American rapper and songwriter Travis Scott has returned to the stage with the extension of his “Circus Maximus Stadium Tour,” bringing new music to audiences across five countries. The tour follows the success of his latest release, “Jackboys 2,” which dropped on July 13 under his record label, Cactus Jack. The album features various hip-hop and R&B artists such as Don Toliver, Playboi Carti, Sheck Wes, Future and Kodak Black. The album skyrocketed to number one on the Billboard charts, selling a total of 232,000 cumulative units by the end of the week.
The start of the album’s build-up began in April when Scott played some of the upcoming tracks for the first time. This performance took place at Coachella, a double weekend springtime festival in the desert of Indio, California. Scott designed the main stage at Coachella this past year and created an immersive area for all the festival attendees. Allegedly, Scott spent around 12 million on the main stage and production. Shortly after his performances, Scott released a merchandise collaboration with Nike and FC Barcelona, building more anticipation for his next release.
A week prior to the release of “Jackboys 2,” album marketing was rolled out with a virtual billboard shown in Times Square, New York. The billboard played a video of a “Jackboys 2”-themed Lamborghini that also appeared in other advertisements for the album. Each artist featured on the project was given the same Lamborghini, a clever way to hint at who would be on the album before the lineup was officially revealed. The creative and unique unveiling created an atmospheric buzz for fans of Scott.
When “Jackboys 2” was officially released on July 13, it went viral on social media. Many stated how they loved the album and how it had new, timeless Scott classics. Others felt that the album didn’t have the iconic Scott sound of past albums, such as “Astroworld” or “Utopia.”
Christian Liao, a Valley Christian High School student and self-proclaimed Travis Scott “super-fan,” said, “I was anticipating a lot of what ‘Jackboys 1’ was, some melodic songs and some rage songs with the group.”
In the context of Scott’s discography, Liao said, “I think [‘Jackboys 2’ is] in the middle because he has released better and worse [music], so I see it staying in the middle ground of my ranking. I think I only didn’t enjoy one song, which was ‘VELOUR.’”
Many fans could attest to this ranking of the album, like Instagram influencer and Scott fan, Skyla Disney. Disney said, “Personally, I feel like Travis Scott has some better albums. With that, I’d put ‘Jackboys 2’ in the middle… I definitely got some of the atmospheric energy, but can’t lie, I did not expect the plot twist in ‘Shyne.’ I had to take a second and really process like ‘woah am I hearing this right?’ but it was just a bit silly.”
Since the album’s release, Scott has continued to create motion in his career and the hip-hop scene. During the 10-year anniversary of his debut studio album, “Rodeo,” Scott released exclusive merchandise and sold action figures similar to what was featured on the cover of the album.
Scott continues to innovate and redesign modern hip-hop through his clothing, music and performances, with “Jackboys 2” helping shape the new wave of hip-hop.
