Humble Beginnings
When Jacques Webster (Travis Scott) dropped out of college at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he had nothing. He asked his parents for money to buy textbooks, but he took that money and used it to fly to New York to pursue his dreams of becoming a rapper. Things did not work out in New York and he then went to Los Angeles quickly after. His luck increased in LA where he soon caught the eye of T.I. 
which led to him working with his idol Kanye West. Kanye took Scott under his wing and Scott released his debut mixtape Owl Pharaoh in 2013. Since then he has been gaining popularity at an exponential rate.
How He Became a Businessman
Travis Scott has used his success and has turned himself from an artist to a businessman. This first began when he started his own record label, Cactus Jack Records. His main goal of this was to promote young artists that he saw the potential in but were not getting enough exposure like his own situation. Scott has been able to bring artists like Don Tolliver and Shack Wes into the spotlight through this label. Next, his album, Astroworld, took the world by storm by the advertising that Scott did that has not been done before. Scott used his many platforms to show progress of the album and give sneak peaks to the songs
on it. Not only this, but he had a one-of-a-kind world tour that was more of an experience than a concert. Finally, he began selling his own designed merchandise that was flying off the shelves and selling for double the amount (if not more) on reselling platforms like StockX. In all, all these things factor together created an experience around an album never seen before. Finally, Scott does an amazing job of keeping his name in the news through his many sponsorships. Whether it be with Fortnite, Jordan/Nike, or even more recently, McDonald’s, Scott has partnered with massive brands to keep his name in the media and to keep people listening to his music even though he has not released a new album in two years.
Through these tactics, Scott has been able to go from a popular artist to a superstar through his innovative tactics. He seems to always be doing the things that nobody else is doing and he shows no signs of stopping as his popularity continues to increase.
I didn’t realize it had been two years since Travis Scott’s last album- speaks to the fact that he has indeed been effective in maintaining popularity through brand deals. While most rappers focus on shoe/car/fashion deals, it’s interesting that Scott’s focus has been on gaming, McDonald’s, and related. Unique and effective.