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![“When I Was Coming Up, People Always Looked At Me [strangely]”-Travis Scott](https://afriamentertainmentguide.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/WhatsApp-Image-2025-02-10-at-21.27.58.jpeg)
SOURCE: billboard.com
Travis Scott, the King of Rage, is preparing to unleash a performance that will take his career to new heights — literally. Scott has already notched a dizzying number of accomplishments for a modern hip-hop star: four No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo rap act, the first rapper to sell out Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. But tonight, perched on the roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium and not much more than 10 feet from its edge, he’s dreaming even bigger.
As his latest song, “4X4” — which became his fifth Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 when it debuted atop the chart in early February — pulsates through the speakers, La Flame rubs his hands together before launching into the pretape of his halftime performance for the College Football Playoff National Championship. At the cue of video director Gibson Hazard, rap’s ultimate daredevil bounces around fearlessly, savoring the thrill and danger of the moment.
The 33-year-old native Houstonian, who was once a ball boy for the NBA’s Houston Rockets, has love for his hometown’s sports culture — and its accompanying theatrics — that runs as deep as his passion for its unique strain of Southern hip-hop.
As a teen sitting in his grandfather’s kitchen, he watched the nail-biter 14-inning game-three battle between his beloved Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox in the 2005 World Series from his grandfather’s kitchen (the Astros lost that game, and the series in four).
He recalls witnessing Rockets legend Tracy McGrady’s jaw-dropping 13 points in 33 seconds against the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. Scott’s own unyielding spirit for captivating audiences on the biggest stages was born in these historic sports moments. “I was a ball boy for the Rockets when T-Mac was about to leave [the team in the late 2000s] and he was kind of fizzling out,” Scott remembers as he scarfs down a Domino’s pizza slice the day after recording his fiery performance. “I always wanted him to win.”
While Scott may no longer be chasing rebounds inside Houston’s Toyota Center, his bond with sports is stronger than ever, fueled by his competitive streak and relentless drive to be as legendary as his superstar athlete friends Tom Brady and James Harden.
“12 is one of my favorites,” Scott says, referencing Brady’s former jersey number. “I go to him when it comes to achieving the highest level of greatness. I have a couple of people I can name [when I need advice], but 12 is somebody I can turn to when it comes to that because time and time again, when it comes to having to go and get it, I’ve seen him do it.”
Over the last couple of years, Scott has mounted the type of high-stakes comeback that might make a Hall of Fame athlete take notice. In October 2021, a deadly crowd surge killed 10 people at his Astroworld Festival in Houston, throwing the decorated rapper’s career into jeopardy.
After numerous lawsuits were filed against Scott, a grand jury declined to indict him on criminal charges; the families of the 10 victims reached settlements with him and Live Nation. But in 2023, as a dark cloud still loomed over him, Scott returned. His album Utopia, delivered that July, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with an impressive 496,000 album-equivalent units, according to Luminate, and landed 19 songs on the Billboard Hot 100. And the star-laden album featuring Beyoncé, Drake, SZA and The Weeknd wasn’t just a blockbuster hit — it catalyzed Scott’s post-Astroworld comeback.
That October, Scott launched his Circus Maximus Tour, an interactive spectacle where he let his imagination run free. He created an amusement park-like atmosphere where he invited fans onstage to get on actual rides (“Amusement parks, to me, are the illest things ever,” he says), and his fire-breathing performances showcased the same audacity that made him the poster child for rage rap when he first rose to fame in the mid-2010s.
It wasn’t just the biggest tour of Scott’s career: With $209.3 million grossed from 1.7 million tickets sold, according to Billboard Boxscore, the 76-date trek became the highest-selling outing ever by a solo rapper.
Stateside, Scott played mostly arenas — save New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium and his history-making SoFi Stadium gig — but his overseas fan base propelled him to stadiums in South America, Oceania and Europe, where he performed massive shows in cities including London, Milan and Cologne, Germany, selling more than 71,000 tickets at the lattermost. Scott and his longtime manager, David Stromberg, say they want to conquer the Asian touring market next.
“It’s always a challenge to create a new chapter of what the live shows look like,” says Stromberg, who has worked with Scott for over 10 years. “We thought that the [2018-19] Astroworld Tour was our highest peak. We were in arenas and now we’re in stadiums.” In April, Scott — who was slated to headline Coachella in April 2020 before the pandemic forced the festival’s cancellation — will appear for a performance there billed as “designing the desert.” And, Stromberg says, “With Coachella coming up, we need to figure out a new chapter.”
While Scott’s disruptive spirit has propelled him to chart and touring glory, his savvy on the branding front has drawn attention from a variety of major companies. Brands such as Nike, McDonald’s, Audemars Piguet and Epic Games have launched significant partnerships with Cactus Jack, Scott’s label and lifestyle boutique. Athletes like Aaron Judge, Jayson Tatum and Jayden Daniels have sported Scott’s Nike sneaker line.
And last July, Scott got the ultimate sports co-sign when Michael Jordan wore a pair of unreleased Travis Scott x Air Jordan sneakers to the beach. After watching Cactus Jack flourish, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin partnered with Scott, popular retro sports brand Mitchell & Ness and Lids to launch a merch line called Jack Goes Back to College featuring a range of college-themed apparel and accessories.
“Normally, someone will come to work with us, give feedback and we’ll do all the work,” Rubin says. “With Travis, it’s 100% driven by him, and that’s because he knows his fans and the market, and he has such a strong feel for what the market wants. [When we collaborated], he completely designed the products 100% on his own. He has such great vision and product skills that I’ve never seen before.
“I’ve seen so many people in this world, but the fandom and loyalty he has from his fans is truly extraordinary,” Rubin continues. “Someone could offer him a billion dollars, and if it’s not brand-right and he doesn’t feel it’s right for his customers, he will not do it. That’s why he’s so careful about everything that he does. He wants to make sure it’s the right product and the right vision. Travis may be the most authentic person I know. He’ll never sell out.”
Scott and Rubin promoted the Jack Goes Back to College line with a 36-hour college campus tour, making stops at Louisiana State University, the University of Southern California and the University of Texas, where they spoke to the schools’ athletic teams and even worked behind campus bookstore registers to sell their products. Throughout, Scott was everywhere — giving motivational speeches, showing up for an impromptu performance (at LSU local bar Friends) and joining football practice at UT, where he even helped with punt returns. And he’s eager to do all that again and more.
“When I was talking to Trav at the National Championship game [this year], he was like, ‘All right, what four schools are we doing next year? We’re out. We did three last year; we’re doing four next year,’ ” Rubin says.
His passion goes beyond the gridiron: Two decades after watching the Astros in the World Series, he’ll host current Astros players — and a slew of other current and former baseball and football greats, along with music stars like Metro Boomin, Teyana Taylor and Swae Lee — at the Cactus Jack Foundation’s HBCU Celebrity Softball Classic in Houston on Feb. 13.
Though Scott was largely consumed with touring and further building Cactus Jack over the past year, he returned his focus to music last August, when he released his acclaimed second mixtape, 2014’s Days Before Rodeo, to streaming platforms. Initially a free download — and a steppingstone in Scott’s career — the project bowed at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 361,000 album-equivalent units, falling 1,000 units short of Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet. A month later, Days Before Rodeo rocketed to No. 1 after Scott offered vinyl editions of the project online, securing him the fourth No. 1 album of his career.
“When I was coming up, people always looked at me [strangely],” Scott says. “I don’t know. I’d always hear a little s–t of ‘Is it rap? Is it this? Is it just a vibe?’ I’m pushing hip-hop. It’s 50 years old but still has time to stretch. I feel like, ‘OK, I’m leading the new charge of what the next 50 years of this s–t is going to be like.’ ”
