Travis Scott

Jacques Webster (born April 30, 1992), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.

In 2012, Scott signed his first major-label deal with Epic Records. In November of the same year, Scott signed a deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music, to be a part of its production wing Very GOOD Beats, after appearing on the label's 2012 compilation album Cruel Summer. In April 2013, it was announced Scott signed a record deal with T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint.

Scott's first full-length project, a mixtape titled Owl Pharaoh, was self-released in May 2013. This was followed with a second mixtape, titled Days Before Rodeo, in August 2014. Scott's debut studio album Rodeo, was released in September 2015 and was led by the hit single "Antidote", which reached the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. His second album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, was released in September 2016, to generally positive reviews. The following year, Travis Scott released a collaborative album with Quavo titled Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho under the group name Huncho Jack.

Early life

Webster was born in Houston, Texas. He grew up in Missouri City, a middle-class suburban area bordering southwest Houston. Webster lived with his grandmother, but later moved to the suburbs, where his father ran his own business. Webster attended a private elementary school and middle school though graduated from Elkins High School, a public high school at the age of seventeen.Webster then later attended the University of Texas at San Antonio before dropping out to fully pursue his music career when he was a sophomore.
After dropping out, Webster immediately moved to New York City in an attempt to start his music career. His parents, frustrated that he had dropped out of university, eventually cut him off financially.

Career

2008–12: Career beginnings and record deals

At the age of 16, Webster embarked on his musical career as a record producer, with a focus on hip hop production. He subsequently entered his first partnership with his longtime friend, Chris Holloway, forming the duo The Graduates. In 2008, the duo released their untitled first EP on social networking website, Myspace.

The following year, Webster and OG Chess, one of Travis's schoolmates, formed the group The Classmates. The Classmates released two projects, with Buddy Rich in 2009 and Cruis'n USA in 2010. Webster 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, Webster moved from Houston, Texas, to Washington, New York, where Webster began working with friend Mike Waxx, who owned the music website Illroots. After moving to New York, Webster 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,Webster moved to Los Angeles, California after only four months in the state.

In Los Angeles, Webster was abandoned by his friend whom 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.

2012–14: Owl Pharaoh and Days Before Rodeo

Webster'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 Webster 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 Webster himself, alongside Mike Dean. On March 22, 2013, Webster released the music video for a song titled "Quintana", set to appear on Owl Pharaoh. The mixtape's version of the song features guest vocals from fellow American rapper Wale, while the production was handled by Webster himself, alongside Sak Pase and Mike Dean. On March 27, XXL revealed that Webster was a member of their Freshman Class of 2013.On March 29, 2013, following his interview with British disc jockey, DJ Semtex, Webster premiered a snippet of his commercial debut single, titled "Upper Echelon", featuring 2 Chainz and T.I. On April 2, 2013, Webster 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. The EP was released for free download.

2015–16: Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

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 Thugand Toro y Moi, Big Buck 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 Webster 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 US Billboard 200 chart. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Rap Albums chartOn January 4, 2016, Webster would announce that he has a new studio album on the way. On February 8, 2016, it was announced that iLoveMakonnen, Vic Mensa and Travis Scott, would be a part of the "WANGSQUAD", an Alexander Wang campaign.On March 29, 2016, 300 Entertainment executive Lyor Cohen, revealed that Webster and Young Thug were releasing a single together and called Webster's upcoming album a "classic".On April 7, 2016, Webster previewed a single with Young Thug at one of his shows. On May 17, 2016, Webster 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 Webster 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).

On August 31, 2016, Webster announced that Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight was finally finished in a post on Instagram.Webster premiered the album on his third episode of .wav radio on September 2, 2016, and was later released on iTunes and Apple Music. On September 11, 2016, the album became Webster's first number one album on the US Billboard200. On September 12, 2016, Universal Music Publishing Group's CEO, Jody Gerson announced that the label signed a worldwide deal with Webster.
In the same episode Webster premiered Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, he also announced that he would be executive producing on Kanye West's Cruel Winter, a follow up to his G.O.O.D. Music label's debut compilation Cruel Summer. In the episode he described the upcoming album as, "very youthful, straight to the point, like the illest ever, man, like the illest album

2017–present: Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho and AstroWorld

Scott performed at All-Star Weekend on February 16, 2017 in New Orleans at Champion Square.He also performed at New Orleans BUKU Music + Art Project festival on March 10, 2017. On March 5, Scott announced a concert tour called "Birds Eye View". The next day, the dates and cities for the tour were unveiled, with it beginning on March 10, in New Orleans, Louisiana and coming to an end on June 2, in Eugene, OR. In March 2017, Webster announced he would be launching his own imprint, under the name of Cactus Jack Records. During an interview, Webster said, "I’m not doing it to have financial control over my music. I want first and foremost to help other artists, launch new names, to provide opportunities. I want to do for them what happened to me, but better. By better I mean no bullshit. No lying to the artists about album release dates or the budgets of videos and albums."On June 15, 2017, Scott announced he would be doing a European leg of the "Birds Eye View Tour". The European leg started on the June 23 in Paris, and concluded on July 9 in Turku, Finland. This leg was mainly festival sets or in smaller club settings.

On April 3, 2017 it was reported Scott had been working on a collaborative album with Atlanta-based rapper Quavo of Migos, potentially to be released later in 2017. Speaking to GQ, he confirmed: 'The Quavo album is coming soon. I’m dropping new music soon. You know how I do it though: I like surprises. In addition to the collaborative album, Scott announced his third studio album Astroworld, named after the defunct Houston theme park of the same name, is nearing completion and would most likely be released in 2017. Scott was also featured on a track from Canadian rapper Drake's project More Life (2017), titled "Portland". The song peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming his highest charting song as a featured artist.

On May 16, 2017, Scott released three new tracks on SoundCloud, after teasing on social media for some time. The tracks were named "A Man", "Green & Purple (featuring Playboi Carti)", and "Butterfly Effect". The latter was also released on every other streaming service, as the only track. The music video for "Butterfly Effect" was released on July 14, 2017. On August 10, 2017, Webster tweeted "ALBUM MODE" as he had just finished the "DAMN. Tour" as a supporting act for Kendrick Lamar, the night before. This tweet signified that he was now working on his album AstroWorld full-time. On August 27, 2017, Scott performed with Thirty Seconds to Mars at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards on their single "Walk On Water".