Travis Scott

Jacques Bermon Webster II (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, along with a total of over one hundred charting songs. In addition to ten Grammy Award nominations, he has won a Latin Grammy Award, Billboard Music Award, MTV Video Music Award, and several BET Hip Hop Awards. Scott's musical style has been described as a "blend between traditional hip-hop and lo-fi" and often characterized as "ambient," with a heavily appraised influence from rappers Kanye West and Kid Cudi. His stage name is derived from the latter's real name, Scott Mescudi, combined with the name of a favorite uncle.

In 2012, Scott signed his first major-label recording contract with Epic Records, as well as a publishing deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music as an in-house producer. In April 2013, he entered a joint-venture record deal with Georgia-based rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records. Scott self-released his first full-length project, a mixtape titled Owl Pharaoh in 2013, which was followed by his debut mixtape, Days Before Rodeo (2014). His debut studio album, Rodeo (2015), was met with critical and commercial success; it spawned the singles "3500" (featuring Future and 2 Chainz) and "Antidote", the latter peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. His second album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight (2016), became his first number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart. In the following year, Scott formed the duo Huncho Jack with rapper Quavo, with whom he released an eponymous collaborative album (2017).

Scott's third studio album, Astroworld (2018), was released to widespread critical acclaim and became his second consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200. It yielded his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Sicko Mode" (featuring Drake). In late 2019, Scott's vanity label imprint, Cactus Jack Records released the compilation album JackBoys, which also topped the Billboard 200. With his 2019 single "Highest in the Room" and his 2020 singles "The Scotts" (with Kid Cudi) and "Franchise" (featuring Young Thug and M.I.A.), Scott became the first artist on the Billboard Hot 100 to have three songs debut at number one in less than a year. Following a series of controversies and five years after the release of his previous solo album, Scott released Utopia (2023), which became his fourth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles "Meltdown" (featuring Drake), "Fein" (featuring Playboi Carti), and "K-pop" (with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd). In 2025, he released the single "4x4", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Along with his highly publicized relationship with American media personality Kylie Jenner, Scott has collaborated with organizations including Nike, Dior, and McDonald's. His Cactus Jack record label, founded in 2017, has signed artists including Don Toliver and Sheck Wes. Scott has gained notoriety for controversies and legal issues regarding concert safety. In November 2021, a mass-casualty crowd crush occurred during Scott's hometown performance at his annual Astroworld Festival, causing ten deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Jacques Bermon Webster II was born on April 30, 1991, in Houston, Texas. From ages one through six, Webster lived with his grandmother in South Park, Houston. The neighborhood was notorious for crime and had an impact on a young Webster, "Growing up, my grandmother stayed in the 'hood so I seen random crazy shit. [I saw] mad bums and crazy spazzed out motherfuckers, I saw people looking weird, hungry, and grimey [sic]. I was always like, 'I gotta get the fuck out this shit.' It gave me my edge—[it made me] who I am right now."

Webster moved to Missouri City, a middle-class suburban area bordering southwest Houston, to live with his parents. His mother worked for Apple and his father ran his own business. Webster's father is also a soul musician and his grandfather was a jazz composer. Webster attended Elkins High School and graduated at seventeen. During high school, he participated in musical theater. Webster then attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, before dropping out his second year to fully pursue his music career.

During an interview, Webster revealed he chose his moniker as a combination of his favorite uncle, Travis, and the first name of one of his biggest inspirations, Kid Cudi (whose real name is Scott Mescudi).

Webster formed a duo with his longtime friend Chris Holloway known as The Graduates. In 2008, the duo released their untitled first EP on social networking website Myspace.

The following year, Scott and OG Chess, one of Scott's schoolmates, formed the group The Classmates. The Classmates released two projects, with Buddy Rich in 2009 and Cruis'n USA in 2010. Scott mainly handled production work on both projects. The duo remained together until late 2012, when personal conflicts and financial disputes led to the disbandment of the group.

After leaving college, Scott moved from Houston to Washington Heights in New York City where Scott began working with friend Mike Waxx, who owned the music website Illroots. After moving to New York, Scott slept on the floor at his friend's house and spent most of his time at Just Blaze's studio. Eventually frustrated in New York and the lack of progression, Scott moved to Los Angeles, California, after only four months in the state.

In Los Angeles, Webster was abandoned by his friend who had promised to help him by providing housing. His parents cut him off financially and he eventually was forced to relocate back to Houston, where his parents kicked him out of their home. Webster moved back to Los Angeles once again and began to sleep on the couch of a friend who studied at University of Southern California. Atlanta-based rapper and owner of Grand Hustle Records, T.I. would later hear one of Webster's productions, titled "Lights (Love Sick)". While in Los Angeles, T.I.'s representative contacted Webster, asking him to attend a studio for a meeting. During the meeting, T.I. freestyled over "Animal", one of Webster's productions.

Scott's First solo full-length project is a mixtape titled Owl Pharaoh, which was set to be released as a free download in 2012. However, the project was delayed, and was announced to be slated for a later release. The project was later re-created by Kanye West and Mike Dean, and was then again delayed for sample clearance issues. In promotion Scott would release the track, "Blocka La Flame", a remix of fellow GOOD Music label-mate Pusha T's single "Blocka" (which features production and vocals from Scott). The song was produced by Young Chop, with additional production by Scott himself, alongside Mike Dean. On March 22, 2013, Scott released the music video for a song titled "Quintana", set to appear on Owl Pharaoh. On March 27, XXL revealed that Scott was a member of their Freshman Class of 2013. Later on March 29, 2013, following his interview with British disc jockey, DJ Semtex, Scott premiered a snippet of his commercial debut single, titled "Upper Echelon", featuring 2 Chainz and T.I. On April 2, 2013, Scott stated Owl Pharaoh was his official debut mixtape and would be released on the iTunes Store on May 21, 2013. On April 23, 2013, "Upper Echelon" was sent to urban contemporary radio.

On March 13, 2014, Scott performed a new song, tentatively titled "1975" featuring Big Sean, from his upcoming project at the time, at the Texan music festival South by Southwest (SXSW). Scott later confirmed via his Twitter account that the song is not called "1975", and would be included on his second mixtape, titled Days Before Rodeo. He would later take to his Twitter account to announce Rodeo, as the official title for his major-label debut studio album. On May 5, 2014, Scott released the full version of the song, with its new title "Don't Play", featuring a sample of the song "M.O.N.E.Y" by the English rock band the 1975. On July 11, 2014, "Don't Play" was officially released as the lead single from Days Before Rodeo, via digital distribution.

Following the success of Days Before Rodeo, Scott announced that he would headline a concert tour, called The Rodeo Tour, with rapper Young Thug and producer Metro Boomin. The tour started on March 1, 2015, in Santa Ana, California, and ended on April 1, 2015, in Portland, Oregon. The tour ran through major cities and artists such as Kanye West, Chris Brown, Wale and Birdman made special guest appearances in certain cities.

Rodeo was released on September 4, 2015, by Grand Hustle and Epic Records. The album features guest appearances from Quavo, Juicy J, Kanye West, The Weeknd, Swae Lee, Chief Keef, Justin Bieber, Young Thug and Toro y Moi, and includes production from Mike Dean, Kanye West, WondaGurl, Suber, DJ Dahi, Metro Boomin, 1500 or Nothin', Sonny Digital, Southside, Terrace Martin, Zaytoven, Pharrell Williams and Scott himself, among others. The album was supported by two singles: "3500" featuring Future and 2 Chainz, and "Antidote". The latter became his highest-charting single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 16. Rodeo received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Rap Albums chart.

On January 4, 2016, Scott announced that he had a new studio album on the way. On March 29, 2016, 300 Entertainment executive Lyor Cohen, revealed that Scott and Young Thug were releasing a single together and called Scott's upcoming album a "classic". On April 7, 2016, Scott previewed a single with Young Thug at one of his shows. On May 17, 2016, Scott announced that the title of his second album would be Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, while also confirming the title for his third album to be Astroworld. On June 3, 2016, the collaborative single between Thug and Scott was released, titled "Pick Up the Phone". The single, which also features vocals from Quavo of Atlanta-based rap trio Migos, reached number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).