Gunjan Nath on May 4, 2022
Travis Scott is trying to make a comeback after his reputation was crushed under the weight of the deadly Astroworld tragedy. Lawsuits are still piling up for Travis as he attempts to rehabilitate his public image. While we wait for Utopia, Travis Scott’s previous album, Astroworld, is still making waves four years later.
Just recently, Chart Data reported that the video for Astroworld’s smash hit “SICKO MODE” had officially surpassed one billion views on YouTube. The trippy video, directed by Dave Meyers, debuted in October 2018 and was nominated for Best Hip Hop Video at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards.
.@trvisXX and @Drake‘s “SICKO MODE” has now surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube.
That staggering figure, however, does not accurately reflect the song’s popularity. The audio-only version has received an additional 250 million plays on Travis Scott’s YouTube channel, in addition to tens of millions of views from unofficial uploads. “SICKO MODE,” Travis Scott’s first video to surpass a billion YouTube views, features guest vocals from Drake, Swae Lee, and Big Hawk, as well as shape-shifting production from Hit-Boy, Tay Keith, Mike Dean, and others.
The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in recognition of at least 10 million sales in the United States. Drake, on the other hand, has already reached the milestone five times, thanks to “Life Is Good” (with Future), “Hotline Bling,” “God’s Plan,” “Work” (with Rihanna), and “MIA” (with Bad Bunny).
The video for Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” currently has 915 million YouTube plays, extending the 6 God’s billion-views streak to seven entries. “Sicko Mode” is the latest rap song to reach the nine-figure mark on YouTube. Dr. Dre’s “Still D.R.E.” reached a billion views in February, shortly after his Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show, while Eminem’s “Without Me” and “Rap God” both did so in 2020.
Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” was the first song by a rapper to reach the billion-view mark on YouTube. The Charlie Puth-assisted Furious 7 ballad passed the billion-play mark in October 2015, less than a year after its release, and has since received over 5.4 billion plays. The success of “SICKO MODE” on YouTube comes almost exactly six months after Travis Scott and Drake’s fateful set at the Astroworld Festival in Houston last November, which killed ten people and injured hundreds more.
Both rappers have been named in high-profile lawsuits in the aftermath of the tragedy, with La Flame losing several high-profile endorsement deals and major festival slots. While the massive legal battle has yet to begin, Scott appears to be preparing for a comeback.
The Cactus Jack rapper will make his public debut on May 7 at Miami’s E11EVEN nightclub, followed by headlining sets at Primavera Sound in South America in November. Scott quietly resumed the album rollout for his long-awaited UTOPIA LP last December, though further details have yet to be announced. Check out the official music video of SICKO MODE below.
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May 4, 2022 4:15 pm
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