Travis Scott opens up about 'devastating' 2021 Astroworld tragedy: 'I always think about it'

Two years after the Astroworld tragedy, Travis Scott is opening up about the fatal crowd surge that resulted in the deaths of 10 people during one of his shows.

The “Goosebumps” rapper, who was performing on stage when the incident occurred, broke his silence in a new interview with GQ after being asked if he intended to address the event on his new Grammy-nominated album, Utopia. “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 said.

Scott continued, “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.”

Reflecting on his state of mind in the aftermath of the tragedy, Scott said he was “overly devastated,” adding, “I always think about it. Those fans were like my family. You know, I love my fans to the utmost.”

The crowd surge at the outdoor festival in Houston, which took place on Nov. 5, 2021, killed 10 concertgoers between the ages of 9 and 27. Hundreds more of the 50,000 people in attendance were harmed, with roughly 300 people treated for injuries and 11 suffering from cardiac arrest.

Scott alludes to the incident on the Utopia track “My Eyes,” which he said represents “the things I deal with on a day-to-day basis and the fact of how it could be misunderstood and the struggles of life and all aspects of life. The constant weight that’s put on.”

In the song’s closing verse, Scott raps, “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.”

He said the lyrics “just came out" when he was writing "My Eyes," telling GQ, "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.”

Scott also hopes fans take something else away from the track. “To know I have pain too,” he said. “I have concerns, things that I think about, and the things I see on a day-to-day basis I think about them. And every day I want to find change in the things, to make things better, make myself better. It’s just like: I go through things like everyone else. And even recently through something like I never could imagine.”

The rapper initially addressed the incident in a statement offering his cooperation with the Houston Police Department. "I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night," he wrote on Twitter the following day. "My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival."

He later spoke about the evening on an Instagram Story, saying he was working to identify the families to help them through their grief.

"My fans really mean the world to me," he said, "and I always want to leave them with a positive experience."

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