T. Mills

Travis Mills

Travis performing in Hollywood in 2013
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 (and previously T. Mills), is an American recording artist, singer-songwriter, and actor from Riverside, California. Mills signed a contract deal with Uprising Records. Following the signing, he released his first independent album, titled Ready Fire Aim (2010). Mills then left the record label to signed the other major-label of Columbia Records. After signing a record deal, he released two of his EPs: Leaving Home EP (2012) and All I Wanna Do (2014). In July 2015, Mills revealed that he decided to change his artistic name to "Travis Mills". Following his name change, he began hosting the Request show on Apple Music's Beats 1 radio station.[1] He is now signed to the Republic imprint, under the Lava Records, which an album expected in 2016.

Early life

Travis Tatum Mills was born on April 12, 1989, in Riverside, California.[2] At the age of 5, where he was a kid, Mills' uncle gave him his first guitar, so can start playing with it within a daily bases. At the age of 15, Mills dropped out of sports, to start his own punk rock band, with his high school friends.[3]

Career

2008–2011: Vans Warped Tour, Ready, Fire, Aim! and Leaving Home

At the age of 17, Mills' music career began when he been writing some songs in his bedroom, using music's software such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Reason, to create some backtracks. At the age of 18, he has been posting some of his music on his official Myspace account.[4][5] In 2009, Mills has gained attention through his self-releases on each music online, that gave him the spot to headlin the Vans Warped Tour, to perform at the babycakes-shaped merchandised tents.[6] Throughout his several notable live performances, Mills has been offered from multiple record deals by each of these record labels, before his official signing to the independently-incorporation record label, called Laguna Beach, distributed by Uprising Records. Following his signing to the label, he released his first EP, titled Finders Keepers on July 14, 2009, after that, he released his first official independent album, titled Ready, Fire, Aim! on September 28, 2010.[7][8]

T. Mills performing during March 2012.

In 2011, Mills announced that he had signed a deal to Columbia Records, and then the recording sessions took place for his first official album. Over seven months, during the recording sessions, he announced that he completed around 140 songs, which he then narrowed down to 10-plus tracks. Instead of releasing the first studio album, he has decided to released one of his free projects towards the fans, and one of his free projects is his second EP, titled Leaving Home.[9] Under his association with Columbia Records, Mills' second EP, Leaving Home was available for retailed stores on December 13, 2011.[10] The EP includes the his breakout song and latter released as the single, titled "Vans On".[11][12] In December 2011, Mills released a non-album track, "Beat It Up", which features guest vocals from a fellow rapper and producer Juicy J.

2012–present: Thrillionaire, All I Wanna Do and his major-label debut

In March 2012, Mills was nominated for the Best New Artist at the MtvU's Woodie Awards.[13] On July 23, 2012, Mills released his second mixtape, Thrillionaire. The mixtape features guest appearances from Smoke DZA, Audio Push and James Fauntleroy II,[14] while the production was handled by Sledgren, The Monsters and the Strangerz and Kane Beatz, among others.[15] The music videos was shot and filmed for songs such as "Lightweight", "Diemonds" and "Other Bitch Callin'".[3][16][17] Following the release of Thrillionaire, Mills announced that he is planning to released the sequel to his debut official mixtape, called Thrillionaire 2.[18] Mills then announced that he would released his major-label debut studio album during the second quarter of 2013.[18] It was reported that Mills was in the studio working on the album with the other artists such as Juicy J, Mike Posner, James Fauntleroy, Travis Barker, Layzie Bone, and Skeme, with the production handled by Mills', alongside Kane Beatz, 1500 or Nothin', Malay and Boi-1da, among others.[3][18][19][20][21][22][23] On February 15, 2013, Mills announced that his first official single for his major-label debut will be coming soon.[24] On March 5, 2013, the song, titled "Loud" was released for digital download. On the following day, the music video was released for "Loud".[25][26] The song was produced by Pop Wansel and it contains a sample of "I Know You Got Soul", performed by Eric B. and Rakim.[27] He spoke about the hook of this song, saying that "the hook for the song was one of his favorites out of all the hooks, he has ever written".[22]

In April 2013, Mills has been touring throughout the United States, with an American rapper Sammy Adams.[28] On June 27, 2013, Mills featured on Mike Posner's remix of "We Own It (Fast & Furious)", along with Sammy Adams and Niykee Heaton.[29] Since then, Mills has been touring the United States with We the Kings, and the fellow supporting acts The Ready Set and Breathe Carolina on the 2013's SummerFest.[30] The music video for the album's second single, "All I Wanna Do", was shot and filmed in July 2013.[31] Starting on February 24 through April 24, 2014, T. Mills will be headlining on his All I Wanna Do Tour.[13] On February 18, 2014, T. Mills announced the All I Wanna Do EP.[32] On February 24, 2014, Mills released the audio to "All I Wanna Do". On the following day, Mills officially released the All I Wanna Do EP, via iTunes. The EP features production from Boi-1da and Malay.[13] In July 2015, Mills has decided to change his artistic name to Travis Mills, for all social networks and official website purposes, and also announced the release of his new single, titled "Young & Stupid", which features guest vocals from fellow rapper T.I., was released on July 24, 2015.[1][33]

On January 22, 2016, it was announced that Mills has released his new single "Don't Need Much".[34][35] The song was released through Republic Records, and was available for streaming on Soundcloud on the same day of release.[36] The beat from "Don't Need Much" was sampled from a single of the Dutch rappers Lil' Kleine and Ronnie Flex. In March 2016, Mills made his acting debut in the Netflix's original comedy series Flaked.[37]

Musical style

Travis Mills music has been described as genre-bending as he mixes singing with rapping and pop production. Mills is known to have pop/electronic songs mixed with hip hop and R&B.[38] Mills says his genre blending music comes from different tastes in his family during his childhood.[8] He has said 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."[22] He has indicated that his rapping style is influenced by Kanye West and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, among others.[27]

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.[20][39][40] 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.[41] He was known for his large stretched ears which he started stretching when he was 15.[42] 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.[40] T. Mills is known for his large following on multiple social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook[43] and Instagram.[38]

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 Entertaiment
  • 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 TV series (3 episodes)

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. ↑ "T. Mills Debuts ‘Vans On’ Video". Rapfix.mtv.com. 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  5. ↑ "Bio | Career". MTV. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  6. ↑ "A Summer on Warped Tour with T. Mills". Highwire Daze. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  7. ↑ "T MILLS – Stream / Interview by Whitney Lovett". AMP Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  8. 1 2 "AOL.com Video - Rapper T. Mills on His Beginnings as a Musician". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  9. ↑ "Mixtape Daily Fire Starter: T. Mills | News Video". MTV. 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  10. ↑ "T. Mills Premieres "Stupid Boy" on MySpace, Announces Debut Album Details". Hip-Hop Press. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  11. ↑ Osei, Anthony (2012-01-17). "Video: T. Mills "Vans On"". Complex. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  12. ↑ "MTV PUSH Artist Of The Week: T. Mills". Buzzworthy.mtv.com. 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  13. 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.
  14. ↑ "T. Mills Drops Thrillionaire Mixtape". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  15. ↑ Moore, Jacob (2012-07-10). "Mixtape: T. Mills "Thrillionaire"". Complex. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  16. ↑ "Purple DIARY – The Official T Mills Site". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  17. ↑ "T. Mills ft. James Fauntleroy (of Cocaine 80’s) - Other B*tch Callin’ Music Video - Listen". Djbooth.net. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  18. 1 2 3 "VIDEO: T. Mills Preps For Warped Tour With “Thrillionaire” Mixtape Featuring Juicy, Smoke DZA And More". Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  19. ↑ "T. Mills - blog exclusive". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  20. 1 2 "MTV PUSH Artist Of The Week: T. Mills". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  21. ↑ "T.Mills and 1500 or Nothin Studio Session | The Official T Mills Site". Tmillsmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  22. 1 2 3 "Yahoo Music". Ca.music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  23. ↑ "T. Mills talks collab with Mike Posner (Power 106 Snowed In)". YouTube. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  24. ↑ "Twitter / ilovetmills: New single hittin iTunes soon". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  25. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Loud - Single by T. Mills". Itunes.apple.com. 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  26. ↑ "T. Mills Posts New Video". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  27. 1 2 "Our New YNG FAV: T. Mills | NBC 7 San Diego". Nbcsandiego.com. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  28. ↑ "Announcing the Sammy Adams & T.Mills Tour | The Official T Mills Site". Tmillsmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  29. ↑ "New Music: Mike Posner f/ T. Mills, Sammy Adams, & Niykee Heaton – ‘We Own It (Remix)’". Rap-Up. 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  30. ↑ "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.
  31. ↑
  32. ↑ "Twitter / ilovetmills: All. I. Wanna. Do. 2.25.14". Twitter.com. 2014-02-18. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  33. ↑ http://highlineballroom.com/show/2015/06/22/2015-artist-to-watch-max-raury-jacob-whitesides/
  34. ↑ http://www.idolator.com/7620891/travis-mills-dont-need-much-premiere
  35. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dont-need-much-single/id1072821239?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
  36. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/tmills/dontneedmuch
  37. ↑ Petski, Denise (August 26, 2015). "Emily Bergl Joins ABC’s ‘American Crime’; Travis Mills In ‘Flaked’". Daedline. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  38. 1 2 "T.Mills: The Playlist Artist". Forbes. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  39. ↑ "Buzzworthy Blog Exclusive: T. Mill Q&A | Video". MTV. 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  40. 1 2 "Daily Loud Interview With T. Mills". YouTube. 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  41. ↑ "#TatTales Week 2: T. Mills (@ilovetmills)". The Source. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  42. ↑ "Pop artist T. Mills takes out his ear plug for Kobi - YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  43. ↑ "Maria Luiza Luz". Facebook. Retrieved 2015-07-10.

External links

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