Ever since the Astroworld Festival tragedy in November 2021, I’ve been pretty critical of Travis Scott. Not that I blame him for the incident, since I think a lot of factors were at play that led to the death of 10 innocent victims. But I don’t necessarily think his behavior following the incident was perfect. Obviously, there were legal factors that likely held him back from saying or doing more, but an interview with Charlamagne Tha God and a short video is not the appropriate response from an artist who just saw multiple people get trampled to death at his festival.
What do I think he should have done? Maybe an acknowledgment that the behavior that he encourages at his shows is probably not the safest thing for the fans who pay to see him. How about saying that you ensure that shows will become a safer experience for fans who plan to attend?
Those are Just some ideas.
But in a profile interview with GQ, the UTOPIA rapper opened up on how the tragedy affected him as both an artist and a human.
More from GQ:
“Making music, you think about things that go on in life and things that happen in your life, and you dial in on things,” he says. He audibly exhales. “That moment for families, for the city, you know, it was devastating. And when it came to making, like even finishing the album…I got back into it probably like, I don’t know, months and months and months after. And the idea of just even getting back into music, working on music and just even getting into that, was therapeutic of being able to channel some of the energy into production and sounds and finishing it.”
If you’re wondering if Scott had some lyrics about the incident, he did. On “My Eyes,” he rapped, “I replay them nights, and right by my side, all I see is a sea of people that ride wit’ me/ If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child.”
Speaking on the verse, he said, “It just came out when I was writing. Like I said, it was a real moment. The song is emotional to me. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album. And that verse means a lot to me.”
It shows growth in Scott’s music that he’s speaking about real things and not just “turning up” and “raging.” I just wish he displayed those same thoughts in other spaces other than just his music.