Travis Scott: Look Mom I Can Fly is a new documentary featuring the rise of hip-hop artist Travis Scott, and takes place in chronological order from the beginning of the creation of the legendary hip-hop album Astroworld.
Throughout the documentary, you are shown the relationships with fans, friends, family, and the creation of the Cactus Jack label. Although, all of the relationships are essential in understanding Travis, the most prevalent relationship shown in Look Mom I Can Fly is with the fans. During the documentary you see the growth of Travis’s fan base from the small crappy venues in 2014 with 12 fans to the most lit shows sold out at Madison Square Garden. With the growth of a fan base came the growth of intensity at Travis’s concerts. The fan experience is shown like no other with countless stage dives, mosh pits, and just kids going crazy. Travis goes as far as to tell security to bring back kids who were kicked out for going too hard, takes them on stage and sends them off flying into the crowd.
Photographer RaysCorruptedMind from the documentary explains, “He knows what the kids like and knows how to make them feel part of what he’s doing.”. This statement’s accuracy is proven through out the film where after shows kids talk about having the greatest day of their lives and the crazy adrenaline rush that comes with a Travis Scott concert. Fans are what determine an artist’s success, and that is why it is such a big part of the documentary. However, other relationships presented in the documentary should not be discounted as they shaped Travis to be the man he is today. This is seen when Travis reunites with his old high school principal and councilor. The people who played a role in Travis’s graduation of high school were essential for keeping him off the streets and allowing him to pursue his musical career. Travis explains that his high school counselor literally saved his life out of school and is overjoyed with her surprise visit.
Look Mom I can fly is all shot from 2016 to 2019 and includes Travis’s relationship with Kylie Jenner, one of the most influential relationships in his current life. Travis’s relationship with Kylie is not only a major change in his life because of the fame that comes with a “power couple” like that, but, also because they end up having a child together, Stormi (born January second 2018), changing Travis’s life, showing a paternal side to the hardcore rapper, and playing a part in the creation of Astroworld.
Astroworld originally a six flags park in Houston, but shutdown in 2005, was the main factors of inspiration behind the album. Throughout the documentary, clips from Travis’s childhood at the park are shown from Travis rapping on the Ferris wheel to riding a roller coaster with his brother. Travis says “they took the park away and it took my heart away”, there is even a sample from Travis’s song Watch featuring a clip of a girl on the Houston news saying “Is this the last ride I’m ever going to take in Astroworld” right before the park closes.
The creation of Astroworld is an ongoing process in the documentary starting with the creation of the track Skeletons a beautiful flow of trippy synthy guitar created by the featuring of Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. Travis explains that “I’m just trying to design that new Houston sound.”. Traveling to Africa is also a very influential part of Travis’s experiences to create Astroworld bringing in a new perspective and new creative ideas. Some of my favorite scenes of the creation of Astroworld in the documentary include Butterfly Effect and No Bystandards. What is so awesome about No By Standards is how hyped you get from the heavy bass and methodical melody with the continuous “Fuck the club up!” being yelled in the background. Like No Bystandards, Butterfly Effect also shoots you into a hyped up mood and just make you feel like your balling with your homies, from the waterfall sounding melody to the nasty kicking snare drum in the back, to Travis raping “For this life I cannot change” in the chorus. What is awesome is that you see this energy coming from Travis and his production team while creating these tracks in the studio, mansion and range rover under the new label Cactus Jack consisting of Sheck Wes and Don Tolliver.
Finally, Astroworld, the long-awaited album was released August 3rd 2018 and first performed at Lallapaloosa with an enormous energetic crowd. Some of the fan favorite tracks included Sicko Mode featuring Drake, and Yosemite featuring Gunna and Nav. Sicko Mode Travis’s biggest hit could be considered two songs in one with an intro sounding like a flying accordion jumping into a bouncy bass type beat with Travis rapping. The second part of the track is Drake rapping over Drake like beats consisting of a dense mix of eerie synth beats. Yosemite on the other hand is a much more laid back beat but still with some bounce while containing calming instrumentals from flutes to harmonized humming with auto tune. Astroworld was such a big hit that it went Platinum in less than three months! Travis was then invited to Jimmy Fallon and even congratulated by Selevester Turner, mayor of Houston, who establishes Astroworld day and promises to rebuild the park because of the inspiration Travis brought to the people of H-town.
Look Mom I Can Fly is not an in-depth review of Travis’s music, but an in-depth adventure of Travis’ life and the inspiration he has given to his audience. Although, Travis may not be the most lyrically talented hip-hop artist, through Astroworld, he revolutionized beats and created a diverse variety of sounds that no one has ever heard before. Listening to Astroworld after viewing the documentary, I found a new appreciation for every track in the album as well as a burning desire to see Travis live. Look Mom I Can Fly depicts the revolutionary change in modern music, the fan experience, and is something I am overjoyed to be part of for the years to come.
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