Travis Scott is speaking out in his first interview since the Astroworld music festival tragedy that left 10 people dead.
He described the aftermath of the massive crowd crush at the Houston festival on Nov. 5 as an “emotional roller coaster” in an hourlong sit-down interview with Charlamagne Tha God published Thursday.
Scott said he didn’t know about the deaths until “minutes before the press conference” held by local police.
“It gets so hard because, you know, I always feel connected with my fans. I went through something and I feel like fans went through something and people’s parents went through something. And it really hurts. It hurts the community, it hurts the city,” he said.
Nov. 15, 202102:14
“It’s been a lot of thoughts, a lot of feelings, a lot of grieving,” the rapper said. “Just trying to wrap my head around it. I really just want to be there. Wish you could just hold everyone, talk to them, have conversations.”
“It hurts,” he added.
Scott was asked about “raging” culture at shows and if it contributed to the crush.
“Nah, it’s something I’ve been working on for a while of just creating these experiences … as artists we trust professionals to make sure that if things happen, people leave safely,” he said. “In concerts, we’ve grown it to be an experience of having fun, not harm. It’s about letting go and having fun.”
Asked if he feels any responsibility over the festival tragedy, Scott admitted he does.
“I have a responsibility to figure out what happened here. I have a responsibility to figure out the solution,” he said. “Hopefully this takes a first step for us as artists, having more insight about what’s going on.”
Scott offered to pay for all of the victims’ funerals, but some families rejected the gesture. The family of the youngest victim, 9-year-old Ezra Blount, was among those who declined the offer.
Over 300 lawsuits have been filed following the tragedy.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
