"Circus Maximus" is a song by American rapper and singer Travis Scott featuring Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd and fellow American rapper and singer Swae Lee from the former's fourth studio album Utopia (2023). The song was produced by Scott and Noah Goldstein with additional production from Jahaan Sweet and Mike Dean. It also shares the same name as Scott's debut film, the visual accompaniment to the album, which was released the day before the song and album were released.
Background
"Circus Maximus" uses the same style of drums that were used on "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West. Scott also uses the same rapping style for that song: "A walkin' distraction / I'm naturally Black and / Unnaturally breathin' / Like a waist that is snatchin'". Mike Dean was also involved in the production of both songs, which might be a possible reason for the samples that Scott chose for Utopia.
Critical reception
The song received generally mixed reviews. Complex's Jordan Rose saw the resemblance of the song to "Black Skinhead" but deemed it one of the worst things of Utopia as he felt that the album was influenced by Kanye West too much. Tom Breihan of Stereogum also acknowledged the influence but felt that "Kanye West was always interesting", but "Travis Scott is simply not". Shaad D'Souza of The Guardian opined that it "dampens the pummelling qualities of the older song, and although Scott does sound a great deal like West, he feels like a void at the centre of the song, lacking the supernova intensity required to anchor such a darkly toned, militant track".
Mackenzie Cummings-Grady of Billboard ranked it as the tenth best song from Utopia.
The Weeknd live version
The Weeknd sings the song with an additional verse in his After Hours til Dawn Tour, singing something like: "And if our hearts are still breaking, you woulnd't care if I live or die, 'cause you made me look famous". It is unknown if the verse is scrapped from the song or made for the live performances.
Charts
References
2023 songs
Travis Scott songs
The Weeknd songs
Swae Lee songs
Song recordings produced by Travis Scott
Song recordings produced by Jahaan Sweet
Song recordings produced by Mike Dean (record producer) Songs written by Travis Scott Songs written by the Weeknd Songs written by Swae Lee Songs written by Jahaan Sweet Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer) Rap rock songs Industrial hip hop songs