On 5th November 2021, a fatal tragedy took place at an event that was supposed to be an innocent celebration of rap music, curated by artist Travis Scott. In this article, I explain why the artist is somewhat to blame for what took place that day.
The incident began before Scott had even begun his set at the Astroworld festival in Houston. The crowd surged forward at first glimpse of Travis setting up on stage, causing the swarm of people to become suffocating. Fans that were at the concert told CNN that the tragedy begun as early as the first song. The crowd intensified as soon as the icon appeared, leading the crowd to become ‘tighter and tighter, and at that point it was hard to breathe.’
Concert attendees have described the incident as traumatising, with ten people having passed away during the hour that Travis Scott decided to play on. But why did the rapper make the decision to continue his set? If you delve into YouTube like I have, you’ll find clear evidence that the musician watched the tragedies take place. There are multiple scenarios where he calls in security to help fans, yet he still carries on his performance – and this is even after he’s noticed that there’s an ambulance in the crowd. It’s almost as though Scott doesn't even consider stopping his performance despite the terrible happenings that are taking place. After the concert, he told interviewer Charlamagne Tha God that he didn’t know fans were injured, which seems awfully hard to believe after exploring this footage.
Birds eye view footage shows the formidable doom that the concert would become. The sea of people were tightly packed together like a can of sardines and people were overwhelmed from the very first minute of the show. This surge of people is inevitably what led to the deaths of ten innocent fans, spanning from the ages of nine to 27. According to officials, they died from compression asphyxia – limiting expansion of the lungs by compression. More than 300 people were injured and treated at the site on top of the fatalities that took place. You would think that with the knowledge and research we have today, fatalities like this wouldn’t be allowed to happen. With the right security and precautions this tragedy truly was avoidable. At the twentieth minute of the performance, you can see a security guard manically trying the organise the mass with desperate hand gestures, to prevent the crushing of the crowd. Yet, Scott continues rapping. He even tells the crowd that someone has passed out. So, what would it take? He’s identified the ambulance in the middle of the crowd of festival goers, he’s seen security desperately gesturing to the crowd, and he’s aware people are injured and suffering. Why does he not stop?
It cannot be denied that the brutality of the catastrophic incident could have been lessened if it wasn’t for the rapper’s ignorance. Perhaps Scott didn’t know the gravity of the situation at the time, but with ambulances driving through the crowd and fans waving out for help, surely, he could have paused for more than a brief moment to consult with security? He stopped once or twice for no more than thirty seconds, giving little opportunity for staff to aid those that were suffocating in the multitude of bodies. He should have spoken with officials to learn the true severity of the disaster, and maybe, lives would have been spared. Fans were in fear. What should be the festival of a lifetime ended their lifetimes, for some literally and for others mentally. They must live with the images of lifeless bodies being carried out over the crowd and the sounds of helpless cries, deafened by the blaring chords of the set.
There were concerns about the ratio of concertgoers to security staff weeks before the concert took place, which shows that Scott and the organisers of the concert were aware of the likelihood of a disaster like this becoming a reality. This isn’t the only time a calamity has taken place in this way. The Altamont Festival was a disastrous event which started as rock band Rolling Stones’ proposition. The festival was unorganised and largely improvised, which led to the event turning violent and resulting in the deaths of four concertgoers, as the Rolling Stones continued their set as though nothing had happened. It’s a question of whether there is enough being done in terms of security at these events? Travis Scott should have had clear communication with security officials, so that he was made aware of the severity. However, he was aware of injuries and ambulances, that should have been enough for him to have stopped the concert for at least a significant amount of time. He merely paused the set a minute or two at a time, before continuing as people’s livelihoods were devastatingly ripped from them that day.