2xLPs on Color Vinyl

"Midnight awaking, hyperventilating, drunk laps running round the globe, wild goose chasing, after three number one albums would've thought I'd feel amazing, still impatient" run the opening lines of "The Prayer"; it's hard to imagine a more apt mission statement for a hungry, 23-year-old Travis Scott. Brewing anticipation for his imminent debut album, Rodeo, Scott's DAYS BEFORE RODEO is the project's darker, more erratic predecessor, capturing the rawness of Scott's pioneering sound in all of its gloom. While tracks like "Quintana, Pt. 2" and "Sloppy Toppy" are the kinds of fierce, Auto-Tuned anthems you'd expect from a mid-2010s Southern trap star, DBR really kicks in when things get a little darker: the harpsichord of "Don't Play" oozes the gothic flair associated with Scott's public image, "Skyfall" builds a madhouse of circus-like synths and ominous layered chants, and Wondagurl bookmarks "The Prayer" with funeral-march organs and discordant vocal chops. The cruising "Backyard" and "Grey" pull things down a notch for a smoke session-friendly closer, to say nothing of the magnificent "Drugs You Should Try It," an ephemeral experience that might be as close to soundtracking a high as rap has ever achieved. There's a singularity to what Scott has managed to capture here, a blend of urgency and brooding energy with siftings of the Southern gothic -- something critical caught in motion.

Days Before Rodeo: The Prayer    3:22
Mamacita    4:34
Quintana Pt. 2    4:59
Drugs You Should Try It    3:29
Don't Play    4:46
Skyfall    5:18
Zombies    4:20
Sloppy Toppy    4:34
Basement Freestyle    4:07
Backyard    4:31
Grey    3:48
Bacc    2:13