Days Before Rodeo

Background and promotion

In August 2014, Scott announced on his Twitter account that he would be releasing 10 new songs within a month. On the same day, he also tweeted the title of this project, Days Before Rodeo, before marketing the countdown every day until it stopped on August 10, 2014. On August 17, 2014, Scott released the track list and artwork for this project.

The first song released from Days Before Rodeo was "Don't Play" featuring a fellow American hip hop recording artist Big Sean. The song was produced by Scott himself, along with Vinylz and Allen Ritter. Justin Davis of Complex commented Scott and Sean "have great chemistry over the track," while continuing their "streak of songs together". The Western-themed video for "Don't Play" was released on August 18, 2014.

Release

Days Before Rodeo was released on August 18, 2014. Scott called it a "free album" via Twitter on the following day. Eric Diep of XXL commented the album "displays the Houston rapper's eclectic production style, as well as his boastful raps that are similar to his mentors Kanye West and T.I.", while calling it "some great new material that we've been missing from him since his excellent debut, Owl Pharaoh." Days Before Rodeo is a prequel to Scott's Grand Hustle and Epic Records debut album Rodeo, which was released on September 4, 2015.

Singles

On July 11, 2014, Scott released the mixtape's lead single, titled "Don't Play", which features guest appearances from The 1975 and Big Sean.

On December 2, 2014, Scott released the mixtape's second single, titled "Mamacita", which features guest appearances from Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug.

Critical reception

Days Before Rodeo was met with generally positive reviews from music critics and rave reviews from consumers. The mixtape has a user rating of 96% on HotNewHipHop. Jacob Roy from Thefourohfive' sums up critical response for this album "While some may feel he opts for style over substance, all the distorted baselines and 'straight up' ad-libs play a purpose and a role. Days Before Rodeo proves Travis does everything for a reason. When listening to the album each song plays a role and as a whole it makes for a incredibly engrossing experience. While his lyrically ability may be questioned, it doesn't really cross your mind when you are in awe of the piece that he has painted for you. He has a mission statement and he is going to stick by it. "We will understand it if they don't, we don't want they bullshit no more." It wouldn't be a stretch to say Travi$ Scott could be at the forefront for a new generation of hip-hop that have their eyes on the bigger picture."

Track listing

Sample credits