In the middle of the day Thursday (May 18), legendary hip-hop producer and mixing engineer Mike Dean posted-then-deleted an Instagram photo showing him mastering a song using production software on his computer. The caption of the post read “‘TOPIA,” alluding to Travis Scott’s highly-anticipated upcoming studio album Utopia.
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While it was still up on Instagram, Rolling Loud’s Twitter page uploaded a screenshot of Dean’s post, adding the caption “MIAMI THIS SUMMER,” referring to Travis Scott’s headlining set on Saturday (July 22) of their 2023 Florida fest. With this latest tweet, it seems that RL is alluding to their event aligning with the release of Scott’s fourth album, which is not an unfamiliar tactic for for the two parties.
In 2021, Scott debuted his song “Escape Plan” live at Rolling Loud during his set. Scott would officially release “Escape Plan” as a single in November 2021, alongside “Mafia.” Both tracks were meant to serve as promotional songs for Utopia, but the album faced a lengthy delay due to the aftermath of Scott’s Astroworld Fest disaster.
For each of Scotts’ three prior studio albums, Rodeo, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, and Astroworld, Dean earned credits as the mixing and mastering engineer. So, it comes as no surprise that the Houston rapper enlisted Dean once more to do the same for Utopia.
This fact also coincides with a recent statement Scott made on Monday before a Houston Astros baseball game, where he asserted that the LP is “on the way now,” and that it is in the mastering stage.
Additionally, on Thursday, TMZ captured photos of Scott and his security team getting into a car, with Scott’s bodyguard holding a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist with the word “Utopia” written on it.
Ramping up the album’s promotion and using subtle clues like these all week, it’s becoming abundantly clear that Travis Scott is almost ready to deliver Utopia for his fans.
Photo by: Christopher Polk/NBC
