- The transitions are so good!
- When I was watching this part, I was more worried about
how Kylie was okay with him being up on another girl.
♪ (industrial intro) ♪
- ♪ Yeah ♪ - I knew it! Yess!
- Oh, is this "SICKO MODE"? Ooh.
- I've never heard this before. - Ohhh! Drake! Okay.
- I don't usually listen to rap, but this has been on repeat
since it dropped. - ♪ ...for a Louis belt ♪
♪ That's just all he know, he don't know nothin' else ♪
♪ I tried to show him ♪ - I have a lot of thoughts
about this video. When I first saw it,
it had me trippin' balls.
- Oh, okay. - ♪ Yeah ♪
- That's a really cool shot.
- He's really repping the whole Houston vibe here.
I have a lot of friends in Houston, so this is a big shoutout to them.
- ♪ Gone on you with the pick and roll ♪
- And then this is when the beat changes.
♪ (tempo and beat slows) ♪ - What's happenin'?
- What's happening? Is this one song?
Oh, that was a complete change of beat.
- Ohhh! Oh, this is the-- from "Astroworld"!
- ♪ When they pull up, they get me loose, yeah ♪
- "SICKO MODE." Travis Scott comes through.
- (whispers) Is it Travis Scott?
Yeah, I know. See? Pop culture. Got it.
- Okay, is this a collaboration? - ♪ Was off the Remy, had a Papoose ♪
♪ Had to hit my old town to duck the news ♪
- Damn! Okay, this video is so cool.
- ♪ Now it's 4 a.m. and I'm back up poppin' with the crew ♪
♪ I just landed in... ♪ - There's so much to pay attention to
in this video. - It's trippy, but I like it.
I'm into it, 'cause I like the beginning,
where there was primary colors. It was just really colorful.
Oh, there's a noose.
- (deep, distorted voice) Win the retreat. We all in...
- Oh, [bleep]. - (deep, distorted voice) We all
in too deep. - Dude, this is a really
beautifully shot music video. And I'm aware I said that
when there were a bunch of naked girls,
but I meant the music video in general.
- ♪ Y'all know I don't follow suit ♪ ♪ Stacey Dash, most of these girls
ain't got a clue ♪ - He's a great artist.
I feel like the only reason why it's so much right now
is because of the whole beef that he had with Nicki Minaj,
outselling her album and everything.
- I know the beef with Nicki Minaj was so tough on this,
'cause he was like-- she was like, "Yeah,
but he's selling merch, and he's selling this."
And it, like-- it's not only about the music anymore.
It's all about all these other factors that go into who's the best
or bigger selling artist.
- (sighs) I need to get "Astroworld" merch.
- ♪ 'Bout to turn this function to Bonnaroo ♪
♪ Told her, "Hop in, you comin' too" ♪
♪ In the 305, bitches treat me like I'm Uncle Luke ♪
- ♪ Don't stop, pop that [bleep] ♪ - ♪ Had to slop the top off,
it's just a roof ♪ - [Bleep]. That's pretty.
- I think "Astroworld," honestly, one of the best albums of the year.
- ♪ It's just the pool ♪ ♪ Now I got her open,
it's just the Goose ♪ - I have no idea what's going on,
but I like the music video. It's pretty cool. (chuckles)
- When I was watching this part, I was more worried
about how Kylie was okay with him being up on another girl.
- ♪ Someone said ♪ - (deep, distorted voice) Playin',
playin' for keeps ♪ - Damn. This is so creative.
- (deep, distorted voice) Don't play 'em for weak.
("weak" echoes) - Dude. I love music videos
that are like, "Let's give our entire budget to a post department
and just see what they do." - I feel like Travis was like,
"Put every [bleep] after effect on this video."
♪ (moves into eerie music) ♪ - The transitions are so good!
- This is a thing. It's like to switch the tempo,
beat, and everything throughout the song like they did.
It's just like, "Damn. That was a great collaboration."
- (raps along) ♪ She's in love with who I am ♪
- ♪ Back in high school, I used to bust into the dance ♪
- The thing is, when Drake is on a song,
is it his song now or is it Travis Scott's song?
- ♪ Had me out like a light, ayy, yeah ♪
- (raps along) ♪ Like a light ♪ This is the best part. (laughs)
This is the best part. - ♪ Knocked for the night,
ayy, 767, man ♪
♪ This [bleep] got double bedroom, man ♪
♪ I still got scores to settle, man ♪ ♪ I crept down... ♪
- It sounds like two different songs, and that's amazing.
- I like how they all have a different theme to it, I guess.
- It'll connect at one point.
I have belief it'll connect at one point.
- ♪ Baguettes in my ice ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ... ♪
- Oh, that's so sick! - ♪ That's what I like ♪
♪ That's what we like ♪ ♪ Lost my respect... ♪
- The dynamic they both possess, though, Drake and Travis Scott,
kind of really works well together.
- ♪...like I'm Sheck ♪ ♪ See the shots that I took ♪
♪ Wet like I'm Book ♪ - Oh, okay, okay!
They're together! (claps) It happened.
- ♪ I be spinnin' Valley ♪ ♪ Circle blocks till... ♪
- This is so awesome. - Oh, that's so cool!
- ♪ No one seen him ♪ ♪ I'm tryna clean 'em ♪
- You have to dance to this song. You have to.
- ♪ Back in high school, I used to bust into the dance ♪
♪ Now I hit the FBO with duffles in my hands ♪
- ♪ Woo ♪ - ♪ I did half a Xan,
13 hours till I land ♪ - This is probably
the coolest shot, honestly.
- Oh, bringing back the Moth memes. - Professor Scott.
- I still don't know what all this means. (chuckles)
- ♪ It's absolute ♪ - ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ I'm back, reboot ♪ - ♪ It's lit ♪
- (chuckles) I like how literally they take their lyrics.
"It's lit!" And then literally, in light bulbs.
- ♪ Yeah, shorty in the back ♪ ♪ She says she workin' on her glutes ♪
- ♪ Oh my god! ♪ - ♪ Ain't by the book, yeah ♪
♪ This how it look, yeah ♪ - It's really artistic,
and it's creative. - It's not my taste,
so I wouldn't really listen to it. But, I mean, it seems really cool.
It seems like a cool collaboration.
- I don't think there's a more hype artist right now
than Travis Scott. ♪ (slow beat) ♪
- Damn. Dave Meyers. (claps) Can we get a shoutout to Dave Meyers?
I mean, yes, Travis Scott and Drake killed it on this,
but Dave Meyers is a hero. This music video was great.
- He used the city of Houston like an art canvas
and just did everything he wanted to. It was really cool.
- (FBE) So, that was the song "SICKO MODE" from Travis Scott's
newest album, "Astroworld." - Yes. I have heard it many times.
It's saved on my Spotify playlist.
- (FBE) The track has quickly become the standout from his 17-track album,
with the song peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart,
the highest in his career, not counting songs
that he's been featured on with other artists.
What do you think it is about the song
that has stood out most with his fans and the general public?
- Well, I think any Drake collaboration
is automatically gonna push you up like 17 numbers on the charts.
Also, it was a really cool music video and it's a good song.
- It is a typical rap song, but the beat change,
where, throughout the song, it has multiple shifts with the rhythm
and the style is what makes it different.
- The beat changes are really sick. It's like four different songs in one.
It's an homage to Houston, and they're very supportive of him.
And in the music video, it just went (poof), next level.
- (FBE) So, the name of his album, "Astroworld," comes from
the closed down theme park "Six Flags: Astroworld"
once located in his hometown of Houston Texas.
"SICKO MODE" features abrupt beat changes
with some thinking this a play on an amusement park theme
and that these beat changes represent the sudden twists
and turns of a roller coaster.
- That's so cool. I really hope it is
something cool like that, 'cause it's just really fun
when artists can put in their own Easter eggs,
and it's actually something really meaningful to them.
- (FBE) Did you get that feeling at all while listening to the song?
- I feel like the music video kind of gave you the vertigo feeling
when you're going down, as, like, the whoosh in the stomach.
I don't know if the song itself really made me feel that way.
- I noticed when it would glitch out on screen, the mood would change,
and it would be a different setting, and then the song would be different.
And the fact that it was just so abrupt
and it still flowed, that's what I like the most about it.
- Each section of the song had a different visual theme
that accompanied it, you know? So, all of it together,
I think worked really well to kind of make you feel
you were entering different realms almost,
you know, with each part of the song.
- (FBE) So, Travis kicked off the album release of "Astroworld"
by putting out new merch every 24 hours for nine days.
Each piece of merch came with a digital copy of his album,
which, in turn, counted as an album sale.
The album debuted at the number one spot
on the Billboard 200.
But several criticized the album's spot
for using merch sales as album sales.
What do you think of this new-ish strategy?
And do you think that this is the new way to sell music
in this day and age? Or is it kind of cheating the system,
since people are buying merch versus just buying the music?
- No, do it. Are you kidding? As a fan, if we can get that merch
and that music, that's the best thing ever.
- Merch is one thing. Music is another.
They're two different worlds. Combining them,
I think that's just taking advantage.
- Nowadays, it's really hard to get album sales
because of streaming services. So, at this point,
you kinda have to do what you have to do.
- It's definitely not fair to other artists
who are just selling albums and not merch.
But people don't buy albums anymore. So, for artists to, like--
for people to actually buy a physical album,
they have to have another incentive, which is, like, exclusive merch.
- (FBE) There's been some debate about how people view Travis Scott.
To some, he's known primarily as the father to Kylie Jenner's baby.
- Oh! That's who he is. Okay. (laughs)
Okay, I think I know a little more now.
- (FBE) While many fans appreciate Scott's music,
he does have some critics that see him as more
of a curator than a creator, an artist that has a gift
for corralling the best and sometimes newest talent
to serve his music vision, but not as great
when it comes to his own solo material.
- (tsks and sighs) Go listen to "Rodeo," man.
- (FBE) So finally, how do you and your peers
view Travis Scott in general? - I think a lot of people really,
in my generation at least, really liked "Astroworld."
So, for sure, I feel like a lot of people
in my generation see Travis Scott as an artist.
And I don't think we have this weird distaste
for featuring other artists in it, 'cause it's so much more
of a creative collaboration than it is, "I can't do it on my own,
so let me bring in someone else!"
- You kind of forget that he can do his own music,
because when you think of Travis Scott,
you usually think, "Oh, such and such featuring Travis Scott."
Or if he does have something, there's a bigger feature on there,
so it's, like, you kind of focus on them. You forget it's him.
- My friends that really love rap music and that style
will be like, "Yeah, Travis Scott. Let's listen to him.
Let's put on his album." And then there are other people
that are just like, pop culture, Twitter, reality show,
where it's like, "Oh yeah, Travis Scott.
I read about him on TMZ." He's kind of both at the moment.
And that's-- it's helping his rap career.
- I've been checking out Travis for a long time.
And I'm sure he was releasing more music before,
but, I mean, from then to now, he's progressed a lot
in terms of his-- the features that he's had,
you know, the amount of success he's been able to garnish.
It's just-- it's interesting to see where he's gonna go from here,
so, you know, I'm all on board.
- Thanks for watching this sick episode
of College Kids React. And shoutout to Samantha Perez.
- Subscribe and hit the bell if you're a sicko.
- Let us know in the comments what other music videos
we should react to. And shoutout to Bella B3.
- Straight up! - Hey, guys. Ethan here from FBE.
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