help keep you up to date.

1. “Resentment” by Partynextdoor (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Smoke Break-Dance” by Mick Jenkins ft. JID (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Heartless” by King Von ft. Tee Grizzley (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “I Need to Know” by YoungBoy NBA (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “2021 Vibes” by LUCKI (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Donda Bag” by Babyface Ray (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “WANNABE” by Melvoni (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “How Things Go” by Lil Skies (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

• Drake takes a $230K loss by ignoring Detroit concert curfew saying, “I don’t give a fuck.” Also revealing to the crowd that Nicki Minaj is a feature on the upcoming For All The Dogs album.

• Ripple, TikTok-affiliated AI music making-app, can turn a hummed melody into a song. The app’s 2 key features include a “melody to song generator” and a virtual recording studio.

• Russ accuses Travis Scott of copying him with ‘Utopia’ rollout. In a recent tweet, the rapper highlighted similarities between the pyramid performance and $12 vinyl records.

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