Travis Scott’s Nike collaborations are back in full swing, despite the tragedy and controversy surrounding the rapper’s Astroworld music festival. While Scott’s fanbase doesn’t seem concerned over his return — a recent raffle for the artist’s Air Trainer 1 sneaker reportedly received over one million entries — Travis seems to be making amends by donating the proceeds of his Nike drop to his own philanthropic effort, Project Heal.
As noted on the official Cactus Jack Instagram, a donation will be made to the charity following the sneakers’ release on May 27, although a specific amount isn’t listed. Anonymous sources, allegedly close to Scott himself, told TMZ that Project Heal will reportedly receive “millions of dollars.” The proceeds are suspected to have come from the surprise raffle hosted on the rapper’s website earlier this week.
Healing Scott’s reputation —
Launched back in March, Project Heal is backed by Scott’s Cactus Jack Foundation. The philanthropic effort focuses on four pillars related to education, mental health, and addressing “safety challenges for large-scale live events,” the latter of which directly references the fatal crowd surge at the rapper’s Astroworld music festival.
In addition to funding a task force to research large-scale events, Project Heal has backed a $1 million scholarship fund at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The charity also pledged seven figures towards the CACT.US Youth Design Center, a multi-use workspace in Houston that fosters future creators and inventors in middle and high school, and provides a free crisis-care hotline and online channel for young people in need of help.
Is a donation enough? —
The launch of Project Heal was one of the first (and only) times Scott implied he was somewhat responsible for the tragic events at Astroworld. Earlier efforts from the rapper included a mumbled Instagram Story apology, a controversial brand deal, and an interview where he denied all accountability. Many saw Scott’s responses as a way to save his personal brand rather than an actual offering of remorse.
Of course, people could translate Travis’ recent pledge to Project Heal the same way — but with clear demand for the rapper’s products, even throughout the backlash, he could just as easily have sat back and done nothing. At least with a significant donation to Project Heal, people other than hypebeasts will be able to benefit from Scott’s reunion with Nike.
