Astroworld

Astroworld (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by American rapper Travis Scott. It was released on August 3, 2018, through Cactus Jack Records and Grand Hustle Records, and distributed by Epic Records. The album features guest vocals from Frank Ocean, Drake, Swae Lee, Kid Cudi, James Blake, Philip Bailey, Juice Wrld, Sheck Wes, the Weeknd, 21 Savage, Gunna, Nav, Don Toliver, Quavo, and Takeoff, among others. Production was handled by multiple producers, including Scott himself, Mike Dean, Allen Ritter, Hit-Boy, WondaGurl, Tay Keith, Tame Impala, Frank Dukes, Sonny Digital, Murda Beatz, and Thundercat. The album follows Scott's second studio album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight (2016), and his collaborative album with Quavo, Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho (2017). The album title is named after the defunct theme park Six Flags AstroWorld, which was located in Houston, Texas prior to its closure. Scott, a Houston native, aimed for the album to sound like "taking an amusement park away from kids". He also described the album as a continuation of his debut album Rodeo (2015). Astroworld is a hip hop and psychedelic rap album, incorporating elements of trap and psychedelic music. The album was supported by four singles, "Butterfly Effect", "Sicko Mode", "Yosemite", and "Wake Up". Astroworld received widespread acclaim and performed well commercially, debuting atop the US Billboard 200 with 537,000 album-equivalent units, of which 270,000 were pure sales. It was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It won Album of the Year at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards. The album was named one of the best albums of 2018 and the decade by several publications. Background The title of the album was announced in May 2016, and initially teased for a 2017 release. The album title is named after the defunct theme park Six Flags AstroWorld, which was located in Houston, Texas prior to its closure in 2005. In a 2017 interview with GQ, Scott spoke on the title of the album: "They tore down AstroWorld to build more apartment space. That's what it's going to sound like, like taking an amusement park away from kids. We want it back. We want the building back. That's why I'm doing it. It took the fun out of the city." Scott described the album as a continuation of his debut album, Rodeo (2015), stating: "My whole idea was, if you locked into Rodeo, you definitely locked into Astroworld.