As the wait for UTOPIA continues, Travis Scott‘s previous album, Astroworld, continues to make waves four years later.
Chart Data reported on Tuesday (May 3) that the video for Astroworld‘s smash hit “SICKO MODE” has officially surpassed one billion views on YouTube. Directed by Dave Meyers, the trippy video debuted in October 2018 and was nominated for Best Hip Hop Video at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.
That staggering number still doesn’t reflect the song’s sheer popularity, though; the audio-only version has notched an additional 250 million plays on Travis Scott’s YouTube channel, coupled with tens of millions of views across unofficial uploads.
Featuring guest vocals from Drake, Swae Lee and Big Hawk, as well as shape-shifting production from Hit-Boy, Tay Keith, Mike Dean and more, “SICKO MODE” is Travis Scott’s first video to surpass a billion YouTube views.
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The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since been certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), commemorating at least 10 million sales in the U.S.
Drake & Future's 'Life Is Good' Hits 2B YouTube Views
Drake, meanwhile, has already achieved the milestone on five separate occasions thanks to “Life Is Good” (with Future), “Hotline Bling,” “God’s Plan,” “Work” (with Rihanna) and “MIA” (with Bad Bunny).
The 6 God’s billion-views streak could soon extend to seven entries with the video for Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” currently on 915 million YouTube plays.
“SICKO MODE” is just the latest rap record to reach nine figures on YouTube. In February, Dr. Dre‘s “Still D.R.E.” hit a billion views, shortly after his Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, while Eminem‘s “Without Me” and “Rap God” both achieved the feat in 2020.
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The first song by a rapper to join YouTube’s billion views club, however, was Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again.” The Charlie Puth-assisted Furious 7 ballad reached the milestone in October 2015 — less than a year after its release — and has since logged over 5.4 billion plays.
Travis Scott & Drake Astroworld Lawsuit Topples $2B
“SICKO MODE”‘s YouTube success comes almost exactly six months after Travis Scott and Drake‘s fateful set at Astroworld Festival in Houston last November, during which 10 people were killed and hundreds more were injured.
Both rappers have been named in hefty lawsuits over the tragedy, with La Flame losing several high-profile endorsement deals and major festival slots.
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While the mammoth legal battle has yet to get underway, Scott appears to be readying his comeback. The Cactus Jack rapper is set to deliver his first public performance at Miami’s E11EVEN nightclub on May 7, followed by headlining sets at Primavera Sound in South America in November.
As for his long-awaited UTOPIA LP, Scott quietly resumed the album rollout last December, although further details have yet to be announced.
