If you stop someone on the street and ask them what they like about Travis Scott, they probably wouldn’t say, “lyrics.” In fact, when I tried it, people didn’t even answer the question; they tend to make a facial expression somewhere between fear and confusion, before telling me to please leave them alone.

I guess they’re not Travis fans. Anyhow, while La Flame isn’t a lyrical miracle spiritual individual, I feel like his lyrics serve their purpose in a way that few other artists can replicate. Travis’ lyrics may be simplistic, but isn’t that the point? He’s expressing the raw feeling of wildin’ out in a mosh pit, sleeping with models, and revelling in the excesses he earned through grinding.

Yes, this sums up every rapper and their mum in the past decade, yet Scott does this better than most. With that being said, here are Travis Scott’s top 10 best lyrics of all time (in my opinion):

10. “Pass this to my daughter, I’ma show her what it took, Baby mama cover Forbes, got these other bitches shook”

-SICKO MODE

We start at the end of arguably Travis’ biggest ever hit, Sicko Mode. To close out the song, Scott claims that he’s working hard to give his daughter a better life than he had- the good ol’ American Dream. As with all good bragadocious songs, the way he says it makes the listener feel as if they, too, have lots of success for their next generation to enjoy.

While Travis may not be on good terms with his baby mama anymore, it’s still a sick flex to be in that power couple. Again, most of us plebs can’t relate, but we all feel like we’re on top when listening to this song.

9. “Life is just a maze, going through my phases”

-HOUSTONFORNICATION

Here, Travis captures a sentiment we can all relate to. We’re all wandering through life, just trying to do our best. You can find this particular line in most white girls’ Instagram captions.

8. “Hot, on the block, you told 12 got the drop”

-Modern Slavery

Probably the most badass way of saying ‘snitches get stiches.’ For all you boomers out there, ‘hot on the block’ basically means that the police are coming. ’12’ also means the police, and ‘getting the drop’ in this context indicates that Travis just wasted some guy for being an informer. As a song, ‘Modern Slavery’ has some great melodies, but this line is particularly infectious.

7. “Oh no, I can’t fuck with y’all, When I’m with my squad I cannot do no wrong”

-Goosebumps

‘Goosebumps’ is by far my favourite Travis Scott song. The hook is so melancholy and flows perfectly over the eerie beat. Travis and Kendrick Lamar perfectly complement each other, bringing something unique to the track.

In this line, Travis expresses some sort of joy admist the despair of a toxic relationship which treats him the same way that crack treats an addict. He finds some solice amongst his friends, and doesn’t really want to deal with anybody’s bullshit right now. Again, I’m sure we’ve all been here before.

6. “Dealing with more shit that’s more complicated, like these two bitches that might be related”

-Antidote

Here, Travis proves that some people have better problems than others. Without getting into the ethics of this particular sexual fantasy, it’s quite a funny punchline in one of the best rap songs of Scott’s career.

5. “Stacking up day to day, Young nigga you know you gotta go get it, go get it my nigga”

-Antidote

Travis Scott essentially makes party music, and this line kicks off one of the hardest verses I’ve ever heard. Scott commands you to get that bag, and how can you say no when you hear this flow switch? There are many songs about getting money, but it’s raw lyrics like these that help put Travis in a league above the rest.

4. “Different colour chains, think my jeweller really selling fruit. And they chokin’ man, know the crackers wish it was a noose.”

-SICKO MODE

Travis Scott seems eager to brush on racial tensions in this song, later taking shots at prominent black conservative Stacey Dash (“Stacey Dash, most of these girls ain’t got a clue”). Here, he calls out racists so subtely that I didn’t even notice until someone pointed it out to me. Subtle social commentary in a trap rap ballad? That sounds good to me.

3. “Told you I don’t teach, Practice oh no never preach”

-ASTROTHUNDER

Travis is by no means the first rapper to tell you to move in silence, but here he echoes that message in a fairly unique way.

In fact, Travis seems to drop quite a few pearls of wisdom on this song. He also says “Why they tryna reach? I can’t even get that deep.” Here he seems to tell fans that his music is purely for enjoyment, which makes sense considering his songs are so heavily oriented around the production.

He’s telling people to take his music for what it is, instead of trying to read into simple lyrics and explain their meaning in a blog post.

Wait a minute…

2. “Was off the Remy, had a Papoose”

-SICKO MODE

I know, I know, I’ve quoted this song so many times, it’s not my fault it’s so good. In a lot of ways, ‘SICKO MODE’ is an ode to rap. There’s a Biggie Smalls sample, DJ Screw sample, and references to Florida rapper Uncle Luke.

However, this bar is particularly clever. Remy Martin is a drink, and a papoose is a child. Therefore, Travis is saying that he conceived his child while drunk. However, Remy Ma and Papoose are also a rap couple.

Travis is simultaneously oversharing his personal life and shouting out some rappers, and I’m absolutely here for it.

1. “I’m way too gold for this beef, feel like I’m Kobe”

-STARGAZING

With Travis Scott, wordplay is few and far between. When it comes, however, it’s lit (to use a Travis phrase).

I’ll let myself out.

Anyway, apart from being an excellent flex, this bar has two potential meanings. Firstly, it could mean that Travis is better than some petty argument, and the ‘gold’ refers to the colour of the LA Lakers, the basketball team for whom Kobe Bryant used to play. Alternatively, it could be referring to Kobe beef, which is literally covered in edible gold. Man, rich people are living in another century to us, aren’t they?

Alternatively alternatively, it could refer to both. For me, the fact that Travis Scott has a three-way pun is enough to make this his best bar of all time.

Anyway, what do you think of these lyrics? Do you think I’m right, or severely misguided? Have I missed any out? Let me know in the comments.

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