This piece was originally published at COMPLEX in June 2015.
Coverage of Travi$ Scott’s recent performance at Hot 97’s Summer Jam largely revolved around his shabby treatment of an on-stage photographer. From the initial live tweets from the crowd to the chorus of judgmental clucks that followed online, rap critics and fans alike virtually climbed over one another to weigh in on whether or not it was cool for the Houston-area native to have so brusquely shooed the working shutterbug off the annual event’s Festival Stage. Incredibly, the incident proved to be the closest thing to a traditional "Summer Jam moment" at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. Of course, something far more distressing unfolded not long thereafter.
Though he’s been an occasional guest on some of its programs, you’d be hard pressed to hear one of Scott’s verses on the iconic and still-influential New York hip-hop station, let alone a full song. Yet he’s managed to be the only Summer Jam 2015 act anyone seems interested in talking about now, no small feat given the star-studded lineup.