Travis Scott offers new thoughts on the Astroworld tragedy

Two years after the Astroworld tragedy, Travis Scott is embarking on a new tour while reflecting on the events of that day in Houston. The rapper describes himself in a new GQ interview as “overly devastated” by the crowd crush that left ten people dead, adding, “Those fans were like my family.” In the time since, “It has its moments where it gets rough and…yeah. You just feel for those people. And their families,” he says.

“Making music, you think about things that go on in life and things that happen in your life, and you dial in on things,” Scott tells the outlet. “That moment for families, for the city, you know, it was devastating. And when it came to making, like even finishing the album [Utopia]…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.”

Scott references the tragedy on the Utopia track “My Eyes,” where he 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 says that the words “just came out when I was writing. 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.”

The artist has been criticized for the way he handled the aftermath of the event, but he hopes the new song is a way for people “To know I have pain too. 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. So.”