After months of ramming Utopia down our throats, through teasers, merch, handcuffed briefcases, and promises of record-breaking performances, Travis Scott’s fourth studio album has finally dropped and ngl it’s kind of mid. Even more than the album being average and way overhyped, almost all of the marketing plans Travis Scott’s team had been teasing seem to have fallen apart. From ugly album covers to cancelled trips to Egypt, here’s the rundown of what was maybe the most chaotic album rollout of all time.

Travis Scott really hasn’t had an easy time with Utopia’s release, and it’s probably because he set our standards for the album way too high. One of the most hyped up aspects was undoubtedly the exclusive live performance on top of the Pyramids of Giza. However, in maybe the least shocking news of 2023, the show that none of us could believe was actually allowed to go ahead was announced cancelled literally the day before it was meant to happen.

Since then there’s been rumours that the album’s debut performance will be hosted at the ashen ruins of Pompeii instead, an equally random destination, but to be honest we’re kind of feeling like Travis is flogging a dead horse. Maybe his “performance of the century” just isn’t meant to happen; at least the rest of Utopia’s rollout has gone seamlessly. Oh wait, it hasn’t.

Two days ago Travis took to Instagram to post some of the first images of Utopia’s many album covers ahead of its drop, and not even that went well. Comments from Travis’ fans under the first album cover he revealed said things like “Man I’m sorry but wtf are these”, “This gotta be the worst album cover ever” and “Album finna be good but these covers aint it 💀”, and the album covers that followed didn’t exactly get a better reception.

Following that mess, Utopia was finally released today after five years of bated breath from Travis Scott’s fans and we’ve gotta say, it’s not exactly what they’ve been waiting for. Despite featuring guest vocals from Drake, Playboi Carti, Sheck Wes, Beyoncé, 21 Savage, Yung Lean, Young Thug, Kid Cudi, Bad Bunny, Future, and SZA, and calling on a variety of record producers including WondaGurl, Ye, Allen Ritter, Wheezy, Pharrell, and Metro Boomin to name a few, the album’s still not blown Travis Scott’s fans away.

Comments on Travis’ Instagram about Utopia read things like “He really took 5 years for this wack album”, “Astroworld > Utopia”, “Should have kept the album to himself 🔥🔥🔥🔥”, and “Beyond mid respectfully”. But whether you loved Utopia or not, it’s here and Travis is not going to stop marketing it until he’s performed on top of at least one of the Seven Wonders of the World, so we’d better just get used to it.

More on Culted

See: Travis Scott’s on a mad one for Utopia’s release

See: How did Travis Scott get permission to perform on the Pyramids?