2008–2012: Career beginnings and record deals Webster formed a duo with his longtime friend Chris Holloway known as The Graduates. In 2008, the duo released their untitled first EP on social networking website
Myspace. The following year, Scott and OG Chess, one of Scott's schoolmates, formed the group The Classmates. The Classmates released two projects, with
Buddy Rich in 2009 and ''Cruis'n USA'' in 2010. Scott 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, Scott moved from Houston to
Washington Heights in New York City where Scott began working with friend Mike Waxx, who owned the music website Illroots. After moving to New York, Scott 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, Scott moved to Los Angeles, California, after only four months in the state. In Los Angeles, Webster was abandoned by his friend who had 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.
2012–2014: Owl Pharaoh and Days Before Rodeo Scott's first solo full-length project is his
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 Scott 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 Scott himself, alongside Mike Dean. On March 22, 2013, Scott released the music video for a song titled "Quintana", set to appear on
Owl Pharaoh. On March 27,
XXL revealed that Scott was a member of their
Freshman Class of 2013. Later on March 29, 2013, following his interview with British disc jockey,
DJ Semtex, Scott premiered a snippet of his commercial debut single, titled "Upper Echelon", featuring
2 Chainz and T.I. On April 2, 2013, Scott 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. On March 13, 2014, Scott performed a new song, tentatively titled "1975" featuring
Big Sean, from his upcoming project at the time, at the Texan music festival
South by Southwest (SXSW). Scott later confirmed via his Twitter account that the song is not called "1975", and would be included on his second mixtape, titled
Days Before Rodeo. He would later take to his Twitter account to announce
Rodeo, as the official title for his
major-label debut studio album. On May 5, 2014, Scott released the full version of the song, with its new title "Don't Play", featuring a sample of the song "M.O.N.E.Y" by the English rock band
the 1975. On July 11, 2014, "Don't Play" was officially released as the lead single from
Days Before Rodeo, via digital distribution. Following the success of
Days Before Rodeo, Scott announced that he would headline a
concert tour, called The Rodeo Tour, with rapper
Young Thug and producer
Metro Boomin. The tour started on March 1, 2015, in
Santa Ana, California, and ended on April 1, 2015, in
Portland, Oregon. The tour ran through major cities and artists such as
Kanye West,
Chris Brown, Wale and
Birdman made special
guest appearances in certain cities.
2015–2016: Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight Rodeo was released on September 4, 2015, by Grand Hustle and Epic Records. The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 85,000 album-equivalent units in the first week. The album features guest appearances from
Quavo,
Juicy J,
Kanye West,
The Weeknd,
Swae Lee,
Chief Keef,
Justin Bieber,
Young Thug and
Toro y Moi, 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 Scott 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
, and achieving a septuple Platinum certification by the RIAA.
Rodeo received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the U.S.
Billboard 200 chart. It also debuted at number one on the
Billboard Rap Albums chart. On January 4, 2016, Scott announced that he had a new studio album on the way. On March 29, 2016,
300 Entertainment executive
Lyor Cohen, revealed that Scott and
Young Thug were releasing a single together and called Scott's upcoming album a "classic". On April 7, 2016, Scott previewed a single with Young Thug at one of his shows. On May 17, 2016, Scott 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 Scott 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, Scott announced that
Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight was finally finished in a post on
Instagram. Scott 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 Scott's first number one album on the U.S.
Billboard 200. The album’s single “Pick Up the Phone” (with Young Thug) peaked at #43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified quadruple Platinum. A day later,
Universal Music Publishing Group's CEO,
Jody Gerson announced that the label signed a worldwide deal with Scott. In the same episode Scott 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".
2017–2018: Cactus Jack Records, Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, and Astroworld Scott performed at
All-Star Weekend on February 16, 2017, in
New Orleans, Louisiana 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, Oregon. In the same month, Scott was also featured alongside American rapper
Quavo from the hip-hop group
Migos on Canadian rapper
Drake's single "
Portland", from Drake's commercial mixtape,
More Life. The song peaked at number nine on the US
Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first top ten song as a featured artist. In March 2017, Scott announced he would be launching his own
imprint, under the name of
Cactus Jack Records. 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, was nearing completion and would most likely be released in 2017. 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. 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. The music video for "Butterfly Effect" was released on July 14, 2017. On August 10, 2017, Scott 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". in 2019 On September 18, 2017, Quavo and
Migos did an interview, in which Quavo stated that his album with Scott was coming "real soon". He also stated that he and Scott had over 20 records ready. In October 2017, Scott was featured in a special piece titled "Deserve", by Chinese born Canadian rapper
Kris Wu. On December 7, 2017, a clip of Quavo being interviewed by
Zane Lowe was posted on the official Twitter account for
Beats 1. When asked about the title of their upcoming project, he confirmed it would be
Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho. On December 6, 2017, Scott was featured on fellow American rapper and singer
Trippie Redd's single "
Dark Knight Dummo", the lead single from the latter's debut studio album, ''
Life's a Trip. The song peaked at 72 on the Billboard
Hot 100. On December 21, 2017, Scott and Quavo released their collaborative studio album, Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho'', under the name "Huncho Jack", a name which comes from Quavo's nickname "Huncho" and a play on Scott's first name "Jack". The album debuted at number 3 on the
Billboard 200 and had seven tracks chart on the
Billboard Hot 100. After the release of Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, Webster was spotted in the studio a lot more frequently and
Billboard slated an expected first quarter release for
AstroWorld. On May 4, 2018, Scott released a single titled "
Watch" featuring American rappers
Lil Uzi Vert and
Kanye West. The single was released as promotional material for his third studio album
Astroworld.
Astroworld was released on August 3, 2018, to critical acclaim, and debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200, with 537,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, making it one of the biggest hip-hop debuts of the decade. "
Sicko Mode", the album's second single, peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming Scott's highest charting solo single, earning 15x Platinum certification and being nominated for two Grammys. On the same month of the album's launch, Scott announced that he was going to launch
Astroworld Festival, a music festival with the same name as the album. The festival took place on November 17. On November 2, 2018, Scott was featured on five tracks of
Metro Boomin's debut studio album,
Not All Heroes Wear Capes: "
Overdue", "Dreamcatcher" (alongside
Swae Lee), "Up to Something" (alongside
Young Thug), "Only 1 (Interlude)", and "No More" (alongside
Kodak Black and
21 Savage), as well as background vocals on "
Space Cadet" (featuring Gunna). In December,
Billboard reported that Scott was to make a guest appearance at the
Super Bowl LIII halftime show during
Maroon 5's set. In December 2018, Scott was also featured in a cover story for
Rolling Stone titled “Travis Scott: In Orbit With Rap's Newest Superstar.”
2019–2020: Look Mom I Can Fly, JackBoys, and "The Scotts" On April 18, 2019, Scott released a single with
SZA and
The Weeknd for the popular HBO series
Game of Thrones. It is titled "
Power is Power" and is a reference to a scene that took place in the first episode of the show's second season. The track is the second song on the
Game of Thrones soundtrack album entitled
For the Throne. On May 23, 2019, Scott was featured alongside
J. Cole on
Young Thug's single, "
The London", which later appeared as the lead single on Thug's debut studio album,
So Much Fun. On August 28, 2019, Scott's documentary film,
Look Mom I Can Fly, was released on
Netflix. On October 4, 2019, Scott released a single, "
Highest in the Room", which debuted and peaked at number one on the Hot 100, being his first song to debut at the top and his second number one following "Sicko Mode" in 2018. The same month, Scott was also featured on the remix of Young Thug's single, "
Hot" with
Gunna, who was featured on the original song as well. The song was later added to the deluxe edition of
So Much Fun in December of that year. Scott also was featured on the track "Hop Off a Jet" from the deluxe edition. On December 2, 2019, Scott announced a compilation album with his
Cactus Jack label members, consisting of
Don Toliver,
Sheck Wes and producer Chase B (collectively known as
JackBoys, titled
JackBoys. On December 24, Scott revealed the album's release date via Instagram. The album was released on December 27, 2019, and featured a remix of "Highest in the Room" featuring Spanish singer
Rosalía and American rapper
Lil Baby, the latter's verse being leaked months prior. On the same day, Scott released the music video for "
Gang Gang" performed by Wes, with uncredited vocals and cameo appearances from Scott, Toliver, and rapper Luxury Tax 50. On December 30, 2019, Scott released the music video for "
Gatti", featuring
Pop Smoke. On March 20, 2020, Scott released the music video for "
Out West", featuring Young Thug. The single “Out West” was also the subject of a viral TikTok dance challenge in 2020. The album also featured Scott’s second collaboration with Don Tolliver, “What to Do?” After the label compilation’s release, the album
JackBoys topped the
Billboard 200. In 2020, Scott became the first artist in
Billboard Hot 100 history to debut three songs at number one within a 12‑month span with “Highest in the Room,” “The Scotts” (with Kid Cudi) and “Franchise.” The project was supported by a short film blending surreal visuals with cinematic storytelling. Scott performed five virtual live shows in the video game
Fortnite Battle Royale from April 23 to 25, 2020 with visuals based on his
Astroworld tour. It received more than 27 million viewers and boosted the sales of Fortnite-branded Cactus Jack products such as action figures. The performance also included the premiere of his new song with Kid Cudi, who released the song, "
The Scotts", as a duo under the same name. Tying with the performance, numerous cosmetic items for player avatars based on Scott and the concert were available to purchase by players of
Fortnite Battle Royale. The song debuted at number-one on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming Scott's third U.S. number-one. In May he collaborated for a second time with
Rosalía on her track "
TKN", where he raps in Spanish for the first time. Scott was on the cover of
GQs September 2020 issue, and revealed he will be releasing a collaborative album with
Kid Cudi. This follows their number-one single, "
The Scotts", released earlier in May. On the second anniversary of his third studio album
Astroworld, Scott teased he was working on a new project. On August 22, 2020, Scott released the single "
The Plan", the theme song to
Christopher Nolan's film
Tenet. He released the single "
Franchise" featuring rappers
Young Thug and
M.I.A. on September 25, 2020. The song was previously previewed on Scott and Chase B's WAV radio, titled "White Tee". It debuted at number one on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100, and Scott became the first artist in
Billboard chart history to have three songs debut at number one in less than a year. A remix with an additional feature from American rapper
Future, was released on October 7, 2020.
2021–2022: Return to performing From mid to late-2020, Scott began teasing his fourth studio album
Utopia. On January 15, 2021, Scott released a remix of "
Goosebumps" with producer HVME. After canceling the third annual
Astroworld Fest due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Scott announced the return of the festival in 2021 and expanded it to a multi day format. On April 30, Scott was collaborated with
Baby Keem on the song "
Durag Activity" from his album
The Melodic Blue. In June, Scott announced a collaboration between
Dior and Cactus Jack for the 2022 Summer Men's collection. On August 28, Scott was featured on
Kanye West's tenth studio album
Donda on the song "
Praise God" also with Baby Keem. On September 3, Scott appeared on Drake's
Certified Lover Boy on the song "
Fair Trade", which peaked in the top 10 of the Hot 100 at number three. On October 8,
Don Toliver released an album
Life of a Don, which featured Scott on songs titled "Flocky Flocky" and "You". On October 30, 2021, Scott closed out day 3 of Rolling Loud NYC. During the set he performed the unreleased song "Escape Plan" and a preview of another unreleased track off
Utopia. In November 2021, he announced new music to be released on November 5, 2021; he was believed to release a project reportedly titled
Dystopia, but instead he released a two-song single "
Escape Plan /
Mafia". On April 22, 2022, Scott was featured on his first song since the
Astroworld Festival crowd crush, "
Hold That Heat" alongside Future and producer
Southside. On April 27, 2022, the
Primavera Sound festival announced that Scott is scheduled to perform at their festivals held in
Buenos Aires,
Santiago, and
São Paulo respectively. On May 15, 2022, he performed at the
2022 Billboard Music Awards. This performance was his first since the Astroworld Festival tragedy in 2021. On August 6, 2022, Scott performed his first solo show since the Astroworld Festival tragedy at
The O2 Arena in London. That month, it was also announced that Scott would begin a Las Vegas nightclub residency titled "Road to Utopia" in September. On December 2, Scott appeared on Metro Boomin's second studio album
Heroes & Villains in four tracks including "
Raindrops (Insane)", "
Trance" (alongside Young Thug), "
Niagara Falls (Foot or 2)" (alongside 21 Savage), and "Lock on Me" (alongside Future), as well as background vocals on "
Creepin'" (with The Weeknd and 21 Savage).
2023-present: Utopia, film, tour, and re-release activity On March 19, 2023, Scott and DJ
Calvin Harris performed at MDLBEAST in
Jeddah, on the eve of the
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. On July 21, 2023, Scott released the lead single to
Utopia, "
K-pop" with
Bad Bunny and
The Weeknd. On July 28, Scott released his fourth studio album,
Utopia, to critical acclaim, consisting of 19 tracks and alongside his debut directorial musical film
Circus Maximus which he also wrote and starred in. He co-directed the film with filmmaker
Harmony Korine. The 75-minute anthology film was screened in select
AMC Theaters and later made available on
Apple Music and
YouTube.
Utopia featured
KayCyy,
Teezo Touchdown,
Bon Iver,
Sampha, Drake, Playboi Carti, Sheck Wes,
Beyoncé, Rob49, 21 Savage, the Weeknd,
Yung Lean, Young Thug, James Blake,
Westside Gunn, Kid Cudi,
Bad Bunny, Future, and SZA. The album debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200, becoming his fourth consecutive album to do so (including
JackBoys), and remained at number one for four weeks after its release. The album 496,000 first-week units sold, and remained in the Top 10 for 12 weeks and in the Top 15 for 23 weeks. “Fein” garnered over 1.5 billion global streams. Utopia amassed 7.1 billion global streams, ranking as the best-selling hip-hop album of 2023. In November 2023, Scott was profiled for a
GQ Men of the Year issue cover story titled “The Reemergence of Travis Scott.” In the same year, Scott collaborated with
PIN-UP Magazine for a feature in which as the cover star, Scott posed with his body contorted into the 26 letters of the alphabet. To support Utopia, Scott staged a series of events, including a concert at Rome’s Circus Maximus. The subsequent “Utopia - Circus Maximus
Tour ran into 2024 with dates at venues such as SoFi Stadium and the Circus Maximus in Rome and was reported to have grossed about $209 million, being recorded as the highest-grossing tour by a solo rapper at the time. On February 4, 2024, Scott performed at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Scott performed "My Eyes", "Fein", and "I Know ?" from Utopia'', which was nominated for Rap Album of the year. His performance of "Fein" was accompanied by guest
Playboi Carti, who features on the album version of the song, but caused controversy as Scott was heard referencing his 10 nominations without a victory at the award show that year. On August 18, 2024, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of
Days Before Rodeo, Scott announced that a remastered version of the mixtape would be released on August 23. This marked the first time that the complete mixtape was available on streaming platforms. The mixtape would debut at number two on the
Billboard 200, with 361,000
album-equivalent units sold in its first week (331,000 in pure album sales)—debuting below
Sabrina Carpenter's album ''
Short n' Sweet which debuted atop the chart with 1,000 more units (362,000). Tracks from the mixtape like “Drugs You Should Try It” and “Mamacita” also charted on the Billboard Hot 100. The mixtape would drop to number 30 in its second week, and then dropped to number 106 in its third week. Days Before Rodeo
would jump 105 positions to the number-one spot in its fourth week, earning 156,000 album-equivalent units—this became the ninth-largest jump to number one on the Billboard'' 200. In October 2024, Scott was featured in
Rolling Stone again after winning the I Am Hip Hop Award at the 2024
BET Hip Hop Awards. On January 24, 2025, Scott released the single "
4×4", which would debut at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, becoming his fifth-number one single on the chart. A week later, he collaborated with
Florence and the Machine and The Weeknd on the song "
Reflections Laughing" from the latter's sixth studio album
Hurry Up Tomorrow. In May of that year, Scott was announced as Spanish soccer team
FC Barcelona's sponsor as part of the
Spotify artist collaboration campaign. He has also performed an exclusive concert to promote the team's May 11
El Clásico match against
Real Madrid. On July 10, 2025, Scott announced the long-teased compilation album
JackBoys 2, released on July 13, 2025. The album opened at number one on the
Billboard 200, selling 232,000 units in its first week. The album secured Travis Scott’s second #1 debut in less than a year (with single “4X4” charting earlier in January). In addition to Scott, artists such as
Don Toliver,
Sheck Wes,
SoFaygo, and
Wallie the Sensei contributed to the tape. In July 2025, Scott and several other artists on the record were featured in a cover story for
The Source, which discussed the album
JackBoys 2. In February 2026, producer
Havoc revealed that Scott and Kanye West were working on a collaboration project. Scott was later featured on the track
FATHER on West's album
Bully. ==Other ventures==