In 2024, rap has been arguably at its most contentious in well over a decade. In the aftermath of one of the biggest rap beefs in the history of the Genre between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, (as well as between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion), while its messy aftermath still unfolding, hip hop is left at a crossroads as to where it will go next. Various subgenres have come and gone in just a few years, and several of its brightest stars have passed under tragic circumstances. Looking back to 2019, few rap artists in the mainstream that year still maintain relevance in the modern climate. The perceived “Big 3” of Hip-Hop (Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and J. Cole) have all had wildly different trajectories this year, with Drake and Cole going downward. Meanwhile, the old guard of rap has had incredibly messy years, as while they’ve had strong commercial success (Kanye, Eminem), controversy and polarizing content have alienated some audiences, and their long-term relevance this year has dwindled considerably.
However, the epicenter of rap is still in the hands of a select few who continue to push the culture forward and make a moment with each step they take. And few are in as interesting a space as Travis Scott. After releasing his seminal 2023 album UTOPIA, Scott has been on a multi-year arena/stadium tour spanning the globe, selling out shows left and right. His show at MetLife Stadium on October 9th marked not only his last show of the tour in the States but potentially his biggest headlining show in the region. An estimated 60,000 people attended the Circus Maximus Stadium Tour that night, packed under the biggest venue in the tri-state.
Scott’s live events are notorious for their energetic and high-energy nature, with several moshpits simultaneously popping up at any given moment at his shows. This came to a tragic head three years ago at his Astroworld Festival, which resulted in the deaths of 9 attendees, including children. Following this tragedy, Scott took a year-long break from performing, returning with new initiatives to ensure an event like the festival never occurred at his shows again.
However, right from entering the venue, it was clear his fans hadn’t lost their high-octane spark, with crowd surges occurring the moment the gates opened. This led to the gates closing for about 15 minutes in its aftermath. Additionally, when trying to purchase his highly coveted merch at the venue, several fights and surges occurred in the midst of the line, eventually causing law enforcement to close the stands. Disgruntled, albeit excited fans proceeded to return to their seats.
The concert began about an hour after the scheduled start time at around 8:30, with the up-and-coming New York rap trio 41 serving as the opening act. Running through a series of their most omnipresent hits, the group had a strong stage presence, running through staples of their live set for about 20 minutes, before leaving the stage
There was a surprisingly long wait between the opening act and the main attraction, leaving many fans, left to their own devices, to create their own fanfare. For one, in the pit of MetLife, Scott incorporated a fully functional drop tower that fans could ride on at any point in the concert, drawing large attractions and long lines. Towards the nosebleeds, the crowds created chants begging for the headliner to appear, and creating a wave of phone lights across the back of the stadium.
When Scott finally took the stage at around 9:15, the entire stadium burst into cheer, as a blaring synth radiated across the sea of people. They saw a live video of Travis walking onto the stage, bantering with his DJ and crew member Chase B. Scott opened his set with the gritty opener from UTOPIA, “HYAENA”, a menacing boom-bap track with raw drums and numerous samples. In a near-flawless performance, Travis raps along to the entire backing track with no cuts, daring his audience to match his energy as he bounces around the stage, with flames shooting from the sides of the stage.
After situating the audience to his live presence, Scott proceeded to go through other tracks from UTOPIA (“THANK GOD”, “MODERN JAM”) and of-the-moment features (Lil Uzi Vert’s “Aye” and Playboi Carti’s “BACKR00MS”). After breaking from the music, Travis speaks to the audience about his years-long quest to perform at MetLife Stadium, going into detail about working around his other endeavors to perform at the coveted venue. He then brought several fans on stage with him to perform, one of which came up in crutches. After performing the fan favorite “sdp interlude” and deep cut “Mo City Flexologist”, Scott brought out labelmate Sheck Wes to perform his seminal hit “Mo Bamba”, to the elation of the crowd.
After the fans left the stage, Scott blazed through some more hit songs in his back catalog, before abruptly cutting off the music to go on a rant. In his speech, Scott called out the VIP sections in the venue for taking out the authenticity of his show, and how all should be equal in his shows. After, he smoothly transitions into his first major hit, 2013’s “Upper Echelon” from his debut mixtape Owl Pharoah. At this point in the concert, Scott debuted a first for the tour, fireworks that shot up from the edges of the stadium. At any given point during the songs, you could see a cacophony of light radiating from the sky, a scenic accompaniment to the continued intensity of the crowd.
From time to time, Scott will lead the crowd into a sing-along of his most popular songs, stopping his song “I KNOW?” to let the audience sing the chorus back to him, with a resounding wall of fans sending his words back to him. After blasting through other well-known songs in his catalog, Scott cuts to what might be the most important song of his entire tour; “FE!N”.
The track, a shining emblem of the Rage subgenre emerging in the rap scene, is played several times consecutively at every one of his shows, anywhere from 3 to 10 times in a row, based on the crowd’s energy. For that night’s set, Scott performed it 4 times initially, before reintroducing the fireworks and flashing lights for his 5th. During his 5th also came what might have been the highlight of the show, Scott’s main guest for the night: Playboi Carti. Throughout the last several years, Playboi Carti has taken almost a mythic sense in the rap community, due to his long withstanding influence on the modern-day rap scene, and infrequent releases. In the last year alone, Carti has not only had his solo music reach the Top 20 on the charts, but also featured on hits from artists such as Kanye West, Metro Boomin, Future, and The Weeknd.
Carti, similarly known for his potent stage presence at shows, brought an eruption to the crowd the likes of which were unfathomable, with his distorted screams and raspy delivery driving the crowd to make the stadium shake. Following “FE!N”, Scott and Carti introduced their other big hit, “Type S**t”, bringing out another major guest for the song, Future. The influential trap crooner performer ran through the song masterfully, keeping with the intensity of the set while keeping a reserved demeanor.
Following the song, both guests left the stage for Scott to ring home his set. He begins with the seminal song “SICKO MODE”, arguably his most impactful song, breezing through the 3-part odyssey with ease. He then performed key tracks from his other albums, “Antidote” and “goosebumps”, reintroducing the fireworks for the latter.
Before finishing off his performance, Scott took one last moment to speak, noting that his parents were present at the show, highlighting how the hard work he put into his craft led them to come around to his job and accept him as the superstar he became. He transitions this into his last song of the night, his first time performing it since 2016, “Apple Pie”. The track, taken from his major label debut album Rodeo details his need to carve his path in life by any means necessary. A potent closer to the show, Scott then proceeded to play snippets of “FE!N” two more times, before walking out to the fan-favorite song “TELEKINESIS”, a collaboration with Future and SZA. Scott leaves the venue with longtime collaborator Quavo, taking in the impact of his performance, with the many thousands of fans screaming the song as he returns to the green room, a seminal performance in his career now behind him.
