For the first time since ten people were killed at Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert, the rapper sat down for a nearly hour-long interview to tell his side of the story.
Travis scott says he has been on an “emotional roller coaster” since tragedy struck his Astroworld Festival in Texas in early November. Ten people died during the concert and dozens more were injured. Travis faced extreme backlash for not stopping his concert amid the tragedy unfolding in the audience, but in his first interview since the event, he maintains that he had no idea how bad things had taken while on stage. .
“I didn’t know the exact details until [after my set], minutes before the press conference, I realized exactly what happened, “says Travis in his conversation with Charlamagne Tha God. “And even then you’re like … what?” He also insists that he would have stopped the show if he had known things were getting out of hand in the crowd. “Every time you hear something like that, you want to stop the show,” he explains. “You want to make sure that the fans get the proper care they need. Every time I could see something like that I did [stop]. I stopped him a couple of times to make sure everyone was okay. I really take the energy out of the fans as a collective – call and response. I just didn’t hear that [this time]. “
In the interview, Travis also shows Charlamagne what he saw on stage in front of that huge crowd that night to paint a better picture of why he couldn’t tell what was happening. “Only what you can see and what they tell you can help,” he adds. “Whenever someone tells you to stop, you just stop.”
Charlamagne notes that Travis has “encouraged” his fans to “rage” at his concerts in the past, but says he has always tried to do it in a safe way. “It’s supposed to be about having fun,” says Travis. “This is not about harm. It’s about letting yourself go and having fun. Help others, love each other. It is not about harm. The show isn’t just boisterous for an hour, that’s not what it is. “
The rapper, who is expecting his second child with Kylie jenner, says he has done “a lot of grief” while trying to understand the situation. “I really just wanted to be there and I wish I could hug everyone and heal them, talk to them, have conversations,” he admits, regarding his fans and his loved ones. “It really hurts, man.”
Now, Travis is committed to making sure nothing like this happens again in the future. “For the first few weeks, I was just sitting and channeling these emotions and remembering, no one is going to be a voice for these people,” he reveals. “I have to be a voice so that this does not happen at shows in the future, period, and find the solution to ensure people’s safety.”
He also hopes to get to the bottom of exactly what happened to lead to such a horrible tragedy. “I have a responsibility to find out what happened here,” he says. “I have the responsibility to find the solution. Hopefully this takes the first step towards us as artists, having more information about what is happening. “