Music over academics, Travis finds his calling

Had he followed the wishes of his parents, Jacques Webster could have gained a degree from the University of Texas and now be earning good money from a solid job. Despite academic brilliance which saw him graduate high school a year early, his heart lay in music rather than higher education.
“I was sitting in a class at Texas looking at a professor who was trying to teach me stuff I didn’t want to hear. All I could think of was I wanted to be a rapper and producer. I wanted to rock crowds and entertain. I didn’t want a desk job and a boss.”
The then 19-year-old Jacques dropped out of college, became Travis Scott and started along a road which now, five years later, has seen him top the Billboard 200 with his sophomore album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight.
“I’d been making music since I was a kid. It runs in my family. My grandfather has a master’s in music composition. He was a jazz composer. My dad runs his own business but he was a drummer and played piano. He gave me a drum kit when I was three. I also played piano but gave that up in my teens because I wasn’t getting any girls as a pianist.
“I started making beats when I was 16 and got really serious about it at 17. I was in a duo with my friend Chris Holloway. We called ourselves The Graduates. I was making beats and writing hooks but I knew I had to get a lot better. I was also in another duo with OG Chess called The Classmates. I put stuff online in both of those groups.”
Having decided to forge a career in music, his first task was to convince his parents that he was still at university.
“My dad was particularly down on my music. He loves R&B and doesn’t appreciate rap. I’d be making a beat and he’d come into my room and turn off the power. I actually got into fist fights with him over this kind of thing. He didn’t want me to do music and he was sabotaging my efforts to create beats.
“When I made the decision to quit college, I told my mom I needed money for stuff like books and a new computer. I spent it on going to New York. I stayed with my homie Mike Waxx and started recording tracks. My parents only discovered I wasn’t still at Texas when they tried to pay me a surprise visit. They weren’t happy about what I was doing and stopped giving me money.”
By this time, Travis had left New York and was in Los Angeles.
“Things hadn’t really worked out in New York so I tried my luck on the west coast. I was recording and putting stuff online but I depended on the money I got from my parents. I went back home to Houston to try to put things right, but my parents said I wasn’t going to make it in music and I was going to be a bum.”
They could hardly have been more wrong. When Travis returned to Los Angeles, he had 14 messages from rap star T.I.
“He’d heard stuff I’d put online. He wanted to meet me and give me support. It was slow at first but things started to happen. I put out a video for my track, Lights (Love Sick). I got attention from bloggers, sold some beats and then got a phone call from one of Kanye West’s people saying the man wanted to meet me.”
Since his fruitful meeting with Kanye, Travis has worked almost non-stop on his own music or that of other artistes. His numerous guest appearances include contributions to songs by artistes such as Meek Mill, Jay-Z, Tinashe, Wiz Khalifa and Justin Bieber. Those who have collaborated with Travis on his own songs include T.I., 2 Chainz, The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar and, of course, Kanye West.
A pair of critically acclaimed mixtapes, Owl Pharaoh and Days Before Rodeo, preceded the release of his 2015 debut album, Rodeo. It topped the Rap Albums chart and reached number three on the Billboard 200.
Exactly 52 weeks later, his latest LP hit number one on the R&B / Hip Hop Albums chart, Rap Albums chart and Billboard 200. Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight also gave Travis his first top 20 album in Britain.
“Some people criticise me for having no big hit singles. I’m not bothered about that. I regard myself as an albums artiste. I want to build a saga of work and I’m just beginning. But the thing I’m most pleased about is proving my parents wrong and making them proud of me. My dad still doesn’t like most of my music, but he knows I haven’t become a bum.”

IN BRIEF
Skepta

There was a surprise winner of the 2016 Mercury Prize.
The late David Bowie had been a heavy favourite with UK bookmakers to win for his album, Blackstar, which was issued just two days before his death. But it was grime artist Skepta who took the prestigious award and 25,000 GBP prize money for his album, Konnichiwa.
The critically acclaimed LP is by far the biggest hit of Skepta’s 13-year career. It peaked at number two in Britain and became his first album to reach significant mainstream chart positions in many countries throughout the world.
In a generous acceptance speech, 34-year-old Skepta, real name Joseph Junior Adenuga, thanked his parents and his friends’ parents for keeping him in line as he was growing up. He also paid glowing tributes to David Bowie and Amy Winehouse.
Konnichiwa can be heard in full at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4n_8EK3ig&list=PLunvTj1RWeSmQekz20ILkefT8LeD0rEYJ.

Tallia Storm

Ron Howard’s documentary, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, premiered to critical acclaim in Liverpool the night before a star-studded opening in London. The London gala was attended by numerous A-list celebrities but it was a largely unknown 17-year-old Scottish singer named Tallia Storm whose picture graced most of the papers.
Tallia arrived in what appeared to be a rather fetching ankle-length black dress. But when the photographers started snapping, she opened her dress to reveal it was slashed to the waist and showed off a pair of shapely legs in all their glory. Needless to say, this was the photo which accompanied newspaper and magazine pieces on the event.
Many observers probably wonder how an artiste with one unsuccessful single to her name could be invited to such a prestigious occasion. Her father, Sascha Hartmann, is a film director while her mother, Tessa, owns a PR company. These connections have led to Tallia performing at or attending many high-profile gatherings which would normally be way beyond the reach of an artiste of her standing.
But everyone needs a break in whatever form of endeavour they pursue. Tallia should not be criticised for taking advantage of any help from her influential parents. The only questions should concern the quality of her music. Judge for yourself by checking out her songs at (no www.) soundcloud.com/tallia-storm.
The video for her single, #Social Security, is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1MV6c7gIyY.

Lloyd Banks

Lloyd Banks has finally released the long-awaited second installment in his All Or Nothing series of mixtapes.
All Or Nothing: Failure’s No Option was issued a month short of three years ago. Critically acclaimed and hugely popular, Lloyd perfoms alone on most of the 16 tracks. Guest artists appear on just four songs. These were Raekwon, Mr. Probz, Styles P and Vado.
The new mixtape, All Or Nothing: Live It Up, boasts 15 tracks. Again, just four songs feature guest artists. Prodigy and Vado accompany Lloyd on one track while Styles P, Joe Budden and Lloyd’s G-Unit colleague, Tony Yayo, are the other collaborators.
The mixtape can be heard and downloaded for free at www.datpiff.com/Lloyd-Banks-All-Or-Nothin-Live-It-Up-mixtape.799701.html. Despite Nothing being in the title, it is Nothin in the datpiff URL.
If you enjoy Loyd’s music, the first All Or Nothing mixtape is also still available to hear and download for free. It can be found at www.datpiff.com/Lloyd-Banks-FNO-Failures-No-Option-mixtape.445238.html.