On November 17, 2018, Travis Scott held a music festival in his hometown of Houston, Texas. The shutdown amusement park that inspired his highly anticipated late summer album showed through with various innuendoes during his Astroworld concerts and the festival.

The festival had colorful dancers, typical amusement park rides, and nostalgic carnival food. The line up included big name acts such as Young Thug, Post Malone, Rae Sremmurd, and Lil Wayne. Astroworld not only solidified Travis's success, but was an indication that Houston culture had officially transcended into being an upper-level cultural capital.

Entrance to Astroworld

There was a lot of suspense leading up to the festival. With no direct lineup or true knowledge about the set up until last minute, a lot was left up to interpretation, but if you talked to just about anyone who attended this festival: it exceeded everyone's preconceived expectations.

Bryce Broussard is a born and raised Houstonian who flew in from his college, Howard University, to attend the festival. Broussard depicts the festival as "a moment where people with aspirations from the city were able to have their eyes wide open to what you can create for yourself and show your city what happens when you pursue your passions full throttle."

Travis Scott inspired people to believe that Houston is a city for dreams. The festival acted as a catalyst for that, especially because the precedent is set for more widely known festivals to be held in California. For Travis Scott to mold his craft with Houston always in mind, it felt like there was no other place Astroworld could have been held. Houston is a place of great nostalgia. Broussard went on later to say that "we lose the Oilers, we lose people from Harvey, we lost DJ Screw, Pimp C, and of course Astroworld (the amusement park). It seems like everywhere we turn we're recovering from something.. all of this in last quarter century."

Houston has experienced extreme losses, but the Astroworld festival was a signifier that we don't just let them keep us down. Culturally Houston thrives and Travis Scott brought a lot of that into fruition with his music as well as the festival. Scott had a song and even a graffiti mural dedicated to DJ Screw, an influential Houston DJ that has inspired the likes of even Drake.

There was a set of 'Houston All-Stars' that included eminent Houston rappers old and new who impacted the game. Scott references classic Houston rappers with lines like "Flip say Platinum don't do chrome" in "R.I.P. Screw" referring to choosing a grill, the song title "5% Tint" which is apart of Slim Thug's iconic "Still Tippin'" verse, and "Can't Say" which samples Trae tha Truth.

DJ Screw

Travis pays homage to OG Houston rappers and implements them in his music creating a progressive culture for Houston rap. Music is an important part for how Houston culture or even culture period is viewed. The festival opened up perception on just how far you can go remaining immersed in Houston culture and inspired artists like Louie Koston to transform their way of thinking about their own music. Koston, originally from New Orleans, has a unique perspective of entering the game with Louisiana ties, but a Houston state of mind claiming that "even growing up in Louisiana I was accustomed to listening to Houston rappers such as Mike Jones, Chamillionaire, Lil Flip, UGK, Paul Wall, Geto Boys, and Z-RO."

Louie Koston

Koston is apart of an age of Houston rappers trying to help shift perception that Houston rap is fluid through generations and the rest of the world. Scott holding events like a festival only broaden that audience. Koston has projects on Soundcloud and Apple Music. He recently released a projected named "Soulja" under the rap group name 100 Freestyles, which includes member 281 Cam. Koston goes on to say that "Travis's influence on the youth is infectious, to say the least, especially to his younger fans. I see a lot of those kids in Houston who know his story & know what he came from, who see where he is now & they feel they can really do whatever they want if they really think about it. I should know because I was one of them once."

It's safe to say that 2018 was an imperative year for Travis Scott and that Houston is still on the map bigger than ever. It's just a matter of what's next and what we expect to see from Travis Scott as well as other Houston artists. With Houston solidified as a cultural capital for not only nostalgia but innovation as well, one can only imagine.

Travis Scott performing.