The new Travis Scott documentary—produced by the man himself—was a great cinematic reflection of Scott’s progression as one of the most individualized and ingenious artists of our generation. The documentary highlights some of the most pivotal moments of his career and what he did to get to where he is today. Aside from minor production details that I personally would have liked to see, this new documentary did an amazing job connecting its audience to Scott’s personalized story. Through clips of his shows, interviews of his fans and highlights of his day-to-day experiences, it perfectly showcases the raw talent, hard work and dedication that fuels Scott’s creative vision.
A true teaching medium; as any documentary should be
Image from IMDb
This documentary is absent of any narration; it’s just multiple clips pieced together with a purpose to tell a story and characterize an artist. Although the scenes weren’t placed in chronological order, the film still walks you through an assortment of Scott’s career feats. While doing that, it also teaches you about Scott and his character through interactions with fans, family, and whoever he works with on any of his music. Another nice touch was including what most other documentaries do; input from people he’s worked with and interviews of fans talking about him. It’s always nice to get that outside perspective of fans and the colleagues who feel they are connected to him through his music.
Sprinkled throughout the documentary are short home videos from when Scott—whose birth name is Jaques Bermon Webster—was growing up. This gives the viewers a small glimpse into Scott’s upbringing and family life as a child. Scott was one of three producers of this film, and it’s pretty obvious that much of this documentary was sewn together with his taste and vision. The inclusion of these home videos does the work of a message of gratuity from Scott to his parents. After watching many scenes of Scott’s parents cheering him on and constantly expressing how proud they are, it’s easy to think that those were included as a type of “thank-you” to his parents, which is very heartwarming, looking back at that concept.
Both a sad and happy tear-jerker
The emotion in this documentary didn’t always stem from overwhelming happiness or amazement. My personal experience watching the scene of him losing what he wanted most at the Grammys resulted in absolute heartbreak even for me as a mere viewer. After seeing the dedication Scott put into his work, it was tough to watch his reaction to not getting the award of recognition for his album that he had poured every ounce of his heart and soul into. We all knew that he didn’t win the Grammy he wanted, but my respect for him as an artist only grew when I saw how he dealt with that pain and kept working toward a bigger picture.
Something that established my respect for Scott in the first place was his dedication to his craft; it goes beyond the song-writing process. As seen in scenes before and after his shows, it’s incredible how detail-orientated he is towards everything that reflects and enhances his music. He’s such a strong visionary and that resonates in every part of his work, even beyond the recorded tracks. The documentary features many videos of his shows and performances, and if you’ve ever seen him onstage live, you know just how much energy that puts off. Scott cares just as much about the delivery of his music, especially live, as the music itself.
The downfalls; if any
Image from IMDb
This documentary tugged on every one of my heartstrings in all the right ways, but one thing I really wish I could’ve seen was a bit more of a come-up story or more about his childhood. This film’s focal point lies mostly on Scott’s album, Astroworld, and other career accomplishments that happened around that period of time in his career. Though I enjoyed this it would have been awesome to see just a little more of how he got where he is today and what he did to work his way up to the top.
This documentary did the job of what all documentaries are supposed to do; it taught us all we need to know about an artist and what makes them special. But this documentary went above and beyond its job of simply teaching us about Travis Scott. The fact that it was produced by Scott himself shows; it was tailored to his taste and vision and you could tell that’s how he wanted to tell his story and invite the viewers into his world. It evoked emotion and gave us more insight to who he is as an artist and as established, branded, talented creator.
Images: IMDb
Featured Image: IMDb
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