Ranking the 10 Best Songs From Travis Scott's 'Utopia'

Travis Scott’s Utopia rollout continues with a performance at Circus Maximus in Rome, Italy, on August 7th. The ancient chariot-racing stadium has the same name as Travis’ new movie and replaces the canceled pyramid event in Egypt. In other news today:

• The top 10 best songs from Travis Scott’s Utopia 🔥 

• Discover new music with The Rap Index 🎵 

• Why Travis’ Utopia is Yeezus 2.0 with a side of rap beef 🥩 

• How one “manipulative” juror derailed the YNW Melly trial🧑‍⚖️ 

• Future’s monthly income revealed in Industry Insights

The 10 Best Songs From Travis Scott’s ‘Utopia’ Ranked

In the absence of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, which gets updated tomorrow, enjoy this ranking of the ten standout songs from Travis Scott’s Utopia and the global Spotify streams for each song on the release day (July 28th). You can stream Utopia on Apple Music and Spotify.

Find out why Utopia is Yeezus 2.0, Travis is an expert in collaborator curation, and “Meltdown” is a spicy serving of rap beef further below in the Real Spill section.

The Rap Index ft. Trippie Redd, Post Malone, ICYTWAT, Gucci Mane & 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. “Gorgeous Remix” by Tee Grizzley, Skilla Baby, City Girls (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

2. “Woppenheimer” by Gucci Mane (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

3. “Oh No” by BIA (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

4. “I KNOW ?” by Travis Scott (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

5. “Overdrive by Post Malone (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

6. “Last Days” by Trippie Redd (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

7. “Free Slime / Sexy Girls” by Unknown T, Lancey Foux (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

8. “Black Card” by ICYTWAT (Listen on Apple Music & Spotify)

Travis Scott’s ‘Utopia’ Is Yeezus 2.0 With a Side of Rap Beef

For the biggest rap release of the year, Travis Scott is in his production bag, and Utopia sees him take on a curation role by assembling an all-star cast of features and producers. Complex tallied his efforts at the studio board to 63% of the album, which is less than Rodeo or Owl Pharoah but more than Astroworld. Apple Music and Spotify confirmed Utopia was the biggest first-day stream of an album in 2023 📈 

A-List Production

Following in the house and club music footsteps of Beyoncé and Drake, Travis tapped Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, E*vax of Ratatat, and U.K. producer Dom Maker for their expertise in electronic production, fusing it with his interstellar trap sound. In my opinion, the paradise haven of Utopia is found in the album’s sonics, taking the listener on a transcendental journey no matter what their physical surroundings are.

Curated Range of Collaborators

Travis always had an ear for talent, and there’s much to be said about his ability to spot emerging artists and give them a platform to shine alongside the established names you expect as features. Much like Metro Boomin’s skillset, curation lies at the heart of the Utopia tracklist with unexpected pairings like Rob49 with 21 Savage or Kanye protege KayCyy with Teezo Touchdown, and Travis' daughter Stormi on “Thank God.”

The full feature list includes Drake, 21 Savage, Beyoncé, SZA, Future, Young Thug, Playboi Carti, Sheck Wes, Bon Iver, Swae Lee, Pharrell Williams, Kid Cudi, Westside Gunn, James Blake, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Dave Chappelle, Teezo Touchdown, Sampha, Rob49, Yung Lean, and KayCyy.

Yeezus 2.0

The most obvious influence and comparison of Utopia is Kanye’s Yeezus album, the 2013 project that saw Kanye take a left turn down the road of experimental and electronic sounds with unconventional collaborations like Daft Punk and Arca. What some people may not know is that Travis spent his formative years under Kanye’s wing and was heavily involved in the conception of Yeezus behind the scenes.

Comparing Utopia to Yeezus can be simplified by juxtaposing the new Travis with his old work and is not to be confused with an imitation of Kanye. “Modern Jam,” which pays a subtle homage to ‘80s hip-hop, actually repurposes a beat from an early version of “I Am a God” from Kanye’s Yeezus.

“Modern Jam” has also drawn comparisons to Kendrick’s “Backstreet Freestyle,” likely because it’s an interpolation alongside “I Am a God.” Interpolations are common in rap music and are not to be confused with samples—taking a snippet of a song and literally copying and pasting it into a new song. Interpolations take portions of a song’s melody and recreate it in a new recording note for note to reflect the underlying composition.

The first verse of “Modern Jam” is similar to Kanye’s “On Sight,” “Circus Maximum” contains a drum pattern reminiscent of “Black Skinhead,” and “Looove” draws influence from the ominous synths and the percussion-based rapping of “New Slaves.” All three of those songs are from Yeezus. Travis also pledges his allegiance to Kanye on “Skitzo,” rapping, “I’m loyal, bitch, I got Ye over Biden.”

Shots Fired

Travis and Drake were feeling spicy on “Meltdown” and rapped some pointed lyrics re-igniting old and new beef. “I melt down the chains that I bought from yo' boss / Give a fuck about all of that heritage shit / Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis, they not even wearing that shit,” Drake raps throwing shade at Pharrell, who recently took over the late Virgil Abloh’s position at Louis Vuitton.

If you remember, Drake bought some of Pharrell’s jewelry at an auction recently, menacingly saying he’ll melt them all while he shoots at his main target—Pusha T. Not only did Pusha walk in Pharrell’s LV runway debut, but the pair are notoriously close.

Before can clear smoke from Drake’s missile, Travis gets a shot off of his own at the star of the new Willy Wonka movie, Timothée Chalamet, who is reportedly dating his ex, Kylie Jenner.

How One “Manipulative” Juror Derailed YNW Melly’s Trial

Now that YNW Melly’s trial was declared a mistrial and was erased in the eyes of the law, a former juror has come forward and spoken out about what happened during deliberations. The anonymous juror claims that the majority of the jury was in favor of a guilty conviction, but one “manipulative” woman derailed everything resulting in the mistrial. What went wrong? Find out more below.

Speaking to Florida’s Local 10 News, the juror said the woman was determined to acquit Melly for the 2018 murders of YNW Juvy and YNW Sakchaser and “was there to cause chaos.” “From day one, she had an issue with the foreperson selected, at one point crossing her arms and saying she was ‘Done!’ When another juror asked to not shut down and set her feelings aside, she exploded,” the juror continued. A foreperson is a member of the jury who announces the group’s verdict.

Jurors changed their minds at the last second

On the last day of deliberation, the jury was 11 to 1 in favor of convicting Melly of manslaughter with a deadly weapon until the problematic juror pulled two other members aside and convinced them to change their decision leading to the 9-3 deadlocked jury.

“She came over and announced to the group that they had changed their minds, but when another juror asked why she was speaking for them, she exploded,” the former juror said and hurled insults, including gay slurs, at the man who questioned her.

Why the juror decided to speak out

Looking back, there were potential signs of trouble before the trial started. During voir dire, when prospective jurors are questioned to determine if they can be fair and impartial, the woman said she had experience with the legal system because of past family issues, but it wouldn’t influence her jury duty.

The juror that came forward said they did so to combat the narrative that the jury was deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquittal and didn’t appreciate the false news perpetuated by Melly’s mother, Jamie Demons-King.

The next hearing for the retrial is set for August 4th, and jury selection is scheduled to start on October 2nd.

Context for those of you out touching grass

YNW Melly was facing two counts of first-degree murder in his original trial. Flordia passed a law recently that only requires a majority vote of 8 out of 12 jurors for the death penalty to become the jury’s recommendation. However, the trial phase happens before the penalty phase, and all 12 jurors must unanimously agree on a verdict before they can deliberate sentencing. Melly’s mistrial happened in the trial phase.

Why this matters

A key piece of the juror’s statement is the verdict the majority was leaning towards—manslaughter with a deadly weapon. This is different than the first-degree murder charge the prosecution was gunning for and refers to a murder that is planned and deliberate.

Manslaughter is any unlawful killing that lacks the intent to prove murder, suggesting the prosecution’s case to present a narrative was unconvincing and can be punishable by up to 30 years in prison but does not warrant the death penalty. However, the retrial will have a completely different jury, and Melly will be facing the death penalty again.

• J. Cole admits he’s afraid of going broke again, so he’s “mindful” about spending money. He also compared the dangers of social media to smoking cigarettes on the latest episode of Kevin Hart’s talk show.

• Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, sells $100M worth of Spotify stock, equivalent to 675,000 shares. The news arrived two days after Spotify reported its Q2 financial results.

• Future’s monthly income exposed amid child support battle with ex Brittni Mealy. The rapper reportedly pulls in $30K monthly and will now have to pay $5K in child support, bumped from the previous $3K in their 2014 agreement.

Like sports? 🏀 🏈 Get up-to-date analysis and unique insight that’s actually interesting to read with the Playmaker Newsletter.