Of all the heavyweights to come out of Texas since the new millennium, Travis Scott is easily one of the greatest. Though he initially gained attention with 2013’s Owl Pharoah, which included tracks like “Quintana” and “Hell of a Night,” subsequent projects like Days Before Rodeo and his debut album Rodeo have unquestionably cemented him as more than just another Ye protégé.
Even with frequent collaborations alongside Big Sean and Kid Cudi, Scott has surpassed his former G.O.O.D. Music peers in several respects. For example, the rapper's first Billboard 200 No. 1 came with Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight, and he has not fallen off since. Beyond his popular albums and dominance on the charts, the Cactus Jack Records founder has also struck gold in working with other artists. Some of his most memorable features include Drake’s “Portland,” SZA’s “Love Galore,” and Miguel’s “Sky Walker,” with the last-mentioned record being a slight departure from what many are used to hearing from the Houston phenomenon.
From Texas-flavored rap collaborations to R&B crossovers, Rap-Up compiled Scott’s 17 best features — in no particular order.
1. "Dark Knight Dummo" by Trippie Redd
Over eerie organ-like synths and booming bass, Trippie Redd’s “Dark Knight Dummo” showed Scott at his absolute best. The Houston rapper came through with bars about being otherworldly, pulling off vanishing acts like magician David Blaine and more — all in one show-stopping verse. Not to mention, fans were treated to the two artists fighting off hordes of axe-wielding zombies in the accompanying music video.
2. "The London" by Young Thug
When Young Thug and Scott share an instrumental, unpredictability is the name of the game, as evidenced by records like “pick up the phone” and “Maria I’m Drunk.” In 2019, the duo linked up with J. Cole for “The London,” a lead-up to the Atlanta rapper’s debut studio album, So Much Fun. While Hip Hop fans might argue that J. Cole, the most lyrical of the trio, stole the show, Scott brought just as much impact with his short and otherwise hypnotic chorus.
3 "Big Shot" by Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar completely skated on Scott’s “goosebumps” back in 2016 — now an 16X platinum RIAA-certified hit — so revisiting that chemistry on 2018’s Black Panther soundtrack felt inevitable. On “Big Shot,” the 33-year-old rapper paid homage to his hometown of Houston, saluted JAY-Z and Ye, and made a hilarious nod to Steve Harvey’s infamous 2015 Miss Universe mix-up.
4. "Sky Walker" by Miguel
Miguel’s “Sky Walker” is a perfect example of how well Scott fits on an up-tempo track. In fact, the record proved he is just as at home on feel-good jams as he is on the darker Hip Hop cuts fans came to love him for. Instead of going for the usual layered references, Scott surprisingly leaned into the breezy summer anthem — and it worked incredibly well. Not bad for a track that climbed to No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100.
5. "Love Galore" by SZA
SZA chemistry with the ASTROWORLD creator “is a gift that keeps on giving.” Most notably, “Love Galore” from Ctrl did not fail to live up to fans' expectations. In the ballad about heartbreak and recovery, the Top Dawg Entertainment songstress laid bare the aftermath of failed relationships while Scott countered with a blunt and puzzled male take, capturing the confusion many feel when exes resurface. “A** and titties, titties, only thing that stuck with, with me / Only thing that was real, only thing I could feel, you feel me? / So why you bother me, why you bother me?” he questioned.
6. "Celebrate" by DJ Khaled
Post Malone knows how to craft a feel-good anthem, as he proved with 2016’s “Congratulations.” He brought that same energy to DJ Khaled’s Father Of Ashad on “Celebrate,” a collaboration with Scott. As the title suggests, the song highlights life’s wins, even when things could have gone south. There admittedly are not many creatives who can rhyme Panamera with Tropicana and still make it sound as smooth as Scott did.
7. "Portland" by Drake
“Portland” serves as an ode to Scott’s “[favorite] place in America.” Featured on Drake’s More Life, the track feels like a throwback to Hip Hop's heyday, with the Canadian hitmaker bringing together big names like Quavo and Murda Beatz just for the fun of it. On the record, Scott delivered a humorous innuendo: “Out in Portland, trynna get in her organs."
8. "SAY MY GRACE" by Offset
Of the three Migos, it is hard to say which member Scott collaborates best with, but “SAY MY GRACE” certainly makes a strong argument for Offset. On the Vinylz-produced track, the “SICKO MODE” hitmaker fittingly pays tribute to the late Takeoff. Meanwhile, the visual companion, which they shot in Thailand, brought the track to life with mountains, museums and more.
9. "Praise God" by Ye
Ye’s Donda era was a strange but rewarding time for Hip Hop fans. Among the brighter moments, the 27-song offering brought about reunions with longtime collaborators like JAY-Z, Kid Cudi and Scott, who joined Baby Keem on “Praise God.” For once, the student outshined the teacher, with the “FE!N” artist fashionably likening himself to Michael Jordan. He also dropped off bars that felt right at home with Ye’s Christian-tinged album: “Tell me take two when I'm on one / That lookout like no one / Kept it real tight like your son.”
10. "CHopstix" by ScHoolboy Q
ScHoolboy’s fifth studio album, CrasHTalk, is undoubtedly his most commercial effort. Scott cleverly used chopsticks as a metaphor for a woman’s legs while ScHoolboy Q dished out bars like, “I got 25 rolled up on my dresser / 25 bad ones in the function, can I stretch 'em?” Though TDE’s roster is not necessarily known for putting numbers up on the board, the track narrowly made its way onto the Hot 100 at No. 85.
11. "Type S**t" by Future and Metro Boomin
Aside from “Like That,” which was largely powered by Lamar’s explosive verse, “Type S**t” is one of the few records that carried Future and Metro Boomin’s WE DON’T TRUST YOU. Playboi Carti and Scott — two of Hip Hop’s most in-demand acts — coming together on the final two verses helped push the album’s needle even further. Of course, there is also the fact that the trio punctuated nearly every bar with “type s**t.”
12. "Lithuania" by Big Sean
Big Sean and Scott are a severely underrated duo. The two previously united on “Don’t Play” and “Go Legend,” but something about “Lithuania” set it apart from previous joint efforts. Maybe it is Hit-Boy’s production or the Mulholland Drive reference, but the Detroit heavyweight’s lyrical prowess against the Grammy-nominated rapper’s atmospheric ad-libs felt like pure magic on 2020’s Detroit 2.
13. "Turks" by NAV
"Turks" marked the third collaboration between NAV and Scott, with the first two, “YOSEMITE” and “beibs in the trap,” being surefire cuts on the latter act’s earlier albums. Unsurprisingly, the lead single from the Canadian producer-rapper’s Good Intentions is also his highest-charting as a lead artist to date. Though it may have been incredibly easy to get overshadowed by Gunna and NAV’s star power, Scott swooped through with a few lines about his first trip in Turks and Caicos: “Had a whole bunch of work / Had to bring two jets, had a whole lot of babes.”
14. "You" by Don Toliver
“Before I break up out this place, take an eighth and levitate / A lil' brown-skin hurricane, a bae-bae, bring the wave,” Scott spat on Don Toliver’s “You.” The surefire cut from the Cactus Jack signee’s sophomore album, Life of a DON, served as a slight departure from what fans typically expect from both artists, but it surprisingly worked. Scott can sound untethered at times, but Toliver’s love-soaked melodies momentarily bring him back down.
15. "White Sand" by Migos
Culture II is home to some of Migos’ biggest hits: “Walk It Talk It,” “Stir Fry,” “MotorSport,” and even the Scott-bolstered “White Sand.” The posse cut, which also featured Big Sean and Ty Dolla Sign, unfortunately, did not make room for the father of two to have his own verse. However, Scott still managed to squeeze a Danny Phantom nod in the chorus. Given how busy 2018 was for Hip Hop, No. 64 on the Hot 100 chart seemed like a well-deserved win for the group.
16. "Ghostface Killers" by 21 Savage, Offset and Metro Boomin
21 Savage, Offset and Metro Boomin’s Without Warning was not on anyone’s bingo card for 2017, as the title suggests, but they opened the album with a bang. “Ghostface Killers” saw Scott laying down references to “Magic City,” a familiar mention of Tom Cruise and his widely talked-about Adidas diss: “Nike boys, we don't do three stripes / I'm living for my niggas that do life.”
17. "Fish N Grits" by Wale
"Fish N Grits" feels like it was pulled straight from the chart-topping artist’s Rodeo era, which makes sense since the song was recorded not long after its release. Oddly enough, the track landed on Wale’s Shine two years later. The duo traded lines back and forth like a game of ping-pong, with Scott dropping references to Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield’s ear and Emmett Till. Also, it would not exactly be a Scott record without the Texas tributes — Bun B and Pimp C both got shout-outs on the three-minute offering.