Rapper Travis Scott breaks silence on Astroworld tragedy: ‘I have a responsibility’ | Hip Hop News
By: Media Music News
Tags: Festivals, Houston, Music, Hip Hop, News

Rapper Travis Scott says he is “1000 percent” sure he did everything he could to help dying audience members during the Astroworld tragedy.

In Scott’s first interview since the Nov. 5 hip-hop festival that ended in the deaths of 10 people — including the youngest victim, 9-year-old Ezra Blount — the rapper claims he didn’t hear his Houston audience’s screams for help as the victims fell into peril.

“I just didn’t hear that,” 30-year-old Scott said Thursday during a tête-à-tête with Charlamagne tha God on “The Breakfast Club.”

When Charlamagne, 43, asked him if he did everything he could, an emotional Scott struggled to find words, saying, “Everything I physically [could], sure, yes. And, if knowing what was going on … you just wish you could have done something better. But, standing there, 1,000 percent.”

Travis Scott also insisted that “I’m that type of artist” who would have stopped his show if he were aware that concertgoers were in impending danger.

“Anytime you can hear something like that, you want to stop the show,” the “Sicko Mode” emcee continued, adding that he did stop the music a few times during the fateful event. “You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. I just go off the fans’ energy. But I just didn’t hear [screams].”

The Astroworld disaster — noted as one of the deadliest live-music crowd events in American history — has resulted in more than 140 lawsuits and a mass litigation suit by 1,500 show attendees against Travis Scott, Live Nation, Apple Music, Drake and others.

According to most of the lawsuits, per court documents, victims claim the “Antidote” rapper and his cohorts were “negligent” during the show, which attracted more than 50,000 crowd members, and stood to make huge sums of money from the concert.

Meantime, Scott recently denied responsibility for the deaths in legal documents — but now says his mission is to try to identify what factors contributed to the loss of so many lives during his live performance.

“Fans come to the show to have a good experience,” Scott explained to Charlamagne.

“I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here. I have a responsibility to find a solution,” he said. “Hopefully this takes a first step into us as artists having more insight as to what’s going on.”

“And the professionals to figure out what’s going on … in the future move forward in concert safety,” he added, referring to Live Nation and other defendants named in the suits.

Travis Scott blamed the media for fingering him as culpable for the tragedy.

“I’m the face of the festival,” the musician said. “I’m the artist. So yeah, the media wants to put it on me.”

But, his plea of innocence notwithstanding, Scott expressed remorse for the victims, identifying them as his “family.”

“I’m always here. I’m in this with you guys. I love you, and I always be there to help you guys heal through this,” he said.

“I understand that you guys are grieving right now. Finding understanding right now. And it’s not just a right now thing, it’s a forever thing,” the hip hop star continued.

“And these people that came to the show, they are my family. And I’ve always had a connection to the people that listen to the music or came to my shows. And it’s really hard on me. They lost their love ones. So it’s tough,” he went on to say before doubling down on his vow to “fix” the problems that led to the disaster.

“I’m going to fix this for the future people,” he added. “I’m going to fix this problem and find a solution to make sure that this doesn’t happen in the future and definitely be a number-one voice for this.”