During the 2024 Grammies, Travis Scott’s new album, Utopia, was successful and fans expected it to win a Grammy for Rap Album of the Year. However, an artist named Killer Mike won the award for Rap Album of the Year for his album simply named Micheal. He also won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, with his song “Scientists and Engineers.” Many people in the rap community were upset that Travis Scott had not won a Grammy. After not winning a Grammy for his previous album, Astroworld, many fans believed that this time he deserved to win. Many social media users claimed to have never heard of Killer Mike before, and never heard of any of his hit songs.
Killer Mike, otherwise known as Micheal Render, was born April 20, 1975, on the west side of Atlanta. His rap career began in high school, where he competed in local rap battles. In these rap battles, he began to use his name, Killer Mike. In college, Mike and some of his friends bought some recording equipment and eventually made a mixtape that got passed around the local music scene.
Rapper Cee-Lo Green heard his tape and was extremely impressed. Cee-Lo introduced Mike to his production team, the Beat Bullies and Big Boi from Outkast. His first debut was a feature on the Outkast song “Snappin and Trappin.” He was also featured on the 2001 single “The Whole World”, which had won a Grammy. After all these features, he released his own album, Monster, which peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200. Ever since then he has released 13 other albums, including Run the Jewels 2 and Bangx3. His most recent album, Micheal, tells the story of a young boy living with his aunt who has a drug addiction. This album was ranked very highly, receiving a 4.5 out of 5 on the Hip Hop Dx website.
Scott Mescudi was born in Houston on April 30, 1991. His father and grandfather were both musicians, which inspired him to start a career in the music industry. His Rapper name, Travis Scott, was derived from his name and his uncle’s. He began his journey with his longtime friend, Chris Holloway, known as the The Graduates. In 2008 the two young rappers released their first EP on MySpace. Later, Scott made his own mixtape named Owl Pharaoh. This track was very successful and helped to start his career. Ever since, Travis has made six studio albums, including Birds in the Trap, Astroworld, and of course UTOPIA. He is most known for Astrowold, as it contains the hit “SICKO MODE” which blew up in 2018. Also, Travis Scott held a concert for Astroworld in the popular video game Fortnite. His newest album, Utopia, had received a 4.1 out of 5 on google reviews. It contains his third most popular song, MY EYES, which became a popular used song on TikTok. The album itself has hidden themes of temptations, Travis’ fear of being used for entertainment, and self prioritization. It emphasizes listeners to find their own utopia in life, to find peace.
Overall, these two artists both have amazing qualities when it comes to rapping. Though they both have many different styles and flows, they also have deep meanings that take some understanding of the lyrics. What are your thoughts? Answer the poll attached to the end of the article to give your opinion.
