''Rodeo'' is the debut studio album by American rapper

Travis Scott Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...

. It was released on September 4, 2015, through

Grand Hustle Records Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an American hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper and record executive T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. The label was distribut ...

and distributed by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. The album features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from

Quavo Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the now-defunct hip hop group Migos. Formed with his nep ...

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

Juicy J Jordan Michael Houston III (born April 5, 1975), known professionally as Juicy J, is an American rapper and record producer. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, he is a founding member of the Southern hip-hop group Three 6 Mafia, established ...

Kacy Hill Kacy Anne Hill (born May 1, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and former model. She was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and had previously worked as a model for American Apparel. She released "Experience", her first non-album ...

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is best known for adding Pop music, pop, electronic music, electronic and hip-hop stylings ...

Swae Lee Khalif Malik Ibn Shaman Brown (born June 7, 1993), known professionally as Swae Lee, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Known for his wide vocal range and genre-bending, Lee first saw mainstream recognition as one half of the Mississ ...

Chief Keef Keith Farrelle Cozart (born August 15, 1995), better known by his stage name Chief Keef, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Chicago's South Side, he began his recording career as a teenager and initially garnered re ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

, Toro y Moi, and

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

, while production was provided by Scott himself, alongside

WondaGurl Ebony Naomi Oshunrinde (born December 28, 1996), professionally known as WondaGurl, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and record executive. Early life Ebony Naomi Oshunrinde was born on December 28, 1996 at the Scarborough Grace Hospital ...

Allen Ritter Allen Raphael Ritter (born June 19, 1988) is an American record producer and songwriter. A frequent collaborator of fellow producers Boi-1da, Vinylz, and Sevn Thomas, Ritter has worked in production for high-profile hip hop and contemporary R&B, ...

, Mike Dean,

Metro Boomin Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...

Frank Dukes Adam King Feeney (born September 12, 1983), better known as Ging and by his former stage name Frank Dukes, is a Canadian musician, record producer, and songwriter. A prolific producer, he has worked with artists including Lorde for ''Melodrama'' ...

, and

Sonny Digital Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ.

, among others. ''Rodeo'' was supported by two singles: " 3500" and "

Antidote An antidote is a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning. The term ultimately derives from the Greek term φάρμακον ἀντίδοτον ''(pharmakon antidoton)'', "(medicine) given as a remedy". An older term in English which is ...

". The latter became his highest-charting single in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the time, peaking at number 16. The album received generally favorable reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200. In August 2024, the album was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Background

Travis Scott announced the release date for ''Rodeo'' through social media on July 17, 2015. In the ''CR Fashion Book'', Scott stated his life was like a rodeo and he feels like he is trying to stay on a bucking animal:

Promotion

On January 26, 2015, to support the album, Scott announced he would embark on The Rodeo Tour with

and

. On January 27, the following day, Scott released two new songs; "High Fashion" featuring

, and "Nothing But Net" featuring Young Thug and

PartyNextDoor Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (often stylized in all caps), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. He was the first artist to sign with Drake's record label OVO Sound ...

. However, neither of them ended up being on the final version of the album. On June 12, 2015, a track titled "Drunk" featuring Young Thug, leaked online.

Singles

On June 8, 2015, Scott released the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, " 3500", which features

s from American rappers Future and

. It peaked at number 82 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On July 29, 2015, Scott released the album's second single, "

". The song peaked at number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Critical reception

''Rodeo'' was met with generally favorable reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 64, based on 15 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 5.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Roger Krastz of '' XXL'' stated, "Overall, ''Rodeo'' has plenty of bangers and noteworthy collaborations that help bring out a fantastic trap sound that could bleed into the mainstream of hip-hop in no time". Jason Bisnoff of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' stated, "''Rodeo''s back end after "Antidote" begin to mesh together and gets repetitive.... Nonetheless, the originality of Scott's sound within this new movement provides for a strong rookie effort leaving the listener excited for a career that is just getting started". Trazier Tharpe of ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' stated, "Travis Scott made an enjoyable album for his fans peppered with undeniable bangers for his detractors". David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

stated, "With ''Rodeo'', Travis Scott becomes a designer drug". Steve "Flash" Juon of ''RapReviews'' stated, "Somewhere beneath all the hype and production he does shine through". Martin Caballero of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' stated, "His versatility, combined with a high-profile guest list, conspires against him; among 14 tracks, Scott conjures just a handful of moments that hint at untapped reserves of talent". Matthew Cooper of '' Clash'' stated, "Yes, the production is razor sharp, the beats are skewed and often very loud which makes them feel important, but in reality, it's all a façade; an image". Kevin Ritchie of ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' stated, "Scott goes for spacey sounds, stoner vibes and vocal filters, but despite the eclecticism, he's too elusive and bland for ''Rodeo'' to amount to a stylistic--let alone a subversive--statement". Sheldon Pearce from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' stated, "He is most effective when he harshly distorts his vocals to create texture, and in the company of others he can serve as a welcome change of pace". David Turner from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' stated, "Left on his own, Scott can grow tiresome. "I Can Tell" sounds monochromatic without another voice to push this astute curator. Some rock stars are better leading bands than going solo". Matthew Ramirez of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' stated, "This is a cold, calculated record lacking in personality, though it certainly tries to deliver something that Scott is incapable of".

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

''Rodeo'' debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200, moving 85,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s, of which 70,000 are pure album sales. As of November 2015, ''Rodeo'' has sold 110,000 copies in the United States. On August 28, 2024, the album was certified

by the

(RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over two million units.

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer * signifies a co-producer * All tracks are stylized in lowercase on the physical back covers. For example, "Oh My Dis Side" is stylized as "oh my dis side". * "Pornography", "Wasted", and "Apple Pie" feature narration by

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

* "Oh My Dis Side" features additional vocals by

River Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

* "90210" features background vocals by Chantel Jeffries * "Nightcrawler" in some old editions of physical copies, is named as "Night Call" * "Flying High" features background vocals by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

* "Ok Alright" features additional vocals by

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her diaristic lyrics and genre explorations, she has been credited as a prominent figure in influencing contemporary R& ...

and

* "Never Catch Me" features additional vocals by

Tinashe Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena, California, as a child, where she pursued w ...

Sample credits * "Pornography" contains a sample from "Expectation", written by Torsten Olafsson, Finn Olafsson, Peter Mellin, and Glen Fisher, as performed by Ache. * "Wasted" contains a sample from "Havin' Thangs '06", written by Michael Barnett, Will Barnett, Chad Butler, and George Clinton, Jr., as performed by

Pimp C Chad Lamont Butler (December 29, 1973 – December 4, 2007), better known by his stage name Pimp C, was an American rapper and record producer. He was best known for his work with Bun B as one half of the hip-hop duo Underground Kingz (UGK). ...

featuring

Big Mike Big Mike is a nickname of: People with the nickname * Mike Abrams (criminal) (died 1898), American underworld criminal * Michael Clemente (1908–1987), American mobster * Michael Clarke Duncan (1957–2012), American actor sometimes credited a ...

; and a sample from "Let Your Life Be Free", written by T. Noporat, as performed by T. Zchien and the Johnny. * "Antidote" contains a sample from "All I Need", written by

Thomas Brenneck Thomas "Tommy" Brenneck is an American guitarist, record producer, and engineer, best known as the leader of the Menahan Street Band and member of The Budos Band, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, and El Michels Affair. He is the founder of Dunh ...

, David Guy,

Leon Michels Leon Marcus Michels () (born 1982) is an American Record producer, music producer, Music executive, record executive, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader of the eclectic soul project El Michels Affair and co-founder of ...

, Nicholas Movshon, and

Homer Steinweiss Homer Steinweiss (born March 25, 1982) is an American drummer, songwriter, and producer known as a prominent drummer in the New York soul revival scene. He is a founding member and drummer of groups including Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee ...

, as performed by

Lee Fields Elmer Lee Fields (born April 26, 1950) is an American soul singer, sometimes nicknamed "Little JB" for his physical and vocal resemblance with James Brown. He has recorded with Kool and the Gang, Hip Huggers, O. V. Wright, Darrell Banks, and ...

and the Expressions. * "Flying High" contains a portion of "

Slide Slide or Slides may refer to: Places * Slide, California, former name of Fortuna, California Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Slide'' (Lisa Germano album), 1998 * ''Slide'' (George Clanton album), 2018 *''Slide'', by Patrick Glee ...

", written by Mark Adams,

Carter Bradley Carter Roy Bradley (born March 9, 2000) is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Toledo Rockets and South Alabama Jaguars. Early life ...

, Tim Dozier,

Mark Hicks Mark Hicks (1949-1977) of Manhattan Beach, California, was a figurative and abstract painter. He was also a quadriplegic, since falling out of a tree at age 12. Hicks was the subject of the 1977 Academy Award-winning documentary short '' Gravity ...

, Tom Lockett, Jr., Floyd Miller, Danny Webster, and Orion Wilhoite, as performed by

Slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Musicians * Travis Scott – vocals *

– vocals (track 2) *

– vocals (track 3) *

– vocals (track 4) *

– vocals (track 6) *

– vocals (track 7) *

– vocals (track 8) *

– vocals (track 11) *

– vocals (track 11) * Toro y Moi – vocals (track 12) *

– narrator * Mike Dean – guitar, keyboards *

Darren King Darren Charles King (born June 25, 1982) is an American drummer and percussionist, best known for his association with the band Mutemath until his permanent departure in August 2017. He played the drums for the New Orleans–based Christian rock ...

– bass, drums, guitar *

Larrance Dopson 1500 or Nothin' is an American musical ensemble composed of record producers, songwriters, musicians and music videographers, formed in 2006, in Los Angeles, California. With headquarters located in Inglewood, California, 1500 or Nothin' is com ...

– keyboards * Jordan Lewis – guitar *

Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...

– keyboards *

Zaytoven Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), known professionally as Zaytoven, is an American record producer from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Mane, Usher, Future, Young Dolph, Mig ...

– keyboards Additional personnel * Kevin Amato – photography * Chiki Uno – set design, art direction * Corey Damon Black – art direction, design * Chris Feldmann – art direction * Dan Chung – design * Anita Marisa Boriboon – creative direction * Marc Kalman – creative direction Technical personnel * Travis Scott – executive production, production * Mike Dean – executive production, production, additional production, assistant, drum programming, engineering, mixing, mastering * Jason Geter – executive production * Allen Ritter – production, additional production *

– production (tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 15) *

– production (tracks 2, 11), additional production (track 4) *

– production (track 9), additional production (tracks 5, 16), programming *

Noah Goldstein Noah Goldstein is an American record producer, film composer, and audio engineer. He is known for his work with Kanye West, having engineered his albums ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' (2010), ''Yeezus'' (2013) and ''The Life of Pablo'' (20 ...

– co-production (track 8), engineering, mixing, assistant * The Weeknd – production (track 6) *

Illangelo Carlo Montagnese (born July 29, 1987), known professionally as Illangelo, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter and mixing engineer who came to attention as long-time collaborator of The Weeknd. Having executive produced his 2011 mixtapes c ...

– production (track 6), vocal engineering *

Ben Billions Benjamin Dyer Diehl, known professionally as Ben Billions, is an American audio engineer, record producer and songwriter from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. He is best known for his production and engineering work for prominent music industry artists ...

– production (track 6) *

– co-production (track 8) * Kanye West – production (track 8) *

Charlie Heat Ernest Brown (born November 10, 1989), known professionally as Charlie Heat, is an American record producer. He signed with Very GOOD Beats, the in-house production wing of Kanye West's GOOD Music in 2015. During and after his departure from the ...

– production (track 8) *

Eestbound Bryan Van Mierlo, professionally known as Eestbound, is a Canadian record producer. He has produced songs for such artists as Travis Scott, Young Thug, Waka Flocka Flame, Lil Dicky, Young Dolph, Smoke DZA, and Sean Leon. Production discograph ...

– production (track 9), programming *

– production (track 12) * Terrace Martin – co-production (track 14) *

1500 or Nothin' 1500 or Nothin' is an American musical ensemble composed of record producers, songwriters, musicians and music videographers, formed in 2006, in Los Angeles, California. With headquarters located in Inglewood, California, 1500 or Nothin' is comp ...

– co-production (track 14) * Zaytoven – additional production (track 3) * FKi – production (track 13) * Maneesh Bidaye – production (track 11) * Apex Martin – additional drum programming (track 5) * Jimmy Cash – engineering * Thomas Cullison – engineering * Blake Harden – engineering * Stuart Innis – engineering, mixing assistance * Jordan Lewis – engineering * Ari Raskin – engineering *

Alex Tumay Alexander Tumay (born July 19, 1986) is an American audio engineer and DJ from Atlanta, Georgia. He has recorded and mixed songs for major artists across the American hip hop industry, including Young Thug, Travis Scott, Future, Kanye West, Drake ...

– engineering * Finis White – engineering * Seth Firkins – vocal engineering * Kez Khou – mixing assistance * Albert Chee – assistance

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References