Read Travis Scott’s college essay from 2009
Travis Scott’s legacy will be as one of his generation’s most influential contemporary hip-hop artists. Akin to acts such as Playboi Carti and Lil Yachty, Scott arose during the mid-2010s and was rapidly thrust into the limelight.
Many different artists have influenced Scott (real name Jacques Webster). From Drake to Lil Wayne, fans can hear the sounds of other MCs in his music. However, before fame, Webster looked up to and studied Kanye West.
Travis Scott was looking for other ways to make money when he was an aspiring lyricist. He was an actual student at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), where he wanted to major in nephrology. During a 2023 interview with GQ, he unveiled that while he was at UTSA, he loved the idea of it, stating, I don’t know. It was the idea of just, like, saving people at the time was dope. I used to go and shadow at the hospitals. So I fell in love with it more there, just the whole process of it all. I wanted to own my own practice, know the business side of it, do the medicine side of it.”
Scott dropped out as a sophomore, but a 2009 essay about Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music label has recently resurfaced, and many are intrigued by the document and its contents. Many are astounded at its simplicity, and others are even calling the emcee “dumb.”
The four-page paper, dated December 5th, 2009, appears to have been written for an English professor. In it, Scott discusses various figures on the G.O.O.D Music roster at the time, including Kid Cudi and Big Sean.
He refers to them as “well-known rappers that had similar lifestyles but different messages.” He wrote that as a result of their unique messages, they were able to get “an opportunity to get sign to a multi-million-dollar company called G.O.O.D MUSIC.”
Towards the end of the essay, Scott explained how to be successful, writing, “Success is not something that is giving out. You must go out and take what you want.” One Twitter/X user wrote, “Dude wrote the intro, then just copy-paste Wikipedia!” While another wrote, “Goddamn my brain is hurting reading this sh*t”