“And this night was just like a regular show”: When Travis Scott opened up about the Astroworld tragedy

American rapper Travis Scott's November 5, 2021, Astroworld music festival left the entire world shocked with it's mass casualty accident that had claimed several lives and left many, including a nine-year old boy, injuired and hospitalized. In the wake of what can be deemed as one of the worst cases of a concert stampede, the rapper himself was stunned to know of what went down in the crowd while he was performing.

In a revelatory interview with American radio host Charlamagne tha God, which took place on December 9, 2021, just a month after the Astroworld crowd surge, the rapper opened up about how the incident left him shaken in an almost hour long confession. For Travis Scott, it was just another show that was supposed to go down an expected path. However, things took a turn for the worst.

"And this night was just like a regular show, it felt like to me, as far as the energy. It didn’t feel like, you know…people didn’t show up there just to be harmful," the rapper said.

"It didn’t feel like, you know…people didn’t show up there just to be harmful," the rapper said (Image via Getty)

Talking about the role of artists in preventing such tragedies at their concerts, Scott points out the impossibility of registering any disturbance in the crowd while performing live. The lights, music, sounds, pyro effects, and other elements get in the way, making it even more difficult to comprehend what's going on. Even if things do go awry, the artists rely on professionals at the concert for help.

"Us as artists, we trust professionals for when things happen that people can leave safely," the rapper added.

In the interview, the SICKO MODE hit maker defended artists' role in any form of tragedies like what happened at the Astroworld concert.

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Travis Scott sheds light on the traumatic incident, saying he "didn't know" anything about the situation

Recalling the night of the fateful incident, Travis Scott revealed how things were from his perspective. According to him, it wasn't humanly possible for him to keep a track of the audience minutely. As per the interview, the rapper had no idea what was going on until after his set ended and the incident had already run its course.

Even then, Scott found it difficult to believe what had gone down at his own concert. The rapper recalled:

"I didn’t know the exact details until minutes before the press conference [after my set]...And even at that moment you’re like, ‘Wait, what?'"

The American rapper appeared to be extremely distressed by the mass casualty incident at his concert (Image via Getty)

Moreover, Travis Scott said in the same interview that its "crazy" that as the artist he could have stopped the show, but he could not hear the chaos over the music and fans' screaming.

The American rapper appeared to be extremely distressed by the mass casualty incident at his concert. All that registered while he was performing was that his fans were enjoying and vibing along and that in the immensely crowded audience, it was impossible for him to single out the moment when tragedy had struck.

In the same interview, the rapper confessed:

"You want to make sure fans get the proper attention they need. Anytime I could see anything like that, I did. I stopped it a couple times to just make sure everybody was OK. And I really just go off the fans’ energy as a collective — call and response. I just didn’t hear that."

Travis Scott took to twitter to apologize to fans, especially to those who were harmed by the incident in an emotional message, which showed how much the rapper was affected by the tragedy.

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"It’s not about just…harm": Travis Scott on what a concert is supposed to be like

Travis Scott also spoke about what it means to experience a concert. He said it is supposed to be a "fun" experience where people come together to wind down, relax, and socialize. It shouldn't have to be a place of "harm" that could endanger fans' lives. As such, having fun is the key element in a successfully orchestrated performance.

"But in concerts we’ve grown it to be just the experience of fun. It’s not about just…harm. It’s not about that. It’s about letting go and having fun, help others and love each other," the rapper mused.

Travis Scott spoke about what it means to experience a concert (Image via Getty)

The father of Stormi and Aire believes that fans should be able to have the experience of a lifetime while attending a concert. They should be able to make happy memories and not just go back scarred for life after a concert. To create a safe, engaging, and phenomenal concert experience is what every artist strives for, and Travis Scott is no different.

"That’s something I’ve been working on for a while, is creating these experiences and trying to show these experiences are happening in a safe environment," the rapper stated.

A bit of good news for Travis Scott's fans as the rapper and the team at the Astroworld music festival were recently absolved of any involvement or dereliction that might have caused or fuelled the tragedy.

Following the news of his absolvement, Travis Scott announced his upcoming Utopia concert set for July 28 amongst the pyramids of Egypt via a tweet. Unsurprisingly, tickets were sold out in just fifteen minutes.

As expected, fans couldn't contain their excitement as they had desperately awaited the rapper's return on stage. Taking to Twitter, several fans of the rapper commented on his latest milestone of selling out tickets within 15 minutes.

Fans can't contain their excitement as Travis Scott is set to perform live on July 28 (Collage of tweets by fans)

As the rapper is set to get on stage soon enough, fans are anticipating yet another phenomenal performance by him again.