Three of the most notable artists in music at the moment came together on one song. Releasing “K-POP” at midnight ET on July 21, Travis Scott welcomed Bad Bunny and The Weeknd onto the single that serves as a pre-cursor to his long-awaited studio album, Utopia.
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Produced by seasoned veteran instrumentalists like Boi-1da and Jahaan Sweet, as well as rising star newcomer BNYX, “K-POP” is a light, sensual dance track that finds a way to cater to all three of the aforementioned mainstream titans’ styles. Whether it be lyrical remarks like Scott’s Behind the tint, I sin, I vent, Bad Bunny’s Dale, no pierdas tiempo, no lo piense’, trépate (which translates to “Come on, don’t waste time, don’t think about it, climb on”), or The Weeknd’s Mix the drugs with the pain, each artist on the song offers a subdued crooning that goes over the production harmoniously.
Scott first premiered “K-POP” on iHeartRadio, alongside his longtime producer and DJ Chase B, as the two were seen taking over the studio at iHeart’s headquarters. After the song played, Scott gave an interesting remark, which now leaves fans wondering whether or not the song will end up as a Utopia track.
“That’s ‘K-POP,’ featuring my homie Abe and Benito, The Weeknd, and Bad Bunny,” he said. “A good time, right there, just to open the gates of Utopia before we get to the rawness.”
Leaving “K-POP” off Utopia would not be a new tactic for Scott, as he followed a similar procedure for his prior studio album, Astroworld (2018). Three months before the LP’s release, he put out “Watch” with Kanye West and Lil Uzi Vert, which was believed to be a promotional single for Astroworld. However, it did not make the final track list.
But, a three-month difference between “K-POP” and Utopia is highly unlikely, as most signs up to now have pointed to a July 28 release date for Scott’s fourth album. Regardless, July 21 still saw Scott reveal a fascinating tidbit about the entire Utopia rollout and execution. When releasing the song’s music video Friday morning, which sees Scott, Bad Bunny, and The Weeknd all congregate inside a soccer stadium with dirt bike riders in their midst, Scott had the words “STADIUM TOUR REHEARSAL” written on all the electronic banners in the arena.
While Scott has not officially announced a nationwide or international tour yet, it seems likely he could embark on a massive road trip to support his album, considering he has not toured since before the COVID-19 pandemic and has sparsely played shows following the Astroworld Festival tragedy.
Ultimately, instead of dumping a mass of information onto his fans, Scott is peeling back Utopia layer by layer, steadily letting fans’ excitement boil up before the full album finally arrives (hopefully next week).
Watch the “K-POP” music video below.
Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images
