Over Winter break, Travis Scott and company dropped highly anticipated album, JACKBOYS, on Dec. 27.  The album contained songs by artists signed by label Cactus Jack Records, including Travis Scott, Sheck Wes, and Don Toliver, with features by Young Thug, Lil Baby, Quavo, Pop Smoke, Offset, and Rosalía.

The album received varied feedback from fans, as the album only had seven songs, underwhelming fans who had gotten their hopes up for a full album.  Originally, a 21-song tracklist was released, getting fans hyped for music with other artists like Kanye West, Future, Roddy Ricch, and more. Unfortunately, those songs have yet to be released, leaving fans with the hope that this is only a condensed version of JACKBOYS.

The album kicked off with a remix of the previously released, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM,” by Travis Scott.  The original song topped charts after it hit streaming services on Oct. 4, leaving high expectations for the new remix. The song took an interesting twist, adding features from Rosalía, a Spanish singer-songwriter, and well-known American rapper, Lil Baby.  Rosalía added a creative dynamic to the song, with a full verse sung in Spanish, widening the audience of Travis’ music. Though, I overall felt that the original version of “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM,” was much better than the remix, as most songs are. But it certainly was not a bad addition to the JACKBOYS album.

The rest of the album was hot and cold, with some songs receiving high praise, while others seemed like complete flops.  For example, the 5th song on the album, “OUT WEST,” by Travis Scott and Young Thug, obtained good feedback by fans, making it onto Spotify’s Top 50, adding to the list of hits that Scott and Thug have produced together.  Though, on the other end of the spectrum, I felt that songs such as “WHAT TO DO?,” and “GATTI,” did not reach my personal expectations, they were different than what you would expect from a modern day rap album, which steered me away from liking the two.

I also noticed that “HAD ENOUGH,” by Don Toliver, Quavo, and Offset, used almost the exact same beat as 2018’s hit, “CAN’T SAY,” by Travis Scott.  Maybe that was intended, but I felt it was almost lazy of the artists at Cactus Jack Records. I was a fan of “CAN’T SAY,” and most of ASTROWORLD by Travis Scott, but “HAD ENOUGH,” did not do the correct justice to “CAN’T SAY.”

All in all, I came to the conclusion that JACKBOYS, Is an O.K. album.  It wasn’t great, and certainly not up to Travis Scott’s standards, but it wasn’t absolutely horrible.  Maybe the rest of the album (if released) will change my mind, and it’ll be the greatest album ever. But for right now, I would rate the album a 4/10.  I’m sorry to all Travis Scott and JACKBOY fans, but this album just isn’t my favorite.