Released: 2023
Aight fam, “I Know ?” by Travis Scott digs into the late-night, inebriated musings of a man caught between the intoxicating pull of nightlife and the magnetic memories of a significant other. Within the hazy lines, Travis is confronting the duality of his desires—both the reckless abandon found in the club scene and the emotional attachment to someone specific—under the influence of substances and the spell of the wee hours, questioning the authenticity of feelings in such a state.
Travis cracks open this joint with a direct line to his shorty, “Tell me, is you still up?” setting the late-night scene at 5 a.m., a time only the streets and heartbroken know well. He’s deep in his cups, feeling both confident and vulnerable, asking raw and straight up if there’s a chance for an intimate reconnection. The repeated “I know, I know, I know” is him acknowledging the doubt his partner threw his way, suggesting that their emotions might be nothing but the talk of the substances talking, not the real deal.
By the second verse, Travis takes us through a carousel of his rapid lifestyle. “20 bitches suckin’ like bisons,” isn’t about wildlife—it’s the metaphorical stampede of women in his orbit, being the star that he is. The line about “eeny, meeny, miney” captures the randomness with which he can engage with these women; life’s a game, he’s the player, and fate’s at the roll of the dice. But deep down, the chick he’s chosen ain’t his type, revealing the surface-level nature of the encounter. He then empathizes with his partner’s struggle, feeling her fight for recognition and her hunt for her own place in the game, yet there’s an undertone of Travis’s own search for something more satisfying, a feeling that his current exploits aren’t truly fulfilling.
As we drive further into the track, Scott switches gears, bringing us into his world post-midnight where time seems to crawl – “It’s 2 a.m., don’t stress” – and the party’s shifting gears. “I turned my whole spot to crucial” could paint the picture of his crib turning into the central hub for the afterparty—a spot where the vibe’s important, and the good times roll. But the lines quickly blur between the women he meets and the one he’s hung up on, to the point where he’s asking, “Is it you, is it her?”, showing how the intoxication and late-hour energy got him disoriented, trippin’ over memories and the present.
Travis continues to ice out the scene with luxury and lush details, from “Booby Trap to the ‘burbs” and “F29 is my address”—pulling the club scene into the high-end residential, mixing extravagance with the explicit. When he mentions the “Turrell,” it’s a nod to James Turrell, an artist known for his work with light and space, giving us insight into the atmosphere he’s curating. It’s a flex, sure, but it also peels back another layer on the kind of dual life Travis is leading—one foot in the raw realm of fame and the other searching for a deeper connection, one that’s possibly waiting for him upstairs.
The song closes looping back to the hook, circling around the core question of whether the connection is still alive despite the influence of liquor and the fast life. Ultimately, Travis seems caught between chasing the highs of fame and confronting the introspective lows that creep up when the party fades. It’s real talk for anyone who’s ever wrestled with the night—knowing too well the difference between the buzz and what’s true, yet sometimes wondering if both can coexist.
