After 5 years, Travis Scott fans finally got his fourth studio album UTOPIA. Although the album only received a score of 5.7 from Pitchfork, an authoritative music review organization, and was called “a parody of Kanye West”, it also became the most played in 2023 on the two platforms of Apple Music & Spotify on the first day of its release. The album even created all 19 songs on Spotify’s top 19 in the US on the first day, which is enough to see the amazing influence of this Houston rapper.
In the past 5 years, La Flame has experienced the rapid rise and fall of his personal career, and after a brief dormancy, he tried to give a strong return declaration through “UTOPIA”. Whether it is the planned audition sessions at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt (cancelled due to technical reasons) and Pompeii, Italy (August 7th), or the luxurious production team and collaboration lineup behind the album, they all show the ambition of Travis’ “Return of the King”.
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In addition, in order to better show fans the “utopia” in Travis’s vision, the team invited Nicke Bildstein Zaar, the founder of the Berlin art studio sub with Balenciaga’s regular cooperation, as the creative director (he also participated in the creation of the album cover) , gathered the artists and groups involved in the visual and planning of this album, and jointly created a limited edition magazine called “UTOPIA ZINE”.
In this book, which is officially called “Visual Essay”, through multiple visual forms such as photography, graphic design, and digital art, it records the inspirations in the production process of “UTOPIA” and the A24 cooperative micro-film “Circus Maximus”. This time Hypebeast will bring you the introduction of 10 groups of artists and groups, so as to get a glimpse of the grand world view that Travis presents in this album.
PIETER HUGO
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photographer from south africa Pieter Hugo Responsible for shooting multiple covers of “UTOPIA”, and contributed a lot of photography works in this magazine. Hugo has always been known for his original portrayal of various marginalized communities in Africa, as well as subcultures around the world. The true meaning of race, class and social status. As early as 2016, Hugo was also invited by Hood By Air’s Shayne Oliver to create a photobook, and these photos also appeared on the subsequent HBA clothing series.
KRISTINA NAGEL
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from Berlin Kristina Nagel, is also one of the main photographers behind many covers of “UTOPIA”. Among them, the main cover of Travis falling in the dark, and the black and white smiling face in the fifth cover are all created by Nagel. Nagel’s works are mostly presented in a crude surreal style. One of the signature elements is the distortion and blurring of the human form. She hopes to use this seemingly “absurd” creation to break the traditional aesthetics and inspire people. More imagination and creativity. Nagel has shot in the past for Rick Owens, Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga and Balenciaga x Crocs, among many other fashion projects, and is a new force favored by Kanye West and Demna Gvasalia.
MICHELE SIBILONI
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Michele Sibiloni is an Italian photographer and videographer currently living in Uganda. Sibiloni is good at capturing blurred lighting and landscapes through the lens, so as to convey a sense of psychedelic temperament and atmosphere. From 2012 to 2014, he has been recording the nightlife of the capital of Uganda. The project was published by Edition Patrick Frey as a photobook ” Fuck it”, and was selected as the best photography book of the year selected by “TIME”, “Internazionale” and “Sleek-Mag” in that year. In terms of fashion, Sibiloni has also cooperated with brands such as SUNNEI and RUI.
MATTHEW ANGELO HARRISON
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Installation artist graduated from the Art Institute of Chicago Matthew Angelo Harrison, who made original clay models of cars and auto parts at Ford, an experience that inspires his art today. Inspired by the concept of “abstract ancestry,” Harrison’s work focuses on collecting relics and symbols of African-American culture, which itself combines organic materials such as native African wood and bone, synthetic materials such as acrylics, organic Glass and industrial modeling clay, etc., represent the simplistic and abstract generalization of black culture in mainstream American society that he witnessed during his growth experience.
FIX THE CAN
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Specializing in furniture and installation design Fix Kanu, graduated from the New York School of Visual Arts, is an artist deeply loved by Travis Scott, so his related works are also included in this “UTOPIA ZINE”. Looking to the history of the African diaspora as inspiration, Kanu developed his own unique visual language. In the design, he will deliberately abandon the functionality emphasized by traditional furniture, and instead interpret the expression of the work more artistically. By searching for various materials, Kanu creates poetic works of art. In his view, even everyday objects can show an artistic beauty beyond practicality.
JON RAFMAN
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Multimedia artist from Montreal, Canada Jon Rafman, whose works cover different fields such as video, animation, photography, sculpture and installation. Rafman is committed to excavating the deep thoughts of human beings on the psychological, philosophical and moral levels. In the creative process, he usually deconstructs and reshape the images from the Internet, and presents them to the audience in weird, grotesque and even cruel forms to express his Re-examine with a critical eye the losses, longings and illusions of human beings in modern society.
LIAM DENHAMER
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Architecture and installation artist from Canada Liam Denhamer, but also the director of the creative unit Juvenilia. Since graduating with a master’s degree from the Architectural Institute in 2018, Denhamer has held a number of positions including Associate Director of The Real Foundation, Contributing Editor for Real Review and Designer for sub, among others. Denhamer works with a unique architectural language, an independent aesthetic that plays to the brutality, conflict and violence inherent in architecture, while incorporating a subversive countercultural aesthetic. His work often translates the virtual into the physical realm and integrates new technologies into architectural design in the physical realm.
DODLEYZ
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Dodleyz is a digital art creator from Russia. As a cutting-edge artist, his works have a strong Cyberpunk taste and millennial comic style. Through the use of acidic colors and the blessing of retro graphic elements, Dodleyz’s works have achieved a good balance between retro and futurism. Although there is almost no introduction about this artist in the Internet world, it does not prevent Travis Scott from incorporating him into the art world of “UTOPIA”.
OPIOID CRISIS LOOK BOOK
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Founded by Dustin Cauchi OPIOID CRISIS LOOK BOOK, is the first lifestyle magazine with “narco-capitalism” at its core. The project aims to collect and share drug-related stories, images, symbols, myths and visual culture, providing reporting perspective and giving more power and voice to marginalized narratives. Along with the release of the magazine, the team will also hold special offline art exhibitions to create a deeper and diverse experience for readers. During the production of this “UTOPIA ZINE”, team members Dasha Zaharova & Dustin Cauchi participated in a lot of editing and graphic design.
NMR.CC
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Founded by Erwan Sene NMR.CC, is an emerging design and project development team from Athens, Greece, mainly providing services such as art direction and creative production for brands. The team aims to escape the shackles of professional terms such as creative direction and design, so as to explore new visual paths. In addition to undertaking the visual design work of “UTOPIA ZINE”, NMR.CC has also served OTTOLINGER, XIMONLEE, DEMON and ON RUNNING, etc. Many brands.
Currently, the 112-page “UTOPIA ZINE” has passed Travis Scott official websiteOfficially on sale, there are six different cover versions, each of which includes a CD in addition to the magazine, priced at $25, and interested friends should not miss it.
