Travis Scott is one of most talented musicians of our time. Working in a variety of musical genres to produce his own unique sound, Scott has carved out an identity for himself and received considerable critical and commercial success. Of course, those of you familiar with Scott will know that he’s also kept himself in the public eye through his personal relationships. Here are 42 facts you might not have known about Travis Scott.
Travis Scott Facts
1. What’s in a Name?
Scott’s real name is actually Jacques Berman Webster II. He chose his stage name "Travis" in honor of his favorite uncle.
Frank Schwichtenberg, Wikimedia Commons
2. Proud Texan
Scott was born on April 30, 1991, in Houston, Texas. The rapper spent most of his formative years in Houston, and he's a Texan through and through.
Active Magazine, Wikimedia Commons
3. Let’s Get Out of Here!
The first six years of Scott’s life were spent living in the South Park neighborhood of Houston, Texas. At the time, the area had a bad reputation for rampant street crime. Living there with his grandmother, Scott later reflected that the sights he saw in South Park gave him a strong desire to put these kinds of neighborhoods behind him for good.
4. Call Me Ishmael? Heck No!
Scott has gone through quite a few different pseudonyms during his music career. His stage names include Cactus Jack, La Flame, and Travi$ Scott (this was before he replaced the $ with an “s”).
5. Big Gestures
In August 2017, Scott arranged an especially lavish birthday present for the 20-year-old Kylie Jenner. Since money was no object, he hired a full-blown orchestra to serenade her. In a video he posted to Snapchat, the orchestra seems to be in the middle of Kylie's living room, and the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star can be seen listening while reclining on a couch.
6. It's an Honor Just to Be Nominated
The 2019 Billboard Music Awards were very good to Scott. He was nominated for no fewer than 11 awards that night, including Top Artist and Top Rap Tour. Sadly, though the odds looked like they were in his favor, Scott came home with only one award, "Top Streaming Song (Audio)" for his breakthrough hit "Sicko Mode."
Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images
7. The One to Watch
Anyone who is really serious about learning more about Scott should check out the documentary film Look Mom I Can Fly. This film follows Scott’s much-storied life and is available on Netflix.
Travis Scott - Look Mom I Can Fly | Extended Trailer | Netflix, Netflix
8. Beginning With a Bang
Scott’s first solo project as a musician was the mixtape Owl Pharaoh, released under the name Travi$ Scott. Aside from Scott himself, the mixtape features guest appearances by rappers like Meek Mill and 2 Chainz. When Scott released the mixtape in 2013, the response was rapturous, and Owl Pharaoh was nominated for “Best Mixtape” at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
Jason Merritt/BET, Getty Images
9. Don’t Label Me Like That!
Scott has categorically denied being a hip-hop artist, though some still want to pin the label on him. However, many have pointed out that his extensive use of audio manipulation and his “syncretic” sound make his music sound more ambient than hip-hop influenced. Whatever you want to call his music, though, it sounds good!
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10. Power Couple
In 2017, Scott began a much-publicized relationship with Kylie Jenner of Keeping Up with the Kardashians fame. Jenner is also the founder and owner of the cosmetic company Kylie Cosmetics, and boasts an impressive social media life, with nearly 130 million followers on Instagram. In March 2019, Forbes magazine controversially listed Jenner as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
Rabbani and Solimene Photography, Getty Images
11. Racking up Records
Scott infamously started dating Kylie Jenner soon after her high-profile relationship with the rapper Tyga ended.
12. Let’s Get Ambitious
In August 2014, Scott released his second mixtape to great fanfare. Titled Days Before Rodeo, Scott teased the work on Twitter for 10 days before its release. Once more, he was able to pull in some of the music industry's heavy hitters like Big Sean and Migos, among others. The mixtape was meant to be a prequel to his upcoming debut album Rodeo.
13. It Was a Very Good Year…
2012 was an important year for Scott. This was the year that he signed two deals that changed his life. First, Epic Records signed Scott onto his first deal with a major label. That same year, he became acquainted with Kanye West. After Scott appeared on a compilation album produced by West, he signed Scott onto his label GOOD Music.
14. Legend in the Making
That Kanye West compilation album was Cruel Summer, and on "Sin City," Scott performed with none other than John Legend.
15. Why Play if Nobody’s Listening?
From a very young age, Scott was interested in music. He was only three years old when he began playing drums, which to be fair is probably the easiest instrument for a toddler to start playing. He switched to the piano for a time, but quickly gave it up for a hilarious reason. Scott joked that he quit piano-playing because it didn’t get him any attention from girls.
Travis Scott - Look Mom I Can Fly | Extended Trailer | Netflix, Netflix
16. Family Business
Scott is hardly the first person in his family to pursue music. His father was an accomplished musician in the soul genre, and his grandfather was a jazz composer.
Travis Scott - Look Mom I Can Fly | Extended Trailer | Netflix, Netflix
17. Personal Triumph
The title of Scott's debut album was Rodeo, and it holds a secret meaning. According to Scott, the "rodeo" is his chaotic life, and he wanted to keep "riding a bull" for as long as he can. With guest appearances by Justin Bieber and Kanye West, the album was certified platinum in May 2017. Is anyone still timing Scott’s bull ride? Because given his career trajectory, he’s only moving upward from here.
18. The Jewel in My Crown
As many of you probably know, Scott’s biggest hit as of September 2019 is his song “Sicko Mode.” Released in August 2018, the song was Scott’s first to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was also the first hip-hop song in American history to spend more than 30 weeks in the chart’s top 10. Obviously, it knocked its competition out like a light!
Travis Scott - SICKO MODE ft. Drake, Travis Scott
19. My Hero
One of Scott’s favorite artists is rapper Kid Cudi. Scott even confessed that when he first met Kid Cudi, he burst into tears.
20. Moving Day
After he turned six, Scott relocated out of Houston’s South Park neighborhood to live with his parents in Missouri City, a more middle-class neighborhood within the greater Houston area. Scott spent the rest of his youth living with his mom and dad, with his father being a small business owner and his mother working for Apple.
21. On the Screen
Scott's music has already been used in a wide variety of media, whether they be TV shows, films, or video games. Some of the most prominent productions and projects to have Scott’s music as part of their soundtracks include Grand Theft Auto, Atlanta, and The Fate of the Furious. Not a bad legacy to leave the world, and he's not even 30 years old.
22. Gone Grammy Gone
As of 2019, Scott has been nominated for six Grammy Awards in his career, among them Album of the Year and Best Rap Song. But just like with the Billboard Music Awards, Scott hasn't quite been able to break in yet and get the gold. He's yet to win any Grammys, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for him as his career takes off.
23. Untitled
Scott's first musical project was a collaboration with his longtime friend Chris Holloway. Under the name of The Graduates, the young, ambitious duo released their first EP on Myspace all the way back in 2008 (which explains the Myspace). Though we'd love to tell you the name of the project, it actually doesn't have one!
Frank Schwichtenberg, Wikimedia Commons
24. You Like Me! You Really Like Me!
Scott fans will know that his single “Antidote" reached #16 on the US Billboard Top 100 chart and went quadruple platinum in sales. However, you might not know that the single was never meant to be part of Rodeo. Scott originally wanted “Antitode” to only be released “for the real fans” rather than getting a prestige position on his album. He obviously changed his mind!
25. Growing Pains?
While we mentioned that Owl Pharaoh was Scott’s first mixtape, that's not technically true. It was actually just his first solo mixtape. He’d previously released projects in 2009 and 2010 with his group called The Classmates. Nonetheless, these works are very early-period Scott, and he's shown a lot of progression since then.
26. Future Family
Years before Scott ever dated Kylie Jenner, her sister Kendall was already a big fan of his musical talent. In 2015, when Scott hosted a listening party for his debut album Rodeo, Kendall was in attendance.
27. Meant for the Stage
Believe it or not, Scott is a diehard fan of Broadway. He’s even expressed his interest in producing an album that consists entirely of show tunes covers. We can only imagine what songs will make the cut.
28. Future Plans
If that’s not enough, Scott is allegedly planning to write a theatrical musical of his own! Once again, we wonder just what kind of story Scott will give us when this musical arrives.
29. Dream Team
In 2017, Scott joined up with rapper Quavo to make a new rap duo. Under the name Huncho Jack, these two artists released an album titled Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho. Despite positive reviews and charting at number three on the US Billboard 200, we have yet to see a second album from Huncho Jack as of 2019. Give us more!
30. New Dad
On February 1st, 2018, Scott and Kylie Jenner were in the news again after Kylie gave birth to their first daughter. They called the little girl Stormi Webster, and Scott was apparently a very generous father. It's said he gave Kylie a $1.4 million LaFerrari as a lavish "push present." We're sure baby Stormi got just as spoiled as her mother.
31. Stand by Me
Scott’s second studio album was Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, released in 2016. According to the artist, he made the album as a tribute to all his friends who had grown up with him in the Houston district of Missouri City. As Scott said, "I'm not saying that it's a trap...but it's like a social trap. It's a social connection trap from what you want to do and how you want to express yourself. I feel like everyone just gets constricted by their parents or just life."
32. All or Nothing
Scott attended classes at the University of Texas in San Antonio for two years. However, he didn’t finish his sophomore year because he decided that he would pursue music full time, no matter what it took. Scott dropped out of university to achieve his dreams, and even though we should all try to stay in school, clearly it was the right decision for him.
Brandon Dull, Wikimedia Commons
33. Nothing to See Here
In 2017, Kylie Jenner's ex Tyga released the song “Chandeliers,” which included a sample of vocal ad-libs by her current beau Scott. This prompted speculation and gossip that Tyga might have some ill feelings about Scott and his new relationship. When asked about Scott, however, Tyga gave a simple response: "He's cool."
34. Did They, or Didn’t They?
Scott has a potentially steamy connection to superstar Rihanna. The pair collaborated on the song "Woo" from Rihanna's 2016 album ANTI, and around that time, some seemingly juicy photos surfaced of the two of them together. The photographs show the musicians in a club together dancing and talking very closely, and some assumed they were dating. Neither Scott nor Rihanna confirmed or denied the rumors, so we may never know.
35. Lean Times
After Scott dropped out of university, his parents were extremely disappointed in him and even cut him off financially. With nowhere to go and no sure prospects ahead of him, Scott ended up in New York sleeping on the floor at his friend's house while he worked day and night to get his career off the ground. Sadly, it only got worse from there.
Gilbert Carrasquillo, Getty Images
36. Catching a Break
After nothing seemed to be happening for Scott in New York, he moved to Los Angeles and still had no luck. Then, when he begged his parents to let him move back in their house in Houston, they coldly refused. Still desperate to prove his parents wrong and get his big break, he moved back to Los Angeles to sleep on another couch. This time, he was discovered by rapper T.I.
The rest, as they say, is history.
37. I'll Sleep When I'm Famous
By high school, Scott was completely dedicated to pursuing a music career. In fact, he was so determined to create a personal recording studio that he turned his entire bedroom into one and gave up the luxury of a bed. According to Scott, he slept in a chair so that there’d be enough room for the equipment in his room.
38. In a Rich Man’s World
Given that he was once in financial dire straits and sleeping on his friend’s couch, it’s safe to say that Scott has done incredibly well for himself since then. In 2018, his net worth was upwards of $8 million. We can’t imagine he does much couch-surfing nowadays, and he's able to keep Kylie in all the luxury she desires.
39. Gotcha!
Near the end of 2018, a photo took the Internet by storm. It showed Scott getting very close with a woman who was clearly not Kylie Jenner. Amidst the uproar, Scott quickly claimed the picture was a fake. Though many people didn't believe him, he was proven right. Youtube personality ChristianAdamG, who happened to look a lot like Scott, admitted that he’d faked the photo as a prank.
ChristianAdamG AnkleSkin Official Lyrics & Meaning | Verified, ChristianAdamG
40. Not Cool
Despite the Internet prankster’s assertions that he hadn’t meant to cause any strife between Scott and Jenner with his mocked-up picture of Scott “cheating,” he was lambasted for pulling a potentially harmful prank. Jenner and her half-sisters, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, were particularly incensed, and they posted that the fake photo stunt was “disgusting.”
41. Not Again!
Sadly, the fake cheating picture wasn’t the last time that people spread lies about Scott. Recently, the Facebook page "R.I.P. Travis Scott" claimed that Scott had passed away. It received over a million likes, with many also expressing their sympathies on Twitter. Once again, this was a hoax, as Scott is very much alive and well.
While most were rightfully furious, others saw s silver lining: the amount of people mourning showed just how beloved Scott is.
42. Take out Tray
For personal and professional reasons, Scott has long had connections to rapper Kanye West, and he once spoke about their absolutely bizarre first meeting. West offered Scott some Taco Bell, and when he accepted, the food came out on a fancy silver platter. More than that, Scott actually hates sour cream and didn't like the snack at all—but he was too busy soaking in his hero to really care.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22
