None of this was promised for Travis Scott — from couch surfing in Los Angeles with rap dreams, to becoming the king of his hip-hop generation, with brand deals from Audemars Piguet to McDonald’s.
While he can look back on his 2014 fondly, there were definitely pockets of creative frustration at the time, when label executives didn’t trust La Flame’s futuristic vision — even after co-signs from the likes of Ye and Jay-Z.
Before the arrival of his debut album, Scott heated up with his second — and likely final — mixtape Days Before Rodeo. With the project celebrating its 10th anniversary earlier this week, and hitting streaming services for the first time, Trav took fans back to 2014 for one night only on Thursday (Aug. 22) inside the tight confines of Atlanta’s The Masquerade.
In collaboration with Cactus Jack and Spotify, the Days Before Rodeo concert served as a victory lap and blast from the past for La Flame, while some Gen-Z Ragers were introduced to the era. At the time, the music world didn’t understand the seismic shift that was about to take place between Scott’s mainstream explosion on the horizon, and Atlanta moving into the spotlight as America’s rap capital.
Fittingly, with Scott signed in part to T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records at the time (the deal has since expired, post-Astroworld), ATL heavily influenced the mixtape — with guest appearances by Migos, Young Thug, Peewee Longway, Rich Homie Quan and Tip (who doesn’t appear on the streaming services version).
The Houston native took The Masquerade stage around 11:30 pm ET following a brief set from Chase B where he was serenaded by the 1,000 lucky fans in attendance who formed plenty of sweaty mosh pits throughout the raucous show while rocking 10th anniversary DBR and Free Thugger merchandise in the intimate setting.
From the reckless “Mamacita” to the lucid “Drugs You Should Try It” and a Quavo appearance, Scott ran through just about the entire mixtape, before introducing tracks from the vault that didn’t make the original’s cut for the first time live.
If only the palpable energy could be bottled up forever — Trav didn’t want the show to stop there, as he continued to play the hits from his relentless discography to keep the rage going. Salute to La Flame for remembering all of his lyrics with ease too. Here are our eight favorite moments from the show.
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Travis Gifts Fan Nikes Off His Feet
A few fans had the chance to go on stage with their hero and then dive off into the ocean of people, but one fan was lucky enough to receive Scott’s unreleased Nike Sharkidon’s straight off his feet. La Flame proceeded to perform the rest of the night in a pair of Nike socks.
He also saved a few overzealous fans from being tossed by security in the front row when instructing them to leave the kids alone so they could continue to rage and enjoy the rest of the show.
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Deluxe Tracks From the Vault Receive Live Debut
Travis headed to the vault to add five previously unreleased tracks to the Days Before Rodeo deluxe edition, which can be digitally purchased on his website for $4.99. “Mo City Flexologist” was the first to be performed in its live debut as some might recall Scott teasing the Honorable C.N.O.T.E.-produced track in the mid 2010s. Others making the cut include “Yeah, Yeah” with Thugger, the Hit-Boy-produced “Whole Lots Changes,” “Serenade” and “Too Many Chances,” which closed out the night.
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Teases Full ‘Days Before Rodeo’ Tour
Just prior to nearly blowing the roof off of The Masquerade with “Mamacita,” Scott teased doing an entire tour dedicated to Days Before Rodeo. “I might have to do a whole tour of this. These the best songs on the planet,” he declared.
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“Free Thugger”
Young Thug might still be behind bars, but his spirit was alive and well inside The Masquerade. “Nah, this the hardest verse ever,” Scott proclaimed while performing Thugger’s syrupy “Skyfall” verse in his place. Scott teamed up with Cactus Flea Market for a limited amount of Free Thugger hoodies which quickly sold-out Thursday night at the venue.
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Fan-Favorites “Mamacita” & “Drugs You Should Try It” Prove to Be Timeless
Anthems like “Mamacita,” “Don’t Play” and the intoxicating fan-favorite “Drugs You Should Try It” aged like fine wine a decade later. They received the loudest pop from the frisky crowd of all the Days Before Rodeo cuts. There’s DNA in the aforementioned tracks that a line can be drawn to inside La Flame’s world-building artistry to this day. Hopefully, Trav throws a few more DBR cuts back into rotation as regulars in his set list going forward.
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Travis Plays the Hits for Show’s Second Act
Travis didn’t want this night to end — and neither did the raucous fans. So even after the DBR setlist was slated to conclude, La Flame brought forth a second act and instructed Chase B behind the boards to keep the energetic pace up. Scott then ran through a range of hits like “FE!N,” “Butterfly Effect,” “Upper Echelon,” “No Bystanders” and more from his dazzling psychedelic-infused discography.
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Virgil Abloh Tribute
La Flame made sure to pay homage to the late Virgil Abloh, who passed away from cardiac angiosarcom in November 2021, by sharing a few words during the show about the trailblazing designer. He also brought back the neon-lit smoking cowboy sign from the Rodeo Tour stage design.
“I’m not gonna lie, this is real special for me right now. We got my boy Virgil in the building. Make some noise for my boy Virgil in this,” he said. “He’s forever with us, you dig?”
Scott then reflected on his creative process when putting DBR together a decade ago. “I remember I worked on this album out here, I drove like a sprinter van,” he continued. “Me and Bizzy, We came down to the A. I was working on this album and I told myself I’m gonna do this album fast and I want to put it out quick. And I wasn’t able to put it out officially, but I was like, ‘Yo, I gotta just get this out to the world.’ So shoutout to all the day ones that’s in this motherf–ker right now, ya dig!”
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Quavo Pops Out for “Sloppy Toppy”
With Quavo and Travis running around together in recent weeks, it’s only right Huncho made an appearance in his hometown to perform his slippery verse on “Sloppy Toppy.” The Huncho Jack combo still has that seamless chemistry on stage, and the only thing missing was appearances from Offset for a Migos reunion and the reclusive Peewee Longway.
