Houston, Texas rapper Travi$ Scott made headlines over the weekend when he demanded that a photographer leave the stage, during his performance at Hot 97 Summer Jam. Following the incident, Scott appeared on Los Angeles’ Power 106 to speak on what exactly led up to his encounter with the photog.
According to the Southern wordsmith, he was “already pissed” about not being allowed to have a screen onstage during his Summer Jam set. He explained that he became even more irritated when a lone cameraman was on the stage and not in the press pit.
“But the cameraman thing was—I don’t know if anyone noticed, but that was like the second to last song of my set that I did,” Travi$ Scott said. “That wasn’t like the beginning. But when I perform I like a clear set. And I was already pissed about them not allowing me to have a screen onstage when I performed. I don’t get why radio shows allow artists to do radio shows without creative control or any art direction at all. So, instead of that I get their press guys, their camera guys to be my backdrop for my show. That’s not fair to any artist. No artist should allow a camera guy in the middle of the stage. I don’t care if they’re working for the station. No station should have their cameraman onstage when an artist is performing.”
Scott later revealed that the incident at Summer Jam doesn’t serve as the first time someone’s been kicked off the stage during one of his performances. Although he didn’t name names, he stated that he’s kicked celebrities and A-list artists off the stage before.
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“It’s a bad visual,” he said. “If you’re looking at it—If you look at my stream online and you just see a random guy in a blue shirt just all behind me, taking photos. It takes away from the experience. I guess he wanted the shots. I get all that…You can at least ask. ‘Yo, do you want the camera guy onstage or not?’ I didn’t mind the other camera people in the press pit. And I have another one. If you come to a Travi$ Scott show, I don’t like anybody onstage. I’ve kicked many of celebrities, many of your A-list artists [off the stage].”
Later in the interview, Scott apologized for calling the photographer a “nerd,” and says he attempted to reach out to the man to apologize.
For additional Travi$ Scott coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
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