Travis Scott
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Travis Scott is one of the most successful musical artists of his generation. But in his heart of hearts, he’s really a product person. He relishes creating new things and finding new ways to express his artistic desires. It’s why he told GQ that he’s “going to Harvard for architecture school.” He just wants to make things at the highest level. So, after partnering with Nike, Sony’s PlayStation, McDonald’s, Dior and Fortnite, it wasn’t a shock to hear that he partnered with the Swiss luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet to produce a small batch of the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar.
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Afterall, he mentioned it on “Meltdown” off his latest album Utopia when he rapped, “Wrappin’ the cheese, wrap around me ’cause I’ve got property/ Chocolate AP and chocolate the Vs.” The watch is the final project overseen by Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias, who has run the company since 2013, and was announced at an event on Nov. 30.
The super-limited 41MM timepiece, encased in a chocolate ceramic case with a brown calfskin strap and “Utopia Is a State of Mind” engraved on the back, was limited to 200 pieces, and, like most Scott collabs, completely sold out.
Cactus Jack
If you didn’t have $200,000 to drop on a brown watch but still want to rep Cactus Jack and AP, Scott has you covered. On Tuesday (Dec. 5), the “K-Pop” rapper released a capsule collection featuring everything from sweatshirts and T-shirts to robes and slippers. Prices range from $60 for a dad hat to $1,850 for a leather bomber jacket. Every piece is bathed in a familiar brown hue that Scott has used on everything from his Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen to his infamous Batman halloween costume, and now his very own Royal Oak.
Cactus Jack
“Watchmaking, to me, is the ultimate combo of engineering, fashion, tech and design — a harmony of precision, craftsmanship and perfect timing,” Travis Scott said via press release. “I approached this collaboration similar to sampling or starting a beat, taking inspiration from classics while introducing innovation to push them into the future.”
Cactus Jack
The entire collection is currently available at Travis Scott’s web shop.
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Source: @knowing_kicks / Instagram
Earlier this year it was rumored that the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 collaborations would be coming to an end after 2023, but now the sneaker community has gotten word that 2024 will be seeing another highly anticipated installment into the “Cactus Jack” x Air Jordan 1 collection.
According to Hypebeast a new and spiffy colorway for the highly popular Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 low is on the way and will feature a black and olive color scheme that will go beautifully with a pair of camouflage pants that New Yorkers are known to feature in their weekly fashion ensemble. Travis himself previewed this particular pair of sneaker months ago, but many assumed it was one of his many “Friends and Family” pairs that have never seen the light of day (we need those purple Air Jordan 4’s, Trav!!!).
Per Hypebeast:
An initial preview of the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low OG “Black Olive” has appeared, pointing to next year as a possible release period. Similarities can be drawn to the duo’s initial “Mocha” pair that stirred up the sneaker scene back in 2019. This time, the mocha brown has been swapped out for an olive finish that combines with a black base, a white lateral reverse Swoosh and an off-white midsole. Red branding elements are scattered throughout while the medial favors an olive Swoosh to complete the look.
At the time of writing, information surrounding the release of the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low OG “Black Olive” is very limited. However, reputable sneaker insider zSneakerHeadz has shared that the pair is currently expected to release during the fall of 2024. Stay tuned for updates as we expect it to be made available via Nike SNKRS and select retailers at some point next year.
Needless to say demand for these will be through the roof, but like the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 releases before these expect stock to be extremely limited with anywhere from 100,000 – 250,000 pairs being made available. With millions of sneakerheads foaming at the mouth for these, those kind of numbers really are just another a drop in the bucket.
Check out pics of the next “Cactus Jack” Air Jordan 1 lows below and let us know if you’ll be trying in vain to snatch a pair when they drop sometime next year.
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Travis Scott has spoken out about the Astroworld tragedy in times past and is doing so once more in a recent interview. The Texas star explained in the chat that he was “devasted” by the aftermath of the event, which left 10 people dead and hundreds injured.
Travis Scott was profiled in a new GQ spread for its Men Of The Year, discussing his current Circus Maximus tour, his fourth studio album UTOPIA, and other topics. Of course, the Astroworld tragedy was an unavoidable topic but Cactus Jack gamely spoke to the matter at hand.
“I always think about it,” Scott said of the incident that took place in 2021. “Those fans were like my family. You know, I love my fans to the utmost.”
He added, “It has its moments where it gets rough and… yeah. You just feel for those people. And their families.”
Of the 10 victims, one was just nine years of age, and the news of the deaths sparked outrage and anger towards Scott. In his initial responses to the event, Scott showed remorse during a past interview and said he wasn’t aware of what was happening in the crowd during the performance alongside Drake.
Further, the crowd was way over capacity, and there was not enough logistical support in place to help control the situation. While Travis Scott was not charged, he is still named in a series of civil lawsuits, numbering over 1,500.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Simone Joyner / Getty
Travis Scott is still in court dealing with civil lawsuits to the tragedy that unfolded at his Astroworld concert back in 2021. But it seems like a key piece of evidence that prosecutors want is MIA, and there’s a wild explanation behind it.
Consequence Sound is reporting that Scott’s lawyer, Steve Brody, told the judge that the rapper’s phone (which holds text messages prosecutors would like to comb through) was lost. They claim the “Highest In The Room” artist dropped his phone in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2022. Though that does seem fishy on the surface, it can happen, right?
News of the phone being lost at sea came after lawyers for the plaintiff filed an emergency motion to get “Documents and electronic devices such as phones and text messages from Scott, his entity XX Global Inc., and employees including Cactus Jack general manager David Stromberg.”
Consequence Sound reports:
When pressured by Judge Kristen Hawkins as to why the contents on Scott’s phone weren’t imaged sooner, Brody acknowledged the delay, but offered no real explanation. “Now, looking back, yeah, in an ideal world his phone would have been imaged on November 6th or November 7th or November 8th,” he said, referring to the days immediately after the Astroworld tragedy, which left 10 dead. “In an ideal situation that would have happened. It did not. And that’s the situation we’re facing right now.”
Judge Hawkins also asked why there was seemingly no attempt made by Scott or his legal team to “recover text messages from alternate sources.” In response, Brody explained that Scott’s iPhone was not backed-up to iCloud, and that neither Apple nor the cell phone carrier could assist in recovering data from it.
Attempting to still be compliant, though, Brody did state that information from Stromberg’s phone would become available to the court by September 27th. According to Brody, the newly-obtained info would “show the vast majority, if not all, relevant texts with Mr. Scott related to this event.” Though it’s unclear if any data will be missing from Stromberg’s phone, Brody hopes that “Mr. Stromberg’s agreement is going to remedy the situation.”
This isn’t a good look for Scott, who’s been maintaining his innocence in the tragedy since day one. Don’t be surprised if those conspiracy theories that this was somehow a satanic ritual make a roaring comeback now with people claiming Lucifer was part of the group chat or something.
To make matters worse for Scott, lawyers for the plaintiff say that Scott’s legal team have been difficult to deal with throughout the process. “As frustrating as the conduct of many of the defendants have been, they have at least produced some documents comprising text messages, photos, and videos retrieved from images of their clients’, employees’, and agents’ phones,” the attorneys wrote. “Travis Scott and his team stand apart as having not produced a single text, WeChat communication, video, or photo from their phones — not because they don’t exist — but because his attorneys chose not to image or search their phones the order to do so by the court.”
Should be interesting to see what course of action is taken next now that we know Travis Scott’s phone won’t be found and his team continues to give the plaintiffs in the case the runaround.
What do y’all think of this latest twist in the Travis Scott court case? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images / Getty
For the first time since the disaster that claimed 10 lives and left thousands injured, Travis Scott has been questioned by attorneys about his deadly Astroworld Festival in 2021.
According to the Associated Press, on Monday, Scott was questioned during a nearly eight-hour deposition in Houston, Texas, about the hundreds of lawsuits he’s facing since the tragedy.
“Travis Scott’s deposition is typical legal procedure,” his rep, Ted Anastasiou, said in a statement. “What is not typical is how the media continues to focus on him despite being cleared of any wrongdoing by extensive government investigations, including by the Houston Police Department.”
“Travis is fully cooperating with the legal process while still remaining committed to his tour in support of his record-breaking album, Utopia, and his charitable efforts to support at-risk communities,” Anastasiou continued.
Yeah—maybe when you’re client is being questioned about an event that ended in the senseless deaths of 10 people, the youngest of whom was 9, it’s not the best time to start plugging his tour and his latest album.
Still, it’s true that in June, a grand jury declined to indict Scott after an investigation by the Houston Police Department cleared him of all wrongdoing. But civil court is a different matter and he has plenty of litigation to rifle through, so blaming “the media” for the continued attention being paid to the case seems defensive and possibly dismissive, especially to the thousands of Astroworld victims and their families.
As AP reported, the first trial regarding the lawsuits has been scheduled for May 6, 2024. There are currently more than 1,500 active cases related to Astroworld, many of which were filed against Scott and concert organizer Live Nation.
From AP:
Of these, 992 were cases with physical injuries and 313 were cases of “emotional distress, pain, suffering and mental anguish.” Orthopedic surgeries have been completed in 17 of these cases, with other surgeries recommended in another 21.
Some of the lawsuits have since been settled, including those filed by the families of three of the people killed during the concert.
Scott’s deposition on Monday took place on the same day that hip-hop artist Drake, who performed several songs with Scott during the Astroworld concert, was performing in Houston. Drake was also sued in connection with the deadly concert.
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Playboi Carti commands an exceptional amount of fan appreciation despite just having two studio albums as he reportedly is working on his third release. Playboy Carti saw his name trending on social media after teasing a new track with Lil Uzi Vert and Travis Scott, drumming up even more anticipation for his upcoming project.
Playboy Carti, who turned 27 yesterday (September 13), hosted a massive birthday party in Atlanta with some of his Opium artists such as Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely, and others in tow. From the several images that made it to X, formerly known as Twitter, Carti had the joint rocking effortlessly.
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It’s been three years since the release of Whole Lotta Red, which remains a favorite among Carti fans. And over the years, Carti would tease new music on social media but nothing would ever materialize but it appears that there is a project slated to come this year.
Carti teased new songs with past collaborators Travis Scott and Lil Uzi Vert, along with the DJ hosting the event playing plenty of Kanye West, also known as Ye. The atmosphere of the birthday party was electric and in several instances, Carti can be seen just soaking it all up.
According to reports, Playboi Carti is working on his third album, tentatively titled Narcissist or Music. There is no set release date.
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Photo: Getty
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In August, Travis Scott fans on Reddit sprang into action. “$5 VINYL GO!” one user wrote in r/travisscott (234,000 members). The call-to-arms post came with a photo of a discount code that made buying the rapper’s double-LP Utopia — once $50 — about as costly as a gallon of milk in New York City. That price point proved irresistible: “This gon be my first vinyl why tf not,” one devotee responded. “Travis … gonna be selling 100k [in] his 4th week,” another added.
That fan wasn’t far off: Scott sold 88,500 vinyl copies of Utopia — 161,000 album-equivalent units overall — in the U.S. through his web-store in his fourth week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, according to Luminate. Between the July 28 release of Utopia and Sept. 7, fans have snapped up more than 331,000 double LPs.
Vinyl album sales have been growing for 17 straight years, and in 2022 they accounted for $1.2 billion in revenue in the U.S., according to the RIAA. As the format has become more popular, a growing number of stars have moved to capture fan demand by releasing LPs of their own, often leading to eye-popping first-week numbers. What made Scott’s record rollout unusual was that some Utopia vinyl was available for $5 — both through bundle deals, where fans could get a record at that low price if they bought more than $120 worth of merchandise, and some stand-alone copies via discount codes.
At that price, many in the industry believe the rapper was not making a profit. One manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity says he was recently quoted around $7 a unit to manufacture an order of double vinyl. In a senior executive’s experience, “it costs $4 to make a single LP if it’s super bare-bones and you’re making a high quantity,” and more for a double LP. Throw in mechanical royalties, typically paid out on records at a rate of 12 cents per song, and it’s hard to imagine that a $5 double-record could make any money.
Even if Scott were selling some records at a loss, he’s not losing money overall: The rapper is famous for moving mountains of merch, some of which goes for a good deal more than $50. But the ability to offer up some records at $5 — $4.99 is the lowest price an album can be sold at and still count towards the Billboard 200 — shows the extent to which stars with fervent fan bases and formidable merch operations operate in a different world than most artists. And since an album’s streaming numbers usually dip as listener enthusiasm begins to wane after debut week, it’s possible that more artists might start to mark down records to help bolster demand and chart placement.
Luminate only receives data on total record sales, not the number of Utopia LPs sold at different price points. Scott’s label partner, Epic Records, directed questions about the rollout to the rapper’s manager, David Stromberg. Stromberg declined to comment on the record about vinyl pricing or sales strategy.
Executives say that selling some copies of Utopia at a 90% discount makes sense in certain circumstances. “We’ve lost money on individual album sales for chart position,” notes one marketer at a rival major label. A star could “spend $200,000 on ads and hope they convert [into streams],” the marketer continues. Alternatively, he suggests, “sell discounted albums, you lose money on those, figure it out on the back end, and hope the chart visibility helps with the overall story.”
“It’s a marketing exercise: In a genre [hip-hop] where streams dominate, be the only one to have a huge physical number,” adds another senior label executive not involved with Scott’s rollout. The price cut leads to a “sales bump and fan engagement.”
Sure enough, many rappers have ignored the vinyl wave. Steve Harkins, vp of sales and marketing at the distributor Ingram Entertainment, told Billboard earlier this year that “labels have said they’ve had challenges convincing artists and management to release their titles physically in some cases,” leading to a shortage of new albums on vinyl from rappers.
There are exceptions to this rule: Tyler, the Creator, has sold more than 360,000 LPs from across his catalog already this year, according to Luminate, while Kendrick Lamar has sold close to 270,000. But Luminate data show that at more than half a dozen rap albums that earned more than 500,000 album-equivalent units in 2022 had no vinyl component, including a pair of Drake releases, Lil Durk’s 7220, and Polo G’s Hall of Fame.
In August, Stromberg explained to Billboard that rap faces “inherent disadvantages” when it comes to “manufacturing physical music product.” “Due to the fluid nature of rap collaboration, leak culture and last-minute changes, vinyl lead time always far exceeds album delivery dates for rap,” he continued. “Pop artists are usually able to turn in their albums five to six months early and manufacture a significant amount of vinyl with a robust retail plan in place. Vinyl often ends up accounting for well over 50% of these pop artists’ first-week totals, whereas hip-hop is judged entirely on streaming.”
Key components of the Utopia rollout, Stromberg added, were “manufactur[ing] our own vinyl” and crafting “an e-com plan to leverage day-and-date physical music for the first time in modern mainstream rap.” So far, so good: Utopia recently passed Taylor Swift‘s Midnights (around 318,000 copies) to become the second biggest-selling vinyl album of 2023, behind only another Swift release, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (roughly 368,000).
And the big discount on Utopia helped some first-time vinyl buyers pull the trigger, according to their Reddit comments. “I am such a cheap ass,” one fan wrote on r/travisscott, “… but I actually bought a vinyl today because you can’t even get crappy vinyls for $5 nowadays. What a steal.”
“I don’t even buy vinyls,” another fan responded. “But $5 is $5.”
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Source: @travisscott / Instagram
The Travis Scott and retro Air Jordan collaborations are must-have for any sneaker aficionado out on these streets, but will his own signature line under the Jordan Brand enjoy the same kind of success? We’re about to find out.
According to Sneakernews, pictures of the upcoming Travis Scott “Cut The Check” silhouette under the Jordan brand umbrella are making the rounds and though there isn’t any hype for the upcoming collaboration, things can change in heartbeat out in the sneaker community. Looking like a remix of some Nike lifestyle sneakers with the Air Huarache straps, the new silhouette don’t look half bad, but it will be on the sneakerheads to decide whether or not these achieve grail status.
Sneakernews reports:
This “Mocha” execution of the Cut The Check also features ample hits of hemp, appearing on the mesh underlay, the tongue, and the thick laces. White leather overtakes the mudguard overlay and even the mid-foot strap, while the brown inks the entirety of the Zoom Spiridon-inspired midsole and the Swoosh logo.
Although we don’t know much about the Cut The Check, this is indeed one of the best looks year at the anticipated release. The Cut The Check is confirmed to drop before the end of the year, so stay tuned for updates as we learn more about Travis Scott’s first new model with Jordan Brand.
Though Travis Scott is one of the hottest artists in the Hip-Hop game and basically every sneaker he remixes basically goes platinum or diamond, the man has taken an “L” or two in the sneaker game, most notably the touches he put on the Nike Air Trainer 1 SP. Not only did those brick, but they’re basically reselling for less than retail out on the secondary market. No one asked for those so no one copped.
How the new “Cut The Check” silhouettes fair remains to be seen, but there’s a good chance these will sellout almost immediately come release day.
While we’re feeling the Travis Scott’s first silhouette from Jordan Brand, what sneakerheads REALLY want is for Jordan Brand to finally drop those “Cactus Jack” Air Jordan IV’s in the “Dark Mocha” colorway. Why do they not give us what we’re begging for?! Why forsake us day-ones?! We want answers!!
Check out the pic of Travis Scott and Jordan Brand’s latest brainchild below and let us know if you”ll be interesting in copping come release day in the comment section below.
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Source: Nike / NIke
Earlier this summer Nike re-released the OG John McEnroe Nike “Mac Attack” sneakers which sold out immediately. Now they’re readying to drop an exclusive variation of the sneaker featuring the now iconic (to some) Travis Scott reverse swoosh.
Sneakernews is reporting that the classic sneaker will be retro’d again but this time emblazoned with the Travis Scott emblem on since the rapper did help hype the original re-release not too long ago. While many assumed the re-release would be featuring the Cactus Jack stamp of approval, they actually were the same exact silhouette that dropped in the early 90’s. Now fans will be getting what they expected the first time around and get the kicks that we saw when Travis Scott helped promote the return of the Mac Attacks.
Sneakernews reports:
Paying homage to what came before, the Travis Scott x Nike Mac Attack boasts an intentional resemblance to the silhouette’s original colorway. Much like its predecessor, the collaboration is dressed almost entirely in a light grey, with black applied not only to the mesh insert along the toe but also the leathers that wrap the collar, Swoosh, and lower heel. The “Cactus Jack” logo embroidered onto the shoe’s spine is threaded in the same neutral, while the woven label and “NIKE” further echo the look of the OG.
If the first drop sold out, y’all know these Travis Scott editions are going to be a hot commodity out on these streets.
The kicks are supposed to see a December 2nd release though Nike is notorious for pushing back release dates on hype sneakers. Check out the Travis Scott Mack Attack’s below and let us know if you’ll be checking for these when they drop in the comments section below.
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Travis Scott is going back on the road, as he’s announced a new tour almost two years after the Astroworld tragedy.
The UTOPIA rapper broke the news through a post made on Tuesday (August 29th) through his Instagram account. The caption to the post bearing an NSFW image was brief, beginning with “UTOPIA Tour” and relating that tickets sales for the tour would begin at 10 A.M. on Thursday (August 31st) before adding his website and ending off with “Hsbsdbbddbsbsnsjsbdnd”.
The UTOPIA Circus Maximus Tour (inspired by his recent Rome concert) will kick off in the fall, beginning at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on October 11th. It will then cover most of North America, with the largest headlining date projected to be at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California on November 5th. The tour will conclude at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada on December 29th. Tickets can be purchased at the website, and Live Nation said that $2 from each sale will be donated to Scott’s Cactus Jack Foundation, a nonprofit aimed towards enriching the lives of youths in the Houston area.
One noticeable feature of the tour is that while there are two stops in Texas (Dallas on October 17th and Austin on November 21st), there is no tour date in Houston, Travis Scott’s hometown. Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, had previously issued a statement earlier this month saying that Scott and the promotion team had “booked the Toyota Center for a concert in October.” Mayor Turner also said that the city expected the concert to be like others that have occurred there. “Before (Tuesday’s) announcement, Toyota Center representatives convened meetings with public safety officials and the city’s special events office. They will continue working together to ensure this concert’s safety, not unlike the thousands of concerts held at Toyota Center each year,” it read.
The tour announcement with Live Nation comes almost two years after the tragedy at the Astroworld Festival which occurred in November 2021 where 10 people died after a massive crowd crush. Earlier this year, a grand jury in Houston decided that Scott as well as Live Nation and other organizers would not be held criminally responsible for those deaths at Astroworld. They are still contending with civil lawsuits from over 400 individuals stemming from the incident.
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