Rapper Travis Scott will return to the stage for a major awards show performance, months after the tragic crowd surge at his Astroworld Festival in Houston resulted in deaths and many injured concertgoers.
He’d been mostly silent publicly following that event, giving a few performances at various venues. However, Sunday will bring one of his biggest public appearances on stage in a while.
The award-winning hip-hop star will give a 2022 Billboard Music Awards performance, and based on a new video featuring hip-hop pioneer Diddy, Scott is fired up and ready to go.
Diddy gets Travis Scott fired up for Billboard Music Awards
Sean “Diddy” Combs is known for making hit records and introducing major talents to the world thanks to his successful Bad Boy Entertainment label. They’ve included the late, great Notorious B.I.G., Lil Kim, and The Lox.
He’ll introduce many other talents on Sunday night as Diddy hosts the 2022 Billboard Music Awards. The show features performances from Mary J. Blige, Machine Gun Kelly, Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, Silk Sonic, Ed Sheeran, and Travis Scott.
In a video clip shared Saturday on his Instagram page, Diddy greets his friend Travis and gets him hyped up for the Billboard Music Awards. Scott is set to perform his hit song Mafia at the show, produced by Boi-1da and Jahaan Sweet and featuring uncredited vocals from rapper J. Cole.
“You ready? You ready?” Diddy asks Scott several times in the video clip (below) after they greet each other with a hug and handshake.
“Everybody, my baby bro is here. Tomorrow, it’s time. It’s time. What you gonna do to that thing, man?” Diddy asks before Scott breaks away with a “shhh” and starts running off, yelling with excitement.
“You better tune in tomorrow!!!!!” Diddy wrote in his caption, tagging the BBMAs.
Scott released his easy-going track Mafia in November 2021 and premiered the music video around the same time. He also premiered the song Escape Plan. The two tracks arrived just ahead of Scott performing at his Astroworld Festival in Houston, Texas.
Fans have been anticipating a new album from Scott called Utopia, but details are scarce on whether those two newer songs will be on the album or when it will release.
Scott previously won a Billboard Music Award for his smash hit Sicko Mode featuring Drake. The popular song took home the win for Top Streaming Song (Audio) at the 2019 BBMAs.
While Mafia isn’t up for any BBMAs on Sunday, his previous song Goosebumps is nominated. A cover of the 2016 song was remixed into a dance track by HVME, giving Scott and the Spanish DJ a nomination for Top Dance/Electronic Song.
Scott has performed at other events since the Astroworld tragedy
Sunday night’s Travis Scott performance for the Billboard Music Awards will be one of his biggest since last November’s Astroworld tragedy. A massive crowd surge during the Astroworld Festival caused a crowd crush, resulting in 10 deaths and over 300 injuries.
Scott has continued making headlines after the tragedy, with many lawsuits filed against the rapper and Live Nation, the presenters of the concert event. While he’s been quiet publicly for months after the event, he’s performed a few other times since the tragic incident at his festival.
That included a private pre-Oscars party he performed at in March. In April, Scott performed publicly for the first time since Astroworld at the nightclub E11EVEN in Miami, Florida, as part of Race Week Miami 2022. The city was hosting Formula One’s Grand Prix for the first time.
Following the BMMAs, Scott has another major performance on the way, but months down the road. According to Billboard, he’s scheduled to perform at this November’s Primavera Sound festival in Buenos Ares, Santiago, and San Paulo.
Viewers can watch the 2022 Billboard Music Awards telecast starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC or streaming on Peacock.