Latest news with #SheckWes
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Travis Scott Hangs Out With His Amazing Friends on ‘Jackboys 2'
'Yeah, man, I swear these old niggas kill me,' raps Travis Scott in his typical melodic flow on 'Champain & Vacay.' The Houston star's pushback against Clipse's 'So Be It,' where Pusha T's ripped Scott for his 'lack of loyalty' towards past mentors and friends like Kanye West and Drake, seems relatively tame. The irony, though, is that Scott isn't young anymore, either. At age 34, he's been a star since 2014's Days Before Rodeo, and his traits are overly familiar: the watery and slightly distorted harmonies, the insistent luxury metaphors, and the way he punctuates his verses with adlibs like 'it's lit!' and 'straight up!' At his best, Scott shapes these tropes into immersive Astroworlds, creations where the sonics are so dazzling that one tends to overlook its plasticine exteriors and lack of nuance and frisson. But a decade's a long time to spend in virtual reality. Jackboys 2, a sequel to 2019's EP-length chart-topper Jackboys, may be intended as a showcase for Scott's Cactus Jack imprint and acts like Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, SoFaygo, and Wallie the Sensei. But it ultimately sounds like Scott and his Amazing Friends. He hogs most of the tracks alongside high-wattage guests like Playboi Carti and Future ('Where Was You'), Tyla and Vybz Kartel (the tropical-sounding 'PBT'), Youngboy Never Broke Again ('Outside'), and 21 Savage ('Kick Out'). The nearly hour-long project is threaded with quotes from UGK hero Bun B that seem designed to center Jackboys 2 as a Texas-sized blockbuster. 'This shit get intergalactic,' promises Don Toliver on 'Champaign & Vacay.' More from Rolling Stone These Blog-Era Rap Stars Dropped Last Week. Only One Made the Hot 100 Watch Clipse Showcase Emotional Track 'The Birds Don't Sing' on Fallon Travis Scott Says Kanye West Gave Permission to Use Demo in Motion to Dismiss 'Telekinesis' Suit To his credit, Scott tries to rap a bit harder than usual, especially on 'Kick Out' and 'Dumbo,' the latter where he brags, 'Chain on ice cream, don't melt.' There's some nice production, particularly from producers F1lthy and Glasear on 'Where Was You,' which floats with an odd, harpsichord-like melody. But everything sounds paved with the same rolling trap-like thump, a baseline requirement for rage-rap. Songs meander by with nothing but banal sentiments to distinguish them, like Scott claiming, 'I'm sittin' courtside, can hit the ref with a tech/Lambo door suicide, she get blessed if we mesh' on 'Contest.' There are a few good shots, though, like when SahBabii claims, 'Rainbow diamonds, this shit on me blingin'/Stepped out of the jeweler, bought a gay parade (wow, wow)' on 'Beep Beep.' Kodak Black inserts pathos into 'Florida Flow' when he raps, 'I don't wanna live too long, too old, but I don't wanna die this young/All I know if 'trol pull us over, this bitch better hide this gun.' And hilariously, GloRilla uses her cameo on 'Shyne' to rap, 'My only regret is bein' too young to fuck Matthew McConaughey.' Ultimately, Jackboys 2 unfolds like a mediocre Netflix movie, an amusing late-night diversion that's hard to remember the next day. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Travis Scott Celebrates ‘Jackboys 2' Release With ‘Dumbo' Video
Travis Scott is celebrating his Cactus Jack compilation album Jackboys 2 with a new visual. Just a day after dropping the 17-track LP that included songs by Sheck Wes and Don Toliver, Scott released the cinematic video for his highly teased single 'Dumbo.' The Gabriel Moses-directed visual splices clips of Scott singing from inside a crowded room of women and in front of a sports car. At one point in the video, Scott gets a tattoo painted on his back during the visual. The classic Travis Scott lyrics hear the star flaunting his luxuries while singing about a woman 'goin' dumbo.' More from Rolling Stone Conan Gray Gets His Heart Broken in 'Vodka Cranberry' Video Travis Scott Unveils 'Jackboys 2' Release Date Dove Cameron Sings to Her 'Dangerous' Italian Lover on 'Romeo' 'That come-down no emotion, yeah, yeah/See, the whip ain't no regular body, the whip got a kit like BBL,' Scott raps on a verse. 'One digit on back of the truck and she's backin' it up, no CDL.' 'Dumbo' has been a long time coming for Scott, who first previewed the track at the HBCU Celebrity Softball Classic Cactus Jack hosted back in February. He played it for the first time live during his 2025 headlining Coachella set as one of two unreleased tracks performed. Scott released the Jackboys 2 compilation album on Sunday, featuring tracks such as '2000 Excursion' with Scott, Sheck Wes, and Don Toliver; 'MM3' by SoFaygo; 'ILMB' with Scott and Wes; and 'Cant Stop' by Toliver and Wallie the Sensei. The album also features guest vocals from Tyla and Vybz Kartel on 'PBT,' GloRilla on 'Shyne,' and YoungBoy Never Broke Again on 'Outside.' The LP garnered a whopping 35.7 million first-day streams on Spotify and reached Number One on Apple Music Sunday. Jackboys 2 is the first compilation album from Cactus Jack since 2019, when the first JackBoys record dropped. That album featured 'Highest in the Room' featuring Rosalía and Lil Baby, 'Out West' featuring Young Thug, and 'Gatti' with Pop Smoke. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Jackboys 2 Album Review: Travis Scott needs better music to play at his India concert
Jackboys 2 Album Review: Everyone loves a good hip-hop group. It's quite apparent that the entire genre would never have been so polarising, controversial or iconic if it weren't for groups like the NWA, Wu-Tang Clan, Run DMC, D12 and more. Jackboys is a group consisting of rappers and producers who belong to Travis Scott's record label Cactus Jack, including Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, Chase B, SoFaygo and Scott himself. When the group announced themselves in 2019 with an album of the same name, no one was really hoping for the next hip-hop revolution. But now they have come out with a brand new project, and drumroll please….. it's the same songs they have been making for over a decade, and nothing has changed. One could say that Travis is trying to channel his inner Ice Cube in the sense that his 'art is a reflection of his reality', but if Travis' reality only contains blingy cars, questionable lyrics, money, and cocaine, well then he better start practising his older hits for when he comes to India, because no one wants to listen to this. Now don't get me wrong; the album isn't all trash. Actually, it's much better tied together than the previous Jackboys album. The 2019 album had an idea, but like any great thought that hits you at 1 am in the morning when you have been drinking lean for the past 4 hours, it vanished. The thought was incomplete, and except for that one TikTok trend, nothing truly came out of that entire project. Jackboys 2 starts on a good note though, with Scott relying on his evergreen cadence and tried-and-tested flow that made him successful enough to walk out of the Grammys when he lost to Cardi B. The track number 2, '2000 Excursion', is a direct reference to the car Ford Excursion and how the rap group Three 6 Mafia (who hated flying) actually would only use this huge car to go around the country without having to worry about customs agents asking, 'What's in the cup?' After a confusing first verse by Scott, we hear a very interesting beat switch which is completely botched by Sheck Wes talking about the amount of women he has on his payroll (it was much less civilised than this). Don and Scott give it another attempt and sound like kids who just figured out the auto-tune function on their karaoke set. ALSO READ: Justin Bieber album Swag review: Bieber needs to take notes from Pritam and keep it simple Sir 21 Savage features on the next track, and Scott's first verse on the song is his best contribution to the album till now. Solid similes, strong references and catchy flow all make up for a good first half, but due to that ever-growing obsession with doing something different (while ending up making the same thing), the beat of the song switches again before Savage lays down probably his weakest verse, and you know why? Because he literally keeps repeating his name and three other words. For reasons unbeknownst to this humble listener, Scott just wanted to write 21 Savage as a feature without actually giving him a verse. He is technically from across the pond, but that is a cold-hearted thing to do to Kylie Jenner's fourth favourite rapper who has tattoos on his face. The next track, 'Dumbo', is a reference to whoever decides to listen to this song for the second time, because even when Scott actually starts rapping, by then it's too little and too late. The next track is a solo by Faygo, and it is the musical representation of that one guy who swears he could have been a professional athlete if his parents would have supported him but is always injured to play in the office tournament. 'Velour' is a decent attempt by Toliver and Sheck, but it takes too long to build up for a 'decent' track; I can wait that long for a 'Yosemite' or even an 'Enzo', but the actual verse by the two artistes — not worth the wait. We then move on to 'Contest', where Scott gives Faygo a chance to redeem himself, but it is repetitive bars with no meaning at all. 'ILMB' is a strong car playlist song, and except for the hook of the song, which you can't really play in front of your parents, partner, family members, or anyone else you know, it's fine. Now 'Where Was You' came as a song that was highly recommended to me before I got a chance to listen to this album, and the instrumental of the track is something I can truly back. The Japanese strings, which sound like a shamisen, take the simple and effective beat to a whole new level. For the first time in the album, a song isn't completely dependent on Scott, and if you like Future's style of delivery or Playboi Carti's bars, this is probably the track you should save from the album. Carti raps like someone who knows their last project was bad, and Future just lays back and drops a verse which he probably thought of while walking the stairs to the studio. ALSO READ: Chains & Whips: Kendrick Lamar needs to understand that the Drake beef is over, watch video Toliver gives his best performance of the album on 'No Comments', as he sticks to what he knows and is able to build a pretty catchy track from there. By the time you start reaching the end of this album, you start noticing a very apparent pattern that actually says a lot about the people involved. While the verses are inconsistent, often shallow, and overproduced, the backing tracks of all songs are genuinely good. It's the quality of the backing track that keeps you from skipping some of these songs, and the track 'Beep Beep' is a great example of this. Another problem with this album is that the artistes think that putting voice notes before and after every other song will make this project more profound. People listen to the voice notes on Kendrick or J. Cole's album because the songs are actually good. Paul's Skit is an actual recognisable phenomenon because Eminem is considered to be the greatest rapper of all time. Scott often talks about the rapper Kid Cudi and how he was his biggest inspiration while growing up, and I think that is the root of this problem. Scott listened to Cudi and became a rapper, but the newer artists like Faygo are listening to Scott. While Scott's influence cannot be denied, he isn't the kind of rapper who would release a song like Pac's 'Dear Mama' or Eminem's 'Sing For The Moment'. He isn't really saying anything, and it gives rise to a generation that is listening to rappers talking about only superficial things, the kind of things which have become such damaging stereotypes for the entire genre. A lot of the 'modern-day' rap music is beguiling in nature, because even though some of the sounds are attractive, the lack of substance is harrowing and problematic. But instead of putting the responsibility of changing the world on Scott's shoulders, I think everyone involved with the genre need to have their back up. To give an example of the most 'loved' artist of this generation, Drake, who delivers a 'Churchill Downs' for every 'Hotline Bling', giving the audiences and the budding generation of artistes something to aspire to. Jackboys 2 is a project with a few hits and a lot of misses, but mostly it's an album which doesn't compel you for a revisit. Nothing hits you so hard so that you pause it midway and call your friends to talk about it, the mark of a great album, which Jackboys 2 doesn't achieve. The only thing even more disappointing than the album is the fact that you will have to listen to the songs all over your Instagram for the next 6 months until J Cole decides to make music again and Drake decides to make money again.
Forbes
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Travis Scott Showcases Cactus Jack Label Roster With ‘JackBoys 2' Album
Travis Scott Getty Images for The Recording Academy In 2017, following the success of his first two albums Rodeo and Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight , Travis Scott launched his Cactus Jack record label and has been releasing music through the imprint ever since. In 2019, the 'Highest in the Room' singer released the compilation album JackBoys featuring Cactus Jack signees like Don Toliver and Sheck Wes as well as other major artists like Rosalía and the late Pop Smoke. Six years later, Scott and his JackBoys crew are back with the new album JackBoys 2 . Cactus Jack roster members Don Toliver, Sheck Wes, SoFaygo, and Wallie the Sensei join the party, as well as other hitmakers from across the industry, ranging from Tyla and GloRilla to Future, 21 Savage, Vybz Kartel, Kodak Black, Playboi Carti, and Waka Flocka Flame. Legendary Houston rapper Bun B acts as host and hip-hop educator popping up throughout the album. When speaking with Complex this spring about his musical direction, Scott said he was focusing not just on making new music, but as a producer as well. 'I'm super into producing [right now], making the beats again, and getting the sound back. I'm making beats and music for other people, and even for myself,' he said. "I've been really into beatmaking. Because I think a lot of beats are kind of the same. Like, you're hearing a lot of the same beats and the same drums. So that process [of beatmaking] is what makes it exciting to make the songs." As for his place in the music industry now a decade after his debut, Scott is proud of what he has to offer and what he believes he's teaching his fans. 'I'm here to motivate. I'm here to knock down walls of fear. I've always put myself on the frontline of showing the unknown,' he said. "I'm opening the gate for people to understand that you can do anything you want to, at the highest level. You've just got to go do it."
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Travis Scott & Cactus Jack Present ‘JACKBOYS 2' Compilation Album: Stream It Now
With Sunday (July 13) serving as 713 day, it's only right that Travis Scott and Cactus Jack dropped off the JACKBOYS 2 compilation album in an homage to La Flame's hometown of Houston. The anticipated sequel hit streaming services on Sunday and JB2 finds fellow H-Town rap dignitary Bun B onboard as host, while the project boasts 17 tracks in total. More from Billboard Travis Scott Raises 'JACKBOYS 2' Hype With '2000 Excursion' Single Feat. Don Toliver & Sheck Wes Backstreet Boys Kick Off Sphere Residency With Larger-Than-Life Show in Las Vegas Scooter Braun Shares His Opinion on Justin Bieber's 'Swag' Alongside Scott and Cactus Jack high-flyers like Sheck Wes, Don Toliver, Sofaygo and Wallie the Sensei, La Flame invites a star-studded cast of collaborators into the mix that includes GloRilla, Tyla, Vybz Kartel, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, SahBabii and Waka Flocka Flame. Following several teasers, Travis set the tone for the project's rollout with the release of the thumping single '2000 Excursion' earlier this week, which saw a racing-themed visual hit YouTube but never received an official streaming service arrival. There's plenty of merchandise for Ragers to cop on La Flame's website, as Cactus Jack released various merchandise collections and CD/vinyl bundles featuring alternate cover arts to accompany JACKBOYS 2. The first JACKBOYS project arrived in December 2019 with appearances from the late Pop Smoke, Young Thug, Quavo, Offset, Rosalia and Lil Baby. The effort reached the summit when it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It's been a busy year for Scott, who headlined night two of Coachella in April and notched another No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with '4×4' in February. He even completed another side quest when making WWE appearances at Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania. Stream JACKBOYS 2 below. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
