Travis Scott is nearing the release of his first album in four years, and he is taking extra precautions to ensure that it doesn't escape, including literally handcuffing it to his muscular security guard.
Travis Scott was observed leaving a vinyl record store in Hollywood on Thursday, but he wasn't alone.
His guard held the door open for him while flashing a briefcase with the word "Utopia" written on it that was handcuffed to his own wrist. This isn't just a cool fashion statement; it's also an extremely creative marketing strategy, as a source informed TMZ. According to the source, the highly anticipated album is inside the said bag.
TMZ also said it has learned that Travis's return to music will be unveiled in its entirety this summer. The fact that Travis is donning shoes with "Utopia" on the back is a further indicator that he's up to something; we can only assume he's working with Nike again.
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Fans have been waiting almost five years for Travis to release new music, and as reported earlier this week, he performed "Utopia" for the Houston Astros prior to their game against the Chicago Cubs. And then, producer Mike Dean posted, then swiftly removed, a screenshot this week of his editing bay of what appears to be "Utopia," and The Weeknd, who was featured on 2018's "Astroworld," posted two lollipop emojis before the image was removed.
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Even AI knows people are highly anticipating a new album from Travis Scott.
Nearly a month ago, Vice reported that a 16-track "Travis Scott" album titled "UTOP-AI" was uploaded to YouTube and SoundCloud over the weekend. The album features vocals from prominent artists such as Drake, Baby Keem, and Playboi Carti.
Warner Music Group flagged the album for copyright infringement, and it was removed hours after being uploaded, but not before receiving approximately 17,000 YouTube plays and approximately 150,000 SoundCloud plays, according to Vice.
It took about a week to create the album, which included visuals, according to him. Warner Music Group and Travis Scott representatives did not respond promptly to Insider's requests for comment. The Discord server AI Hub has over 36,000 members and several channels that provide users with the means to implement vocal models based on artists such as Don Toliver, Frank Ocean, and Alicia Keys.
Some of the results are uploaded to the group's YouTube channel, including clips of Kanye West and The Weeknd covering Wu-Tang Clan and Tame Impala, respectively. In the past month, artificial intelligence-generated music has raised concerns regarding copyright violations and royalties.
Alexander Ross, a veteran music and copyright attorney, previously told Insider, "There are numerous grounds for infringement proceedings." Industry titans have already rung the alarm chimes in response to artificial intelligence (AI) music. Major publishers are understandably protective of the copyrighted material they own, and they are pressuring streaming services such as Spotify to monitor the content uploaded to their platforms.
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