The album features guest appearances from Teezo Touchdown, Drake, Playboi Carti, Beyoncé, Rob49, 21 Savage, the Weeknd, Swae Lee, Yung Lean, Dave Chappelle, Young Thug, Westside Gunn, Kid Cudi, Bad Bunny, SZA, Future, and James Blake.
Production was handled by a variety of record producers, including Scott and Blake themselves, WondaGurl, Kanye West (credited as Ye), Allen Ritter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Wheezy, Buddy Ross, Vegyn, 30 Roc, Jahaan Sweet, Boi-1da, Vinylz, Tay Keith, Bnyx, Oz, Justin Vernon, the Alchemist, Dom Maker, Illangelo, DVLP, and Metro Boomin, among others.
All 19 songs from the album debuted in the Billboard Hot 100, making Scott the 15th artist in the chart's history to log 100-plus career entries.
[8] In a February 2021 interview with i-D, Scott said he had been collaborating with new artists while attempting to expand his sound and making songs on his own instrumentals that he had created.
In an interview with Women's Wear Daily in June, Scott described the sound of Utopia, stating that he is "in this new album mode where it's like psychedelic rock".
[19] Shortly after, new Utopia billboards began to appear across Los Angeles featuring a clock and a lock that fans speculated at a July 21, 2023, release date.
[24] The film featured segments directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Gaspar Noé, Valdimar Jóhannsson, Kahlil Joseph, and Scott himself.
[31] On July 17, 2023, rumors circulated that the Musicians' Syndicate of Egypt released a statement, claiming that due to "information about peculiar rituals performed by the star during his performance, contradicting our authentic societal values and traditions, the Syndicate's president and board of directors have decided to cancel the license issued for hosting this type of concert, which goes against the cultural identity of the Egyptian people."
[39] On August 29, 2023, Scott announced the Circus Maximus Tour, starting on October 11, 2023, in Charlotte at Spectrum Center and concluding on December 29, 2023, in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena.
[1] Robin Murray of Clash gave the album a score of 9 out of 10, appreciating it for "its daring, bravado, and continual rule-breaking", writing that "Utopia isn't built through boasts – there's a sense of evolution, of a voice chafing against the barriers we erect in our lives".
The multi-platinum guest features might set the album up for global conquest, but the most exciting moments come when it sounds like Scott is discovering a new way to push his craft forward".
[2] Paul Attard of Slant Magazine remarked that the album "operates less as a cohesive body of work and more as a series of show-stopping set pieces" with "cluttered middle section where it slowly starts to feel as if Scott has lost the thread within".
[64] HotNewHipHop criticized the album's lack of cohesion and excessive familiarity, stating "the numerous reference points to Kanye West, (..) blurs the line between paying homage, calling back to the early phases of his career, and recycling ideas.
"[66] Alphonse Pierre of Pitchfork described Utopia as "a shiny, empty spectacle loaded with pop superstars who rarely make an impact" and felt that its "global ambitions sacrifice that little bit of realness he had left" as Scott "waters down the cutting-edge sounds of the past and, in the process, flattens his Southerness to the point that he feels like he's from nowhere".
[62] Nathan Evans of NME reflected on Kanye West's influence on the album, writing that "Scott steps back into the gargantuan shadow of his mentor.
Evans also stated that the rapper "sounds maddened by the pursuit of finding that vague world" looking for "the spectrum to enlist pop superstars, trap's A-Team, electronic mavens and alternative heroes".
[61] Reviewing the album for The Guardian, Shaad D'Souza stated, "He's a canny grounding force, and has a sharp ear for bringing together seemingly disparate ingredients.
[74] All 19 songs from the album debuted in the Billboard Hot 100, making Scott the 15th artist in the chart's history to log over 100 career entries.