Before Astroworld, Travis Scott was one of Nike’s most lucrative collaborators: Any sneaker featuring the rapper’s name was considered equivalent to an investment; a chance to flex on social media; an exclusive item to later sell at an eye-watering markup. Immense hype and demand surrounded Scott’s products — that is, until the items were overshadowed by real lives lost, hundreds injured, and subsequent lawsuits from the artist’s music festival last November.
At the time, it seemed Scott would never recover the value of his personal brand, especially considering his efforts consisted of mumbled Instagram Story apologies, a controversial brand deal, and an interview where he denied all accountability for the events that unfolded at Astroworld. The rapper has slowly started to ease his way back into performing, however, and his partnership with Nike has been rescheduled despite everything. Whether or not Travis could regain the support (and profit) of his fans seemed unclear until this weekend, when over one million entries were reportedly submitted for a raffle of his upcoming Nike sneakers, according to TMZ.
