After announcing his “Birds Eye View Tour,” Travis Scott is spreading his wings with his own label, Cactus Jack Records.
Speaking to French magazine Numéro, La Flame explained why he decided to launch his own imprint. “I’m not doing it to have financial control over my music,” he said. “I want first and foremost to help other artists, launch new names, to provide opportunities. I want to do for them what happened to me, but better. By better I mean no bullshit. No lying to the artists about album release dates or the budgets of videos and albums.”
Scott’s debut album Rodeo and its follow-up, last year’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, both dropped on Epic Records. Despite his success with the label, he’s had a contentious relationship with them, at one point calling them “the worst.”
Travis’ appearance in Numéro was accompanied by an interview about fashion, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, and genre-bending. It also featured a Nick Knight photograph of Scott in Versace, Boss, and Martine Rose, as well as a smoky cover shot.
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During the interview, Scott explained why he doesn’t appreciate being pigeonholed into any genre. “What the fuck is a rapper?” he said. “I dunno. A country singer, it doesn’t mean anything anymore. No one is a country singer unless he wants to get stuck in one single genre. Me, I sing, I rap, I do beats, I sometimes make videos. Labels piss me off.”
Continuing with this theme, La Flame revealed his varied influences. “As well as Kanye West and Kid Cudi, I love Black Sabbath, Calvin Harris, and James Blake’s vocal arrangements,” he said. “I like Tame Impala’s ambient tracks. I always wanted to do that kind of music, but also something that hits hard.”
Up next, Scott is reportedly planning to drop Astroworld, but first, he’s hitting the road on his “Birds Eye View Tour” from March 10 through July 9.