Travis Scott
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While Travis Scott performed a three-song medley at the Grammys earlier this month, the teams of some of the producers and songwriters who helped make his hit album Utopia were fuming — they didn’t yet have the signed paperwork that would get them paid for their work on the project.
At the time, at least four of the producers and writers involved with the album still didn’t have producer agreements or publishing splits finalized, according to four sources close to the project, meaning they cannot get fully compensated for their work. Some of Utopia‘s contributors do have their agreements completed: Ted Anastasiou, a rep for Scott, said in a statement that “the vast majority of payments for contributors on this album have been paid and that any outstanding payments are near complete.”
Artist managers and entertainment attorneys say it is increasingly common for acts to put out an album first and figure out all the clearances later. (Utopia came out more than six months ago, on July 28, 2023, and went on to become one of the biggest releases of the year.) “The amount of paperwork potentially required for clearing a single track has become so excessive that I think some music industry executives may have become desensitized to the importance of having everything in place before release,” says entertainment attorney Gandhar Savur.
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Although artists often enjoy revenue streams outside of recorded music — notably touring and merchandise — the same is not true for most songwriters and producers. Writers are usually financially dependent on publishing royalties from the songs they work on. Producers typically depend on a mix of master royalties (often just an advance unless an album recoups its budget, which is rare) and publishing royalties (but only if they contributed songwriting).
This means all but the most famous writers and producers are already in a precarious financial situation. On top of that, massively successful artists are often slow to finalize the deals that dictate what percentage of royalties writers and producers are owed, and what fee is thrown to producers. As the months tick by, collaborators’ frustration grows.
Anastasiou, Scott’s rep, said in his statement that “the challenge with contributor payments on albums with multiple participants on each track is that negotiations and issues frequently occur before and after an album’s release, as terms need to be agreed and are all interdependent. This becomes further complicated when some participants, like those quoted in the story, are relatively unknown and their minor contributions only came to our attention afterward.”
Anastasiou continued, “these challenges are not unique to Travis or any specific artist. Attributing any blame to Travis or his team for this common issue is both wrong and short-sighted, especially when Travis’ team has been more than proactive every step of the way and are hard at work to finalize the last few remaining payments.”
The Utopia contributors who spoke to Billboard about their experience would almost certainly dispute that they are “relatively unknown.” But as Anastasiou noted, the collaborative nature of much contemporary pop music does mean that there are mountains of paperwork and negotiations for an artist’s team to complete around each album release.
“Back in the day, a band could release a record and basically have a producer agreement, maybe a mixer agreement and a few session musicians, and possibly not much else,” Savur explains. “These days, commercial pop tracks can have multiple producers, outside people contributing beats or music beds, samples and interpolations, one or two featured artists or side artists who each need their own agreements and also waivers from their record labels, and sometimes a dozen or more co-writers who are all signed to different publishing companies.”
“I don’t know any attorney’s office that represents producers and songwriters that’s not completely underwater at the moment, scrambling to get all the deals done,” adds Dan Petel, founder of This Is Noise MGMT, another writer-producer management company. He says the problem is compounded by artists releasing music more frequently in order to keep their fan bases engaged.
To make things even more complicated: Artists’ teams are usually responsible for all the clearances on their albums, but the money paid to the producers will usually come from a label. For producers, “the lack of a direct contractual relationship [with the label] yields an uncomfortable disconnect between who creates the music and who pays for it,” says Matt Buser, an entertainment attorney.
And once an album is released, artists often hit the road, meaning their attention — and their team’s attention — is focused elsewhere. Still, “the labels insist that the producer agreements be finalized and signed by both parties [producers and artist] for the producers to be paid their fees in full,” explains Maytav Koter, founder of Good Company MGMT, which works with songwriters and producers. But one of those parties might be bouncing from town to town on tour.
Most writers and producers have little recourse to ensure clearances get done in a timely fashion. “I’ve not gotten a cohesive response as to what the f— is going on,” says a source close to a person involved with making Utopia who is still waiting on paperwork. “Why is it so hard to ask people to do good business?” asks a member of another frustrated Utopia producer’s team.
Savur says that extensive back-and-forths over email are routine for post-release clearances. The only other option is to try to take down the track or sue the artist who put it out — without a signed producer agreement in place, for example, that artist has released that producer’s work without permission. Writers and producers hardly ever take this route, though. They most likely want to stay in the good graces of the artists they work with — especially if they are stars — and suits are costly and time-consuming.
That means all that’s left for collaborators is following up with the artist’s team week after week, and making personal appeals. As one source whose client is waiting on finalized Utopia paperwork puts it, “don’t you want to make the people who write your hit songs happy?”
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Source: Timothy Norris / Getty
This past Sunday night (Feb. 4) the sneaker community was in a quick frenzy with word that Travis Scott was set to shock drop his brand new Jordan brand silhouette on his website but unfortunately that excitement was short-lived as the sneakers ended up selling out in seconds.
Though there was initially little to no hype for the Travis Scott and Nike’s “Jumpman Jack” silhouette, the sneaker community was put on notice that the sneakers had loaded on the backend of Travis Scott’s website and was rumored to drop during the Grammy Awards. While many expect it to be a raffle as every other one of his releases have been in the past, the “Jumpman Jack”‘s ended up being a “first come, first serve” affair and pairs flew off the website before anyone could blink.
With many people online claiming to have botted hundreds of pairs, the $200 pair of sneakers are now one of the hottest commodities out on the streets with GQ reporting that resellers already demanding thousands for a pair. Keep in mind, many people thought these sneakers were “meh” when pictures leaked weeks ago, but now everyone wants them but we don’t know if anyone will cough up a few grand to own a pair.
GQ reports:
The Jumpman Jack arrives in a “Mocha” colorway that’s strikingly similar to the most popular version of Travis Scott’s Jordan 1 collaboration, with a gum sole and leather strap over the laces setting it apart from the former model. The launch was marked by an expensive-looking commercial helmed by Desperado director Robert Rodriguez, which advertises the shoe as ideal for “hiking, moving, running,” as well as both “partying” and “working out.” Cue an ’80s action movie-style montage of Scott and others variously hooping, snowboarding, and zooming around on a dirtbike with the Jumpman Jack prominently displayed. What, you mean you don’t wear your grails skydiving out of a plane?
We love Robert Rodriguez ’round these parts. He doesn’t get enough props for his films (From Dusk Till Dawn, Planet Terror, Spy Kids, etc.). Just sayin.’
Check out the trailer for Travis Scott’s “Jumpman Jack” sneakers below and let us know if you copped the kicks on Grammy night or if you’d pay that ridiculous resale price in the comments section below.
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Source: Rolling Stone / Getty
Sneakerheads know that Travis Scott is one of the biggest names out in the sneaker game (he happens to rap too, by the way) and interestingly enough the man is also known for giving away his own personal pairs of sneaker to both fans and his fellow Hip-Hop peers.
Continuing to hold true to his own tradition, Wednesday (Jan. 3), Travis Scott once again broke the sneaker internet when he blessed a kid with a pair of his own unreleased signature Nikes dubbed the Sharkidons during his show in Chicago, according to Hypebeast. After rapping alongside the unnamed fan, Travis gave him the Sharkidons and returned to the stage and said: “They’re my favorite pair of shoes so don’t sell them.”
Yeah, good luck with that, Trav.
The unreleased Travis Scott Sharkidons seem to resemble the ’90s Nike Huarache silhouette with the strap and sport a brown and beige color blocking with a white swoosh. Unfortunately, they don’t have the reverse swoosh that’s become synonymous with Scott’s Nike collaboration. That little hiccup alone could cost this release much hype. Just sayin’.
Still, the fan went home happy, and Scott’s sneaker generous legend continues to grow. It was a win-win for everyone.
Check out the clips below and let us know your thoughts on the “Sharkidons” in the comments section below.
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Source: Nike / Sneaker News
Travis Scott’s Air Jordan collaborations tend to fetch a pretty penny on the resale market as is, but imagine what a pair of custom made “Cactus Jack” Air Jordans made for the man could go for on the secondary market.
According to TMZ the price is roughly around $10,000 as the pair of Air Jordan 1’s that Travis Scott gifted a fan at a Rolling Loud performance in Germany this past summer is set to hit the auction block. The “game-worn” sneakers that Travis blessed a man with are the “Olive” colorway version of the Air Jordan 1 Lows that released earlier this year except that this particular pair bares the “Utopia” logo for Travis’ last album. Indeed, a one-of-a-kind pair.
TMZ reports:
The kicks are up for sale through Goldin Auctions’ December Pop Culture Auction … and the bidding runs through Dec. 20 … so they could make for a cool Christmas gift. The auction house estimates that they could go for around $10k.
Auction owner, Ken Goldin, tells TMZ … “In an iconic moment in pop culture history, we’re excited to see these sneakers hit the auction block. As a sneakerhead myself, it’s great to offer a rare opportunity for other collectors to own a custom pair of Air Jordans.”
Don’t be surprised if Fat Joe or DJ Khaled end up purchasing this pair as they have an appetite for ultra-exclusive sneakers like these. Heck, even P.J. Tucker might get in on the action.
Would you buy this pair if you had the money? Would you rock ’em or stock ’em? Let us know in the comment section below.
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Source: Dave Kotinsky / Getty
Over the weekend, a video of Travis Scott and tennis legend John McEnroe arguing over their Nike collaboration circulated around social media. While it seemed like the two men were at each other’s throats over the name of their sneaker, it was just business as usual.
Arguing over whether to dub the collaboration “Cactus Jack” (as Travis normally names his Nike collaborations) or “Cactus Mac” (which John prefers), the two just couldn’t seem to agree on which direction to go as Travis wants all his Nikes to bare the “Cactus Jack” moniker.
In his signature fiery tone of voice, McEnroe took over the Zoom call and professed his preference for the shoe to be called “Cactus Mac” and told Travis to show a “little respect” for his and the sneaker’s history at Nike. Travis didn’t seem to too receptive to the idea and responded by saying that “Cactus Mac” sounded like a “burger or something.” Well, he’s not wrong. Though Travis remained calm and collected, McEnroe walked out on the meeting in frustration.
To make matters worse between the two heavyweights at Nike, Travis went and spray painted over John McEnroe’s championship plaque at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton because, well, who’s gonna stop him?
Still, that didn’t keep John McEnroe from sporting the exclusive “Cactus Mac” sneakers while out for a stroll in the city. He didn’t go off on Travis but while talking about him he said, “The thing is: I was wearing these things in the 80s— before this guy was born. Now, all of a sudden, Travis Scott’s got this thing, ‘Cactus Jack.’ So I just made it ‘Cactus Mac,’ I mean come on. Have a little respect. That’s all I’m asking.”
Real talk, we’re not mad at the “Cactus Mac” on those McEnroe kicks. Whether or not those actually drop remains to be seen.
What we do know is that the “Cactus Jack” x John McEnroe Nike Mac Attack’s are set to drop Dec. 19. Will you be coping a pair? What do you think they should be named? Let us know in the comments section below.
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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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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