Travis Scott and Fanatics’ Michael Rubin made an unexpected appearance at the LSU Barnes & Noble on Wednesday night to promote the release of a new merchandise collaboration between Fanatics, Lids, Cactus Jack and Mitchell & Ness.
This launch was part of Rubin and Scott’s tour of college campuses to release and promote the collection. The news broke after a series of posts on X (Twitter) and Instagram from Scott, Rubin and other affiliates that said they would see LSU students at the bookstore at midnight.
“THIS IS GOING TO BE INSANE,” Rubin said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
“12:00 am LSU BOOKSTORE IT’S A FUNCTION,” Scott posted to X (Twitter) just a few hours before the event.
There were lots of questions about the event among students. Before midnight, many students didn’t know if Scott or Rubin would be attending in person or via a live stream.
Even with some uncertainty about the appearance, students waited hours to see if Scott would show up in person. The official flyers advised that everyone begin lining up at 9 p.m. However, some students and other attendees were in line as early as 5 p.m.
A crowd gathered outside the Barnes & Noble as loud music blasted, people danced and a couple of fights broke out. Police officers on the scene had to break up multiple altercations happening in the crowd.
Jada Storey, film and TV freshman, said she made it to the front of the line, “only by the grace of God.” She said she had been waiting with her friend since 5 p.m.
“Everybody pushed me,” Storey said. “If I meet Travis, it’ll be worth it. I thought it would be better, but it’s okay, it’s for the experience.”
Christian Minor, a finance sophmore, said he had been in line since 5:30 p.m. He said he’s a fan of Scott, but it was really the clothes that drew him to the bookstore. Minor said things got a little hectic as the barricades to keep the line in order were knocked over.
“Something happened and everybody started pushing so the barriers that were in one line aren’t even there anymore. I got out of line and found a new way through,” Minor said.
A sport administration senior, who requested not to be named, reported that they witnessed a fellow student pass out right in front of them, who was soon allowed to return to the line. The student said in addition to being shoved by attendees and officers, tables and barricade poles were flung backward into the crowd.
Ardreuna Davis, communications studies sophmore, said things were escalating quickly outside. Even after Davis found her way into the store she was still visibly shaken.
“I’ve been out there for so long,” Davis said. “Someone kept getting mad and saying I was pushing them, but in reality I couldn’t even move.”
LSU spokesperson Abbi Rocha said LSUPD did not receive any complaints or reports of injuries from the event.
While the crowd continued waiting outside, students and attendees could begin entering the store five people at a time a few minutes after midnight. Scott greeted the first person through the door with a picture and autograph.
One student approached Rubin as he greeted customers and said, “Hey, Mr. Rubin, I need help paying my college tuition.”
Angel Reese, other members of the women’s basketball team, Ryan Clark, and Jayden Daniels were also in attendance to greet fans and help with the check out line.
There were mixed reactions about the collection, but something that caught customers’ attention was the cost. Retail prices for the clothes started at $68 and went up to $160.
“It was worth it,” sport administration major, Amel Hollimon said. “But dropping $160 on a hoodie goes crazy!”
When mass communication sophomore Ella Hall found out on Monday that Scott was coming to LSU, she said that she thought it was an April Fool’s joke.
Hall found out about Scott’s visit because she was assigned by LSU to take pictures of the rapper meeting the LSU football team. She said that she was given this assignment two weeks in advance, but wasn’t told what it was about.
Scott and Rubin surprised the football team with new items from the collection prior to heading over to the bookstore event.
“When Travis and Michael walked into the building, I had the privilege to direct group photos and document interactions with them and the players,” Hall said.
While Scott and Rubin were interacting with the players, Hall was in charge of documenting everything. Hall said that while she was working on getting the team together for a group photo, Scott commented how she seemed like the football coach.
“You can tell Travis cares about his fans and is just excited to interact with them,” Hall said. “He’s very polite and has good intentions.”
Hall said that initially, she was nervous going into this because of how big of a fan she is. Scott and Rubin were nice and respectful to the players and Hall, which she said was a good reminder that “we are all people no matter our title.”
Scott also made an appearance at an after party held at Fred’s, packing in students fleeing to see the rapper hit the stage.
Opening acts included LSU’s own DJ Roügh and RachiiMusic. DJ Roügh, also known as senior Nick Simpson, said that he has been good friends with the general manager of Fred’s, who booked him for this gig.
“I was like 80% sure he was going to cancel,” Simpson said.
When Scott actually ended up coming, Simpson was up on stage with him the whole time. He said that everyone was everywhere in the crowd.
One of those people in the crowd was engineering sophomore Adam Ben Hmida. Hmida said that he originally found out that Scott was coming to campus on Tuesday, but didn’t know he would be making an appearance at Fred’s until 5 p.m. the day of.
He made his way over to Tigerland at 8:30 p.m. and waited around five hours for Scott to take the stage at 1:30 a.m.
“His performance was insane,” Hmida said. “The energy was crazy, and the crowd was incredible. People were jumping and singing, and when he played Sicko Mode, the entire crowd carried the melody.”
The limited-edition apparel collection was recently made available for purchase, and can be found here. Scott and Rubin will be headed to The University of Southern California next to launch more limited-edition merchandise.
