Travis Scott‘s 10-year-old mixtape, Days Before Rodeo, sold an astonishing 361,000 copies. Here’s why a decade-old mixtape is currently one of the best-selling releases of 2024.
Travis Scott’s cult-like fanbase is well-known throughout hip-hop, with their undying love and support at times landing them at the center of controversy. Scott’s relationship with his fans came under intense scrutiny following the deaths of 10 people at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in 2021. The deaths occurred following a crowd surge to see Scott perform, and conspiracy theories ran a muck on the internet, with some going so far as to say the deaths were part of a satanic ritual honoring Scott.
That’s obviously all fabricated, but the continued discussion surrounding Scott’s cabal of fans definitely has some truth to it considering how passionately they show up for their leader. This deep bond has been on display numerous times throughout Scott’s career. Whether it be related to the music or spending $400 for a McDonald’s chicken nugget pillow tied to the rapper’s partnership with the fast food franchise in 2020, La Flame fans always pull up and show love.
But that dedication all began with Days Before Rodeo. While it’s not Scott’s first mixtape, DBR was the first project to fully lock in the fanbase for the long haul. Scott’s buzz was already growing around 2013. Aided in part by serious songwriting and production credits with Ye, Jay-Z and other A-list powerhouses, La Flame had also begun to develop a reputation for uninhibited live shows. By the time Scott’s debut project, Owl Pharoah, arrived later that year, his first gaggle of supporters were fully indoctrinated thanks to some of Scott’s earliest bangers like “Upper Echelon,” “Uptown” “Quintana” and “Bandz.” When Days Before Rodeo dropped in August of 2014, the excitement around Scott’s brimming creative energy was at a boiling point.
DBR was met with immediate critical acclaim, in part for Scott’s unique fusion of southern hip-hop staples with dark, gothic energy. The resulting product connected immediately with downtrodden misunderstood kids in need of some relief. Anthemic songs like “Skyfall,” “Zombies” and “Drugs You Should Try It” compelled rebellious teens to rage for something different.
“We don’t want their bulls**t no more,” Travis urges kids to sing on “Zombies.”
But again, that was all 10 years ago. Considering the album has remained a quick YouTube search away since then, it’s still a shock that transitioning DBR to streaming services revived such an explosive love for the album. Nostalgia for the tape itself, of course, played a big role, but Scott also just knows how to market the hell out of a project.
When Scott announced that the tape would arrive on DSPs back in August, he also revealed the release would come with new bonus B-sides recorded during the album’s sessions. He then dropped the project on SoundCloud prior to its DSP arrival, and following the album’s release on Aug. 18, La Flame fanned the flames even more by dropping a music video to “Drugs You Should Try It.” Many Scott diehards consider “Drugs You Should Try It” to be one of the best songs in his entire catalog.
If that didn’t pump the fans up any harder, La Flame also released six deluxe editions of the album for sale on his website, which had exclusive bonus content from the DBR days, not to mention exclusive vinyl releases. Scott also teased a Days Before Rodeo tour during an intimate show in Atlanta on Aug. 25, though there are no details on that as of writing.
There was also a competitive aspect to the numbers, fueled by Sabrina Carpenter and her fans. The pop singer obviously emerged triumphant (just by a hair) with the No. 1 Billboard 200 slot, but previously Carpenter appeared to criticize Scott for unleashing so many album versions at once.
“This one’s for Nicki,” the singer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The tweet referred to when Nicki Minaj’s Queen went up against Scott’s Astroworld for the No. 1 spot in 2018. Nicki was bested by Astroworld thanks in part to a similar release strategy, and she went on her now-infamous rant about the “Auto-Tune man,” accusing him of gaming the system. Nicki showed love for Sabrina’s tweet.
So what does one get when all of these aspects come together? A seriously impactful first-week debut. Days Before Rodeo is now the fourth-largest debut this year and the biggest week for any rap album. The album itself sold 331,000 copies, marking 2024’s second biggest sales week, surpassed only by Taylor Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department.
Most importantly, what the numbers and ravenous fandom demonstrate is that Days Before Rodeo is a timeless record, that even amid all the newness of 2024, it can still pack a serious punch.
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Revisit Travis Scott’s Days Before Rodeo below.