The 11 best Travis Scott songs

Ranking Cactus Jack's finest ahead of his headline slot at this year's Reading & Leeds festival

Just like his mentor, Kanye, Travis Scott has transcended the lowly role of world famous rapper to become a whole generation’s cultural icon and ‘brand whisperer’. From playing a live concert to millions of people within Fortnite, to brand collaborations with everyone from Nike (rapper + sneakers: so far so traditional) and McDonalds (rapper + bespoke burger menu: less traditional).

But at the centre of it all is the music. Cutting his teeth as an in-house producer at Kanye’s label GOOD Music, he worked on iconic albums like Yeezus and Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail as he built up his solo career as an artist.

Now, his electric live shows, futuristic production and huge songs with distinctive psychedelic trap weirdness have made him one of the most renowned rappers of his generation. And in true Scott style of breaking norms, we’ve gone one above and picked his 11 best tracks.

11. ‘Goosebumps’

(Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, 2016)

Probably Travis Scott’s most popular song, it would be uncouth to leave ‘Goosebumps’ out of the round-up. Not only did the rapper fulfil every 90s kid’s dream and break a Guinness World Record by performing the track 15 times in a row during a show in Oklahoma, Kendrick Lamar also hops on the track to swap verses over Scott’s trademark eerie production (and inexplicably riff on nursery rhyme tongue twister ‘Peter Piper’). Overplayed? Perhaps. A banger? Undoubtedly.

10. ‘WHAT TO DO?’ ft. Don Toliver

(JACKBOYS, 2019)

In 2019, Scott corralled the signees of his label Cactus Jack Records together for compilation album, JACKBOYS. Alongside hidden treasure collaborations with Quavo and late drill legend Pop Smoke, Scott brought in lesser known talent like Luxury Tax and Sheck Wes to share the limelight. Amongst those is ‘What To Do?’, his second team-up with Don Toliver, who jumps aboard the Scott autotune boat as the pair try to piece together a drunken night on pure vibes alone.

9. ‘FE!N’ ft. Playboi Carti

(UTOPIA, 2023)

Playboi Carti and Travis Scott decided to switch places for UTOPIA track ‘FE!N’ with Carti ditching his usual baby voice delivery for gruff vocals and Scott taking it up a notch. With its rage beat, fizzing synth production and driving otherworldly sirens, it’s not hard to see why ‘FE!N’ has broken out as one of Scott’s best-known songs. Plus, there’s the fact it takes on a whole new lifeform when the rapper performs it live, summoning mosh pits from thin air. Scott purists will say it’s overdone, we say with good reason.

8. ‘TIL FURTHER NOTICE’ ft. James Blake, 21 Savage

(UTOPIA, 2023)

Another one from Scott’s fourth album UTOPIA, ‘TIL FURTHER NOTICE’ is like a checklist for everything you want from an end track. The sonic equivalent of a protagonist walking away triumphantly and reflectively from an explosion during a movie’s final scene, the track grabs James Blake’s other-worldly vocals and runs it with a solid verse from 21 Savage as Metro Boomin’s iconic bassline creeps in. And with Scott’s closing melancholic verse? Outro perfection.

7. ‘Highest In The Room’

(JACKBOYS, 2019)

It’s the one that earned Scott a Grammy nomination and his highest-charting UK single. ‘Highest In The Room’ had a strange start to life after being born to the world via a Kylie Jenner advert for eyebrow cosmetics. While the song references the rapper’s then relationship with Jenner, the showbiz shell it arrived in shouldn’t be overshadowed by the lush, pared back (by Scott’s standard) sound and melodic hook. It’s for that reason ‘Highest In The Room’ earns itself a place in the top 10.

6. ‘Skyfall’ ft. Young Thug

(DAYS BEFORE RODEO, 2014)

No, not that one. “I’m trapped in my conscious. My trap is still bunkin’, look at all these hundreds,” Scott raps in between slow, spaced-out chants in ‘Skyfall’ from his second mixtape DAYS BEFORE RODEO. Don’t let the lyrics fool you though, the rapper made a point of publicly stating the track isn’t about “getting us high”, but rather the chasm between the younger and older generation of creatives. With a perfectly timed verse from Young Thug that jolts out of the trance-like flow and Scott demonstrating a wider range within his signature autotune symphony, ‘Skyfall’ is definitely one of the rapper’s most interesting songs.

5. ‘MY EYES’

(UTOPIA, 2023)

Breaking the top five is fan favourite ‘MY EYES’, where things get deep. The UTOPIA track created a whole moment in the rap world when it dropped thanks to its anthemic synths and swampy production, pulling you into Scott’s 3D world as opposed to a classic linear song structure. A song of two halves, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon’s pre-chorus and Scott’s melancholy reflections on materialism gives way to a beat switch up as the rapper gives a vulnerable testimonial of his life, referencing the Astroworld tragedy.

4. ‘Maria I’m Drunk’ ft. Justin Bieber, Young Thug

(Rodeo, 2015)

Around 2015 Justin Bieber went from childstar to respected artist thanks to his critically acclaimed Purpose album and a bunch of smart collaborations with Skrillex and Diplo. During this renaissance Scott brought him on board for Rodeo track ‘Maria I’m Drunk’ along with Young Thug, and happened to make an absolute banger, with Scott desperately vocalising for “Maria” (a codename for marijuana) before all three artists come together to hash out the merits of women and alcohol. A tale as old as time.

3. ‘SKELETONS’

(ASTROWORLD, 2018)

How about taking Travis Scott’s classic psychedelic trap beats, running them through a Tame Impala machine, and adding a gloss of The Weeknd and Pharrell Williams? Well, you’ll get ‘Skeletons’. But instead of what could have been a hideous whirlwind of too many great musical minds, the Astroworld track is a kaleidoscopic dream with Scott firmly behind the wheel. Except instead of a car it’s some kind of trippy dream mobile sputtering pure vibes as it glides between each artist.

2. ‘SICKO MODE’ ft. Drake

(ASTROWORLD, 2018)

It wouldn’t be a Travis Scott round up without it. ‘SICKO MODE’ has racked up over 2 billion streams on Spotify alone and another 1.2 billion on YouTube – and only about half a million of those were us watching Drake walking a dog on repeat. Speaking of Drake, his verse on ‘SICKO MODE’ is some of the rapper’s best work in years including his own releases. Scott creates a whole mini universe in ‘SICKO MODE’ alone, whiplashing between beats, flows and samples in a way that’s always exciting and never sloppy. The ultimate hype song and a worthy runner-up in the countdown.

1. ‘90210’ ft. Kacy Hill

(Rodeo, 2015)

A true Travis Scott masterpiece, we’re leaving Astroworld and even Utopia for the top spot, which goes to Rodeo’s ‘90210’. Opening with gothy, dark synths and singer Kacy Hill’s haunting vocals, we’re submerged into melodic Scott at his best as he opens the story of a girl’s descent into the murky world of Hollywood and fame, drawing parallels to his own path to stardom. Then, like a smoke bomb going off we’re lifted and dropped into one of the best Scott beat switch ups and some of his most impressive rapping. Discordant, weird, and beautiful, ‘90210’ brings a vulnerability and narrative that Scott seldom shows all the while tying up all the best elements of himself as an artist and an all round creative icon.