Remember waiting almost 3 hours just to ride The Greezed Lightnin? Do names like the Excalibur, Thunder River, the Texas Cyclone, and Taz’s Texas Tornado sound familiar? If these names haven’t rung a bell yet, I’m speaking about Astroworld. Former Houston Mayor Roy Hofheinz helped bring AstroWorld to the Space City in 1968. Astroworld began June 1, located on approximately 57 acres of land between Kirby Drive and Fannin Avenue, directly south of Loop 610 in Houston, Texas.The Six Flags AstroWorld theme park would have been 50 years old in June 2018 but closed its doors to the public on October 30, 2005 due to lack of support, funds & the  rising value of the theme park's 109 acres.Today what used to be Astroworld is a dirt field used for parking when the Rodeo comes to town.

Travis Scott is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was born April 30, 1992 in Houston, Texas. In 2012, under the name Jacques Berman Webster II. Webster attended Elkins High School and graduated at seventeen.Webster then attended the University of Texas San Antonio before dropping out his sophomore year to fully pursue his music career. Scott signed his first major-label deal with Epic Records. He later signed a deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music, and signed a record deal with T.I.'s Grand Hustle imprint.Scott's first full-length project, a mixtape titled Owl Pharaoh, was self-released in May 2013. His debut studio album, Rodeo, was released in September 2015 and was led by the hit single "Antidote", which reached the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. His second album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, was released in September 2016. He released his junior album, Astroworld, on August 3, 2018.

Astroworld is described as a hip hop album, incorporating elements of trap and psychedelic music. It was released by Cactus Jack Records, Epic Records and Grand Hustle Records.The album features guest vocals from Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, Drake, The Weeknd, James Blake, Swae Lee, Gunna, Philip Bailey, Nav, 21 Savage, Quavo, Takeoff, Juice Wrld, Sheck Wes and Don Toliver, among others. On September 21, 2018, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In an interview with Rolling Stone, Travis Scott named a few specific AstroWorld theme park rides he was enthusiastic about. “It had a Dungeon Drop, Greezed Lightnin’, Batman: The Escape,” he recalls. “It was a way of life – fantasies, imagination.” Dungeon Drop was a 20-story free fall tower attraction, Greezed Lightin’ was a classic shuttle rollercoaster, the park’s first loop coaster, that went from 0 to 60 miles per hour backwards and forwards through a nonlinear track & Batman: The Escape, a steel stand-up rollercoaster. Scott also mentions ‘Mind Bender’ and ‘Water World’ in a 2017 interview with XXL. The Mayan Mindbender was an indoor family twister roller coaster with a pyramid theme, and WaterWorld was Houston’s first major water park, opening in June 1983, and officially becoming a part of AstroWorld in 2002.

Travis Scott is bringing Astroworld back to Houston, with the 1st annual Astroworld Festival. Astroworld Festival is a 1 day music fest set to take place across the street from the former home of Astroworld. This festival seeks to bring back the spirit & nostalgia of Astroworld, making a childhood dream of Travis come true, and to share with residents of Houston and travelers from across the globe the magic that was astroworld. The festival will be held on November 17, 2018 at NRG Park, between 12pm-10pm. Follow: @TRAVISSCOTT Sicko Mode Video:

NRG PARK
ONE NRG PARK HOUSTON, TX 77054
HTTPS://WWW.NRGPARK.COM

References

Astroworld Festival 2018.Retrieved from https://astroworldfest.com/about/

(2018, November 7). Six Flags AstroWorld. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:39, November 14, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Six_Flags_AstroWorld&oldid=867771589

(2018, November 11). Travis Scott. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:27, November 14, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Travis_Scott&oldid=868298210

Giulione, B. (2018, November 14). Six Flags AstroWorld: The Story of Travis Scott's Beloved Theme Park. Retrieved from https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/six-flags-astroworld-theme-park/

Ktrk. (2018, August 03). A look back at Houston's Six Flags AstroWorld. Retrieved from https://abc13.com/community-events/a-look-back-at-houstons-six-flags-astroworld/1051306/