The unknown crunk song that inspired a classic Travis Scott track: “That’s the joint”
Since UGK disbanded in the 2000s, Travis Scott has been one of the most appreciated and culturally impactful rappers from Texas. Scott is a one-of-a-kind artist renowned for high-quality work. Whether it’s Astroworld or Utopia, his projects have received vast amounts of critical acclaim.
That said, he has released many high-charting singles, one of which is his 2020 single, ‘Franchise’. Following the release of his 2018 album Astroworld, Scott prepared to roll out another project, and one of its singles was ‘Franchise’, featuring Young Thug and UK rapper MIA.
Although Scott had to abandon an album following the 2021 Astroworld Festival crowd crush, ‘Franchise’ was still released in 2020, and it was all influenced by one track in particular. In 2004, the well-known Atlanta crunk collective Dem Franchize Boyz released their self-titled album on So So Def Records and the lead single was ‘White Tee’.
‘Franchise’ pays homage to the song ‘White Tee’ during an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Travis admitted that he initially planned on keeping the track name to make people aware he was paying homage to Dem Franchize Boyz.
Opening up about the track, Scott began, “We just naturally, it was just always just calling it ‘WHITE TEE.’ Just, just like, I think I was like the first bar made, and we was making a song. It was just like hard and just you peep with me and him, and we talk about it.”
He continued, “I just, we still call it like ‘WHITE TEE’ and sh*t like that. ‘Franchise’ is always like the name; I think we have on the board for it, and it was just fire. We had like a couple circled names we always thought was dope. So, you know, we just went with them, you know. So now you know, it’s just like names is always…so that’s the joint, though, man. I f*ck with it heavy.”
Not only did Scott interpolate the song with the beat but lyrically hails the Atlanta group when he raps, “Yup, in my white tee, yeah / Call up Hype Williams for the hype, please!” The Houston native produced the bass-heavy track with Teddy Walton, who has worked with a range of stars from Post Malone to Goldlink.
The single charted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the choice of M.I.A. as a feature was a shock to many. During his appearance on Apple Music, Scott detailed how the collaboration came about, stating, “She reached out to me for something for her album, and we tracked it in London.”
He continued, “She’s just one of my favourite artists as humans. So it was just amazing. When I finished [‘Franchise’], I couldn’t think of nobody else that could probably just body this sh*t. You know what I’m saying? Body this sh*t like as hard as like anyone else, any other rapper, any other artist.”
Travis Scott’s ‘Franchise’ is far from the only track that has been influenced by ‘White Tee’. Playboi Carti’s single ‘Woke Up Like This’ sampled the 2004 track, and it continues to have a lot of cultural capital in hip-hop.