Travi$ Scott is better known for his production skills than his lyrical ability, but he unfortunately missed an opportunity to prove himself as a rapper with his latest BET Cypher freestyle.
Scott took the increasingly rare approach of actually going off the dome on his 16, but it came off as more careless than ambitious. The Owl Pharaoh rapper confirmed in a tweet yesterday that the quality of his verse suffered due to the "underwhelming" beat provided (which he also mentioned in the freestyle).
While there's no shame in Travi$' preference for maximal production, it's important to note that the beat was likely chosen for its iconic status in hip hop, standing as one of the most sampled breaks in the genre's history. It comes from James Brown's 1974 "Funky President," and has been used in N.W.A.'s "Fuck The Police," Public Enemy's "Fight The Power," and most recently, Kanye West's "Clique" (which appeared on an album Scott did a fair amount of production on).
Check out the freestyle Scott described as "ass," as well as his tweet below.