Black Pop Culture
By: Janae ANtrum
On November 5, 2021, Travis Scott held his annual Astroworld concert in his hometown of Houston, Texas. Around 50,000 people attended the event. Ten people died during a crowd surge, the victims ranging from ages 9 to age 27. According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, the victims died from accidental compression asphyxia. Compression asphyxia happens when external pressure is placed on the chest that prevents the person from breathing normally. Dr. George W. Williams, from the University of Texas Science Health Center, compared the experience to their chests being crushed by a car. One victim also died from the combined effects of cocaine, methamphetamine, and ethanol. In addition to the deaths, hundreds of other people were injured including 11 who suffered from cardiac arrest. Concert attendants and family members of the victims are blaming Travis Scott for the tragedy. As of January 2nd, there are over 300 lawsuits filed against Travis Scott. These lawsuits are suing for over $10 billion in damages as a result of the concert's fatalities and injuries. As said in Travis Scott’s recent interview with Charlamagne Tha God, Travis offered to cover funeral costs for the victims; however, the families turned down the offer. In the interview, Travis Scott claims to not have known what was going on in the crowd as he was performing. “The thing is…people pass out. Things happen at concerts.” Though remorseful, he also stated, “A Travis Scott show or an Astroworld show wasn't the bottom line factor of what happened here.” There is an ongoing criminal investigation of Travis Scott, Live Nation Worldwide... and other planners of the event by the Houston Police Department.
Gunna’s anticipated album DS4EVER was released on Friday, January 7. The album features collaborations with Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, Drake, Future, Kodak Black, Chloë, G Herbo, Chris Brown, Nechie, Yung Bleu, and my personal favorite, Lil Baby. On DS4EVER ‘pushin P’ is one of Gunna’s most popular songs. People have been trying to add “P” to their daily language, but what is “P”? In Gunna’s recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Gunna attempted to explain what “P” is. Gunna says that “If you woke up early in the morning to a beach that was P. Or you can use it in other ways like ‘nah, I ain’t like how he did that….That wasn’t P.'' Charlamagne tha God interjects. “So P is short for player?” Gunna responds, “It could be. It starts with player, but then you just start pushing it…like when you just started pushing p…it’s like everything I’m doing is really just P.” I still don’t quite understand what P is, but Gunna can say pretty much anything as DS4EVER is the number 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. This is Gunna’s second number 1 album following his 2020 album Wunna. DS4EVER is his fifth charting album and fourth top 10. This album is the fourth in Gunna’s Drip Season series. His first to chart in the series was Drip Season 3, which dropped in 2018 that featured artists such as Young Thug, Lil Baby, Nav, and other artists.
The Weeknd’s new album Dawn FM also released on Friday, January 7. The album features Tyler the Creator, Lil Wayne, Jim Carrey, Quincy Jones and others. The album cover portrays The Weeknd as an old man, possibly depicting the life the music industry sucks out of you at such a fast pace. The theme of the album is being stuck in a purgatory tunnel where the light at the end of the tunnel is signaling the transition todeath. Some believe that the tunnel could also symbolize the pandemic and that there is light at the end of all our struggles to survive. Jim Carrey accompanies this experience as a DJ. At one point he says, “we’ll be there to hold your hand and guide you through this painless transition”. On the same day his album dropped, he also dropped a video for the song Sacrifices. The video gets dark and twisted quickly, featuring human sacrifice. Following DS4EVER, Dawn FM is the number 2 album on the Billboard top 200 charts. Dawn FM is The Weeknd’s eighth top 10 album.