Travis Scott debuted a new song at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, marking the Houston-born rapper’s first TV appearance since a crowd crush killed ten people and injured thousands at his Astroworld Festival in November.
Scott performed his new song, “Mafia”, in what looked like an arctic doomsday bunker accompanied by singer Jazelle and a troupe of fur-clad dancers. The previously unreleased track will appear on Scott’s forthcoming album, Utopia, due out later this year. Scott then transitioned to “Lost Forever”, a song written in collaboration with James Blake and Westside Gunn.
Travis Scott’s performance at the Billboard Music Awards comes amid recent developments in court proceedings relating to the Astroworld tragedy. Host and Executive Producer Diddy revealed that he pressured Billboard to invite Scott to perform along with country singer Morgan Wallen in an effort to “un-cancel the canceled.” Wallen earlier this year returned to touring after he was caught on camera using a racial slur in February 2021.
“So one of the things I’m doing directly is un-canceling the canceled,” Diddy said in an interview with Billboard. “That’s breaking news because people haven’t been about uncanceling. But canceling is a trend that needs to stop.”
Diddy dismissed the misdeeds of both artists, saying, “Travis went through a tragedy; Morgan [used the N-word] while talking to his boy. People make mistakes. Now we’re moving on with love and respect for everybody that was hurt or affected. It’s time to forgive.”
While some shared in Diddy’s sentiment of forgiveness, others expressed disappointment and anger in response to the controversial performances. Travis Scott became a trending topic on Twitter, with many posts calling the rapper out for returning to the spotlight as if nothing happened.
“Sitting in stunned silence that Billboard invited Travis Scott of all people to perform on national television,” one user wrote.
Sitting in stunned silence that @billboard invited Travis Scott of all people to perform on national television
— Abject Terror (Taylor’s Version) (@Marasaurus_) May 16, 2022
Another expressed frustration at Scott’s performance, tweeting “#travisscott is disgusting. It has barely been 6 months since his disgrace of a concert #AstroWorld and he is performing left and right like nothing ever happened. Disrespectful! The music industry is disgusting!”
#travisscott is disgusting. It has barely been 6 months since his disgrace of a concert #AstroWorld and he is performing left and right like nothing ever happened. Disrespectful! The music industry is disgusting! #Disgusting #BillboardMusicAwards #KylieJenner
— jst another girl (@babygirlisamia) May 16, 2022
In addition to Travis Scott and Morgan Wallen, the 2022 Billboard Music Awards also featured performances by Silk Sonic, Ed Sheeran, Megan Thee Stallion, Elle King and Miranda Lambert, and more. Watch videos of the musical performances, including Travis Scott’s, below.
Travis Scott – “Mafia”
Ed Sheeran – “2step”
Megan Thee Stallion – “Plan B”, “Sweetest Pie”
Elle King And Miranda Lambert – “Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home)”
Latto’s – “Big Energy”