TRAVIS SCOTT AND STAR PERSONA

TOM BLACK AND JAMIE COOK

MUSIC VIDEOS

• ANTIDOTE- HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/KNZ8H3MRUYG

• IN ANTIDOTE, ONE OF SCOTT’S EARLIER SONGS IN 2015, IT’S EAR THAT HE WAS

TRYING TO CONSTRUCT A STAR PERSONA, AND MAKE HIS IMAGE

RECOGNIZABLE.

• HE CLEARLY WANTS TO CONSTRUCT A CHARACTER AND CONFORM TO THE

CONVENTIONS OF TRAP MUSIC, SUCH AS SMOKING WEED, HAVING BRAIDS AND

WEARING CHAINS.

• THIS VIDEO FEATURES A LOT OF SIMPLE, YET STYLISH MID AND LONG SHOTS OF

SCOTT, OFTEN LIP SYNCING, SO WE CAN BE PROPERLY INTRODUCED TO HIM.

MUSIC VIDEOS• GOOSEBUMPS- HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/DST9GZKQ1A8

• ONLY 2 YEARS LATER IN APRIL 2017, SCOTT RELEASED THE VIDEO FOR LEAD TRACK ‘GOOSEBUMPS’ FROM HIS SECOND ALBUM ‘BIRDS IN THE TRAP SING MCKNIGHT’.

• IN THIS VIDEO WE SAW A BIG SHIFT IN STYLE FROM ANTIDOTE, 2 YEARS PREVIOUSLY. SCOTT HAS CLEARLY CEMENTED HIS STAR PERSONA, AND MUCH LIKE OTHER AMERICAN TRAP STARS LIKE LIL PUMP AND LIL UZI VERT, HE HAS FOCUSED MORE ON IMAGERY WHILST STILL RETAINING HIS STAR PERSONA WITH SOME SHOTS OF HIMSELF.

• IN PARTICULAR, THE IMAGERY OF SCOTT HAVING WINGS ON HIS BACK IN SECTIONS OF THE VIDEO ENCAPSULATES THE WHOLE THEORY BEHIND HIS SECOND ALBUM, DIRECTLY CORRELATING TO THE IMAGE OF HIM WITH WINGS ON HIS BACK ON THE ALBUM COVER, SUGGESTING THAT HE IS A FALLEN ANGEL OF RAP MUSIC.

• AS WE LOOK DEEPER INTO ENCODING THE TEXT, LYRICS SUCH AS ‘BECAUSE WE FIND A PLACE, A PLACE YOU CANNOT STAY’, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE WILD AND WACKY IMAGERY SUGGESTS THAT THE WHOLE VIDEO IS ABOUT WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE ON MDMA.

SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE • DESPITE HAVING 5.6 MILLION INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS, SCOTT TENDS TO KEEP

HIS POSTS FAIRLY VAGUE, CREATING AN ENIGMA AROUND HIS PERSONALITY

• LOTS OF HIS INSTAGRAM POSTS ARE USED TO SHOWCASE HIS FASHION, AND

HOW HE HAS DONE MODELING FOR MAJOR COMPANIES LIKE GUCCI

LINKS TO THEORIES

• STEVE NEALE- REPETITION AND DIFFERENCE, THE SAME TRAP STYLE AS OTHER

ARTISTS, I.E. THE SEXUAL REFERENCES OF WOMEN IN MUSIC VIDEOS.

DIFFERENCE, DESPITE CONTROVERSIAL DRUG RELATED MUSIC VIDEOS, HE

CLAIMS HE DOES NOT DO ANY DRUGS.

• ANDREW GOODWIN- SCOTT’S MUSIC VIDEOS IMPLEMENT MOST OF GOODWIN’S

PRINCIPLES. LINKS BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS ARE VERY EVIDENT DUE TO

THE DRUG IMAGERY, AND DRUG RELATED LYRICAL CONTENT. WITHIN THE

GOOSEBUMPS VIDEO THERE IS PLENTY OF OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN. THE

ANTIDOTE VIDEO IS VERY MUCH PERFORMANCE BASED IN ESTABLISHING THE

CHARACTER OF SCOTT WHILST GOOSEBUMPS IS CONCEPT BASED, IMITATING

THE EXPERIENCE OF MDMA