Travis Scott’s “Can’t Say” Video Reminds Us of Madonna, Mario Kart, and Plus a Few Other Purple Fantasies

Scott literally set fire to the Super Bowl stage, and now he’s coming for the entire world — dressed in head-to-toe Saint Laurent, no less. Today, the rapper dropped the video for his song “Can’t Say” from his widely hailed album Astroworld, featuring Don Toliver. Produced by Saint Laurent and directed by Nathalie Canguilhem, the video picks up where La Flame left off at the Super Bowl. With the help of some CGI horsemen of the apocalypse and a chic motorcycle brigade, he introduces us to a world where God is a woman, and Travis Scott is the devil. Hell’s never looked so chic, or stoned. In case, you’re still processing all of it, here’s our quick reaction, taking notes of the influences that grabbed us first, from Madonna to Mario Kart to the mostly-nude women in Ex Machina.

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TRON: LEGACY

Scott and Anthony Vaccarello, the Creative Director of Saint Laurent, seem to be paying homage to Tron with its flying race cars, and neon-everything color scheme. The entire world created and inhabited by Scott and his well-dressed entourage takes more than a few cues from Joseph Kosinki’s cyberworld. If you think about it, it makes sense. Watching Tron was always how we imagined a certain kind of hell.

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MADONNA’S “LIKE A PRAYER”

Just like Madonna’s polemical 1989 music video for “Like a Prayer,” the religious iconography in Scott’s video — from the neon crucifix to the horsemen of the apocalypse on motorcycles — is another moment of Scott calling out God. (“Stop trying to be God, God.”) Or is Scott making a play for the throne by saying that he’s the devil, and we should worship him, instead?

MARIO KART’S NINTENDO 64 COURSE “RAINBOW ROAD,” BUT AFTER SMOKING A COUPLE BLUNTS

The whole video brings to mind playing Mario Kart’s Rainbow Road course, but, like, really high. With bumper cars speeding past neon towers, and roads floating mid-air, it’s hard not to reminisce about those hazy days playing our favorite Nintendo 64 game. Everyone can agree that the outer space course was, by far, one of the hardest and most thrilling courses to race. Now, imagine trying to play after hitting a blunt. If you know, you know.

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THE ROBOT WOMEN OF EX MACHINA

Several scenes feature semi-clad, cyborg-like women worshiping a hologram of Scott’s face. One of them gets crucified. It’s almost as if Scott told Saint Laurent that he wanted to embody Oscar Isaac’s character in Ex Machina — not as sexy, sure, but just as creepy.

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