"The Scotts" is a song by American hip hop duo the Scotts, composed ofTravis Scott and Kid Cudi. It was released in various formats, including on 7-inch vinyl, cassette and as a CD single through Epic, Cactus Jack and Wicked Awesome on April 24, 2020. The song release was supported by four different visuals on YouTube. Both artists had previously linked up for Scott's "Through the Late Night" on Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight and Cudi's "Baptized in Fire" on Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'. The song debuted atop the BillboardHot 100, for the chart dated May 9, 2020, becoming Scott's third US number-one single, following "Sicko Mode" and "Highest in the Room", as well as Cudi's first US number-one single.
Background and promotion
On April 20, 2020, it was reported that Scott teamed up with Fortnite Battle Royale to start a virtual tour through the game called "Astronomical" starting on April 23 until April 25. The rapper would premiere and play a new song at several different times during the game. Players of the game got to hear snippets of the song before its official release. In total, the concert was witnessed by an audience of over 12 million gamers. On April 23, Scott revealed the cover art of the song on his Instagram and announced that the song would feature Kid Cudi. The song title is a reference to Scott's and Cudi's stage last name and first real name, respectively. The cover art of the single was created by American artistKaws.
Critical reception
To Charles Holmes of Rolling Stone, the song felt "like a symbolic passing of the torch" after Scott's longstanding admiration for Cudi's work but eventually thought that "the results are mixed" despite having been "very hyped" beforehand. Rap-Up described the song as an "explosive banger" with Scott igniting "the two-minute track while Cudder keeps the fire burning".
Chart performance
"The Scotts" debuted at number one the Billboard Hot 100 on the week of May 9, 2020. The song became Scott's 3rd number one single and Cudi's first. The song also made Scott the sixth artist in history to have multiple songs that debuted at number one following Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Drake and Ariana Grande. The song dropped to number 12 the following week, tying Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" for the third biggest drop from the number one position.
