Travis Scott is set to take part in the upcoming Superbowl halftime show alongside Maroon 5. Many artists had turned down the opportunity in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and his allies who have been engaging protests against police brutality. Some have tried to discourage Travis from accepting the deal, including Jay-Z, saying that his performance would condone the complacency and flagrant discriminatory actions shown by the NFL towards in regards to some of these protests. While it might also be argued that the rapper could use the platform to benefit his community, it is quite unlikely.
The "Sicko Mode" artist has previously said that politics is simply not a realm within which he wants to engage. And now that a 2014 interview has resurfaced showing Travis expressing controversial ideas about the Black American community, some factions of his following seem to be feeling even more disappointment and outrage.
During this interview, Travis commented on disingenuous activism and the responsibility of individuals in the context of deaths by cops. He spoke of Mike Brown and the following social justice movements that were born out of his tragic death.
"I'm kind of angry, so many black people are acting like fake activists," he said. "I'm not saying he deserved to get killed. But I'm not saying that he didn’t deserve to pay for consequences he probably inflicted [...] You gotta just stop putting yourself in positions where you’re continuously having this situation go down."
View the full interview below.