Sicko Mode

On August 3, 2018, Travis Scott dropped Astroworld, an album named after a since-demolished Houston theme park. Buried as the third track was a song that would rewrite the rules of radio rap. "Sicko Mode" opens with a shuddering synth and Swae Lee's floating hook, then detonates into a beat switch that keeps coming. It's not a song so much as a roller coaster with three distinct loops.

The track was built by a committee of producers: Hit-Boy, Rogét Chahayed, OZ, Cubeatz, and Tay Keith. Chahayed later told Billboard the beat was designed to push pop boundaries, defying the standard three-minute formula. Drake sent in his verse last-minute, and Scott layered in a sample of Houston legend Big Hawk. The result is a five-minute prog-rap odyssey that shifts tempos and moods without ever settling into a chorus.

"Sicko Mode" debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent seventeen weeks in the top ten before finally hitting number one in December 2018, helped by a Skrillex remix. It became Scott's first chart-topper and tied Drake's "God's Plan" as the second most-certified rap song in history at 16x platinum. The song earned Grammy nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, and Billboard named it one of the songs that defined the 2010s. [edit]