Travis Scott wrapped up the year and decade by unleashing a new seven-track project under his Cactus Jack label featuring signees Don Toliver and Sheck Wes, as well as Quavo, Offset, Young Thug, Pop Smoke, Lil Baby and ROSALIA. Each track has its own flavor, though it’s clear Travis had a lot of influence across the board as he’s featured on five of the songs.
While Travis is notorious for creating his own unique soundscapes, one re-emerging style he bought into on this tape is drill, which was popularized by Chief Keef and other Chicago artists back in 2012. On JACKBOYS, “GATTI” is produced by AXL Beats, the same London producer who cooked up Drake’s “War“, and it features Pop Smoke, a Brooklyn-based artist who helped bring back the drill sound this past summer with his hit “Welcome To The Party.” Another Brooklyn artist who has gravitated toward drill is Fivio Foreign, and his most popular song, “Big Drip,” was produced by none other than AXL Beats. Needless to say, drill is having a major moment as we head into 2020.
Other standout tracks include “OUT WEST,” which finds Trav and Thugger adding to their expanding list of collaborations as they perfectly complement one another on a beat that sounds like it came from a snake charmer, though in reality it was produced by Buddah Bless and Jabz. Don Toliver, meanwhile, flexes his voice and melodies on “HAD ENOUGH,” which was also released as his latest single. Stream JACKBOYS on Spotify, Apple or Tidal.
If you’re still not entertained, you can watch Travis ride around on Tesla’s unreleased Cyberquad in the video for “GANG GANG,” and join all three JACKBOYS in the spooky, self-titled short film.
Read About It By Gerard Smith 