Travis Mills

Travis Mills

Travis in 2016
Background information
Birth name Travis Tatum Mills
Also known as
  • T. Mills
  • T. Million
Born (1989-04-12) April 12, 1989
Origin Riverside, California, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
Years active 2009–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website http://iamtravismills.com

Travis Tatum Mills (born April 12, 1989) better known by his stage name Travis Mills (who was previously known by T. Mills), is an American recording artist and actor from the Riverside, California. Through his music, all of these projects were released on record labels from Uprising Records to Columbia Records, such as Finders Keepers EP (2009), Ready, Fire, Aim (2010), Leaving Home EP (2012) and All I Wanna Do EP (2014). He has been a host with The Request Show on Apple Music's Beats 1.[1] Travis signed a deal to Republic Records imprint, under the aegis of Lava Records.

Early life

Travis Tatum Mills was born on April 12, 1989, in Riverside, California.[2] When Mills was 5, his uncle gave him his first guitar for him to play it on a daily basis. At age 15, Mills dropped out of sports to start his own punk rock band with his fellow high school friends.[3]

Career

20??–2010: Career beginnings, signing to Uprising Records and Ready, Fire, Aim!

When Mills was 17, he began writing some songs in his own bedroom. To his credit, he began writing music using music's software such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Reason. At age 18, Mills was posting his music on his official Myspace page.[4] In 2008, Mills signed a deal to the indie record label Uprising Records.

2011–2012: Signing to Columbia Records, Leaving Home, MtvU's Woodie Awards and Thrillionaire

T. Mills performing during March 2012.

In 2011, Mills signed a deal to Columbia Records. He began the seven-month recording on his second major-label album.[5] On July 22, 2011, Mills released a 10-track free project that was revealed to be his mixtape, titled Leaving Home, with no guest appearances. It features the production from Noel Zancalla, Omen, AudioBlack, The Futuristics, Colin Munroe and Phonix, among others.[6][7] On December 6, 2011, Mills announced that he is releasing the five-track EP, with its same name as his mixtape through Columbia Records. The EP's lead single, called "Vans On" was released on December 12, 2011, along with the promotional single, called "The Boom".[8] Mills' Leaving Home EP was made available for retail stores on December 13, 2011.[9][10] He performed at Los Angeles, California at The Roxy show for the release of his second EP, Leaving Home on December 15, 2011.[11] The EP was released for free in a short time on December 19, 2011,[12] however, the EP was officially released on January 13, 2012.[13][14] The EP features some new tracks, with the additional production from Sir Nolan and The Stereotypes, among others.[8][11]

In March 2012, Mills was nominated for the Best New Artist at the MtvU's Woodie Awards.[15] On July 23, 2012, Mills released his second mixtape, called Thrillionaire. It contains 10 tracks, featuring three guest appearances from American rapper Smoke DZA, the hip hop duo Audio Push, and a American musician James Fauntleroy II;[16] as well as it features the production from Sledgren, The Monsters and the Strangerz and Kane Beatz, among others.[17] To promote the mixtape release, they have shot and filmed some music videos for songs such as "Lightweight", "Diemonds"[3][18] and "Other Bitch Callin'" featuring James Fauntleroy II.[19] Mills later announced that he is planning on releasing the sequel for his second mixtape, called Thrillionaire 2.[20]

2013–2015: SummerFest and All I Wanna Do

In 2013, Mills announced that the release date for his second major-label album has been slated for the second quarter of 2013.[20] It was reported that Mills was working on his second major-label album with artists such as Juicy J, Mike Posner, James Fauntleroy, Travis Barker, Layzie Bone and Skeme, with the production by Mills himself, alongside several other record producers such as Kane Beatz, 1500 or Nothin', Malay and Boi-1da, among others.[3][20][21][22][23][24][25] On February 15, 2013, Mills announced that his first single for his second major-label album will be coming soon.[26] On March 5, 2013, the audio for his song, called "Loud" was released for digital download. The following day, Mills released the music video for "Loud".[27][28] The song was produced by Pop Wansel, and the song contains a sample of "I Know You Got Soul" performed by Eric B. and Rakim.[29] He later said that "the hook for the song was one of his favorites out of all the hooks, he has ever written".[24]

In April 2013, Mills was touring with an fellow American rapper Sammy Adams.[30] On June 27, 2013, Mills was featured on Mike Posner's remix to "We Own It (Fast & Furious)", along with Sammy Adams and Niykee Heaton.[31] In June 2013, Mills was on tour with We the Kings, and the fellow supporting acts The Ready Set and Breathe Carolina on the 2013's SummerFest.[32] The music video for the single, called "All I Wanna Do", was shot and filmed in July 2013.[33]

On February 18, 2014, Mills announced the release to his third EP, titled All I Wanna Do.[34] Starting from February 24 to April 24, 2014, Mills will be headlining on his All I Wanna Do Tour.[15] On February 24, 2014, while starting his promotional tour for his third EP, Mills released the audio to its title track "All I Wanna Do". The following day, Mills officially released the All I Wanna Do EP, via iTunes. The EP features production from Boi-1da and Malay, among others.[15] In July 2015, Mills would change his stage name to his artistic name Travis Mills. On July 24, 2015, Travis released his new single, titled "Young & Stupid". The song features guest verse an fellow American rapper T.I.[1][35]

2016–present: Signing to First Access Entertainment and While You Wait

On January 22, 2016, Travis announced the release of his new single, called "Don't Need Much".[36][37] The song was released through Republic Records, which was made available for streaming on Soundcloud on the same day of release.[38] The beat from "Don't Need Much" was sampled from a single of its same name, performed by Dutch rappers Lil' Kleine and Ronnie Flex. On April 8, 2016, Travis signed a label deal with First Access Entertainment. That same day, is where Travis released his fourth EP, titled While You Wait. The EP contains six tracks.[39] While working some new music, Travis walked in this summer's New York and Paris fashion shows where he was named one of the best dressed by GQ Magazine.[40]

Musical style

Travis' music has been described as genre-bending, mixing with his singing, his rapping and his pop production, also is known for Travis to have pop and electronic songs to be mixed with hip hop and R&B.[41] Travis says that his genre blending music comes from different tastes in his family during his childhood.[42] He said that as a kid his, "Mom was a huge Queen fan, my dad’s a diehard Elvis fan, my uncle is a hip-hop and R&B head, my sister listened to Britney Spears, country and boy bands and I was into pop punk, punk rock, metal and just into everything."[24] He indicated that his rapping style was influenced by Kanye West and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, among others.[29]

Acting career

In March 2016, Travis made his acting debut in the Netflix original comedy series Flaked.[43]

Personal life

Travis Mills is heavily tattooed, which includes a full sleeve on one arm and a Bone Thugs-n-Harmony tattoo on his chest, in addition to many others. He also designated the letters "FTH" ("Fuck The Haters", "Forever The Highest") on his forehead, the "O" with a heart behind his left ear representing his sisters name and the word "Patience" tatted on his knuckles his favorites.[22][44][45] Mills also got the word "Gnarly" tattooed across his stomach at age 18. A couple months after that he did his first self tattoo which he has got better at doing since then.[46] He was known for his large stretched ears which he started stretching when he was 15.[47] However, he had them sewn up in 2013. He is also known for his heavy marijuana use with his favorite being sativa. He uses mainly G Pen Personal Vaporizers, blunts or bongs to smoke.[45] Travis is known for his large following on multiple social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook[48] and Instagram.[41]

Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US US R&B US Rap
Ready, Fire, Aim! — — —
TBA TBR TBR TBR
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.

Extended plays

List of EPs, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
 US R&B
 US Rap
Finders Keepers EP — — —
Leaving Home EP — — —
All I Wanna Do — — 16
While You Wait
  • Released: April 8, 2016
  • Label: First Access Entertainment
  • Format: Digital download
 — — —
"—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory.

Mixtapes

Singles

Year Title Album
2010 "Stupid Boy" Ready, Fire, Aim!
"She Got A..."
2011 "Vans On" Leaving Home EP
2012 "Lightweight" Thrillionaire
"Diemonds"
2013 "Loud" Non-album single
2014 "All I Wanna Do" All I Wanna Do
2015 "Young & Stupid" TBA
2016 "Don't Need Much" TBA

Guest appearances

List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Size of Your Boat" (Remix) 2010 Jeffree Star N/A
"Another One" 2012 Ty$, Dom Kennedy Beach House
"Sally Walker" Audio Push Inland Empire
"Started from the Bottom" (Remix) 2013 Mike Posner, Asher Roth, King Chip N/A
"We Own It" (Remix) Mike Posner, Sammy Adams, Niykee Heaton

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
2016 Flaked Stefan Main role

References

  1. 1 2 "I Am Travis Mills - Homepage". Iamtravismills.com. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  2. ↑ Fleischer, Adam (2012-01-25). "The Break Presents: T. Mills - XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  3. 1 2 3 "T. Mills Raps of Willpower in 'Diemonds,' Reveals New Song - The Boombox". Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "Bio | Career". MTV. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  5. ↑ Mixtape Daily Fire Starter: T. Mills | News Video | MTV
  6. ↑ T. Mills Follow @ilovetmills   (2011-07-22). "T. Mills - Leaving Home - Mixtape Listen and Download". Djbooth.net. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  7. ↑ "Mixtape Daily Fire Starter: T. Mills | News Video". MTV. 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  8. 1 2 Horowitz, Steven J. (2011-12-06). "T. Mills Announces "Leaving Home" EP, Due December 13th | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  9. ↑ T. Mills Leaving Home EP (2012-02-21). "T. Mills Leaving Home EP | YRB Magazine | Lifestyle Fashion Music Art Culture". YRB Magazine. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  10. ↑ "T. Mills: 'The Boom' Song Finds Him Looking for Booty". Theboombox.com. 2011-12-06. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  11. 1 2 "T. Mills to Release "Leaving Home" EP on Dec. 13 @ARTISTdirect". Artistdirect.com. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  12. ↑ "Introducing: T. Mills Reveals Details Of 'Leaving Home' EP & UK Shows". Stereoboard. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  13. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Leaving Home - EP by T. Mills". Itunes.apple.com. 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2013-09-06.
  14. ↑ https://play.google.com/store/music/album/T_Mills_Leaving_Home_EP?id=Bjcslqp4jywh63bat23arauatru&hl=en
  15. 1 2 3 Records, Columbia (2014-02-25). "T. Mills Releases ALL I WANNA DO EP - PR Newswire - The Sacramento Bee". Sacbee.com. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  16. ↑ "T. Mills Drops Thrillionaire Mixtape". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  17. ↑ Moore, Jacob (2012-07-10). "Mixtape: T. Mills "Thrillionaire"". Complex. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  18. ↑ "Purple DIARY – The Official T Mills Site". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  19. ↑ "T. Mills ft. James Fauntleroy (of Cocaine 80's) - Other B*tch Callin' Music Video - Listen". Djbooth.net. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  20. 1 2 3 "VIDEO: T. Mills Preps For Warped Tour With “Thrillionaire” Mixtape Featuring Juicy, Smoke DZA And More". Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  21. ↑ "T. Mills - blog exclusive". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  22. 1 2 "MTV PUSH Artist Of The Week: T. Mills". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  23. ↑ "T.Mills and 1500 or Nothin Studio Session | The Official T Mills Site". Tmillsmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  24. 1 2 3 "Yahoo Music". Ca.music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  25. ↑ "T. Mills talks collab with Mike Posner (Power 106 Snowed In)". YouTube. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  26. ↑ "Twitter / ilovetmills: New single hittin iTunes soon". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  27. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Loud - Single by T. Mills". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  28. ↑ "T. Mills Posts New Video". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  29. 1 2 "Our New YNG FAV: T. Mills | NBC 7 San Diego". Nbcsandiego.com. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  30. ↑ "Announcing the Sammy Adams & T.Mills Tour | The Official T Mills Site". Tmillsmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  31. ↑ "New Music: Mike Posner f/ T. Mills, Sammy Adams, & Niykee Heaton – 'We Own It (Remix)'". Rap-Up. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  32. ↑ "We The Kings announce "Summer Fest" tour with Breathe Carolina, the Ready Set and T. Mills - Alternative Press". Altpress.com. 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  33. ↑
  34. ↑ "Twitter / ilovetmills: All. I. Wanna. Do. 2.25.14". Twitter.com. 2014-02-18. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  35. ↑ http://highlineballroom.com/show/2015/06/22/2015-artist-to-watch-max-raury-jacob-whitesides/
  36. ↑ http://www.idolator.com/7620891/travis-mills-dont-need-much-premiere
  37. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dont-need-much-single/id1072821239?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
  38. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/tmills/dontneedmuch
  39. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/while-you-wait-ep/id1100433242
  40. ↑ http://www.gq.com/gallery/ten-best-dressed-men-of-the-week-7-16-16
  41. 1 2 "T.Mills: The Playlist Artist". Forbes. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  42. ↑ "AOL.com Video - Rapper T. Mills on His Beginnings as a Musician". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  43. ↑ Petski, Denise (August 26, 2015). "Emily Bergl Joins ABC's 'American Crime'; Travis Mills In 'Flaked'". Daedline. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  44. ↑ "Buzzworthy Blog Exclusive: T. Mill Q&A | Video". MTV. 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  45. 1 2 "Daily Loud Interview With T. Mills". YouTube. 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  46. ↑ "#TatTales Week 2: T. Mills (@ilovetmills)". The Source. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  47. ↑ "Pop artist T. Mills takes out his ear plug for Kobi - YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  48. ↑ "Maria Luiza Luz". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-07-10.

External links

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