In 2010, the Gym Class Heroes frontman was riding high off his first solo endeavor, "Billionaire."
But in the years since that mega-hit, the rapper seems to have disappeared from the
spotlight.
So, whatever happened to Travie McCoy?
Low marks
Despite the early success of its lead single, McCoy's debut album Lazarus peaked at #25
on the Billboard 200, selling only 15,000 copies in its first week.
Both fans and critics had trouble recognizing the Gym Class Heroes frontman as a solo artist.
He told Billboard in 2010, "I'm trying to kill a lot of the negative connotations out
there about me doing this solo project...A lot of people thought this was the end of
the Gym Class Heroes…and I was trying to take the momentum we've built…and use it
for my own selfish desires.
That's not the case at all."
The summer album would mark a drastic departure from his more serious Gym Class Heroes output.
He told MTV that year, "You want music to have a good time to, music to connect to...You
wanna play it at the party."
While Rolling Stone praised McCoy for inventing "His own market by mixing emo, hip-hop and
tween pop," the magazine only gave the album 2 and a half stars, stating "His polished
croon-rapping is more unctuous than charming, but he gets credit for dreaming of getting
rich so he can fix New Orleans and pass out cars like Oprah."
Solo singles
McCoy began work on his sophomore solo effort, releasing a string of non-album singles, beginning
with "Rough Water" in 2013.
Featuring singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, the song didn't top the charts, but did very well
among McCoy's fan base.
He told Vibe that December, "The response has been amazing; I couldn't be more stoked."
In March 2014, McCoy collaborated with Brendon Urie, of Panic!
At the Disco, on the single "Keep On Keeping On."
But it was the following year that he released the most popular of the three: "Golden," featuring
"Chandelier" singer, Sia.
While neither of the latter two efforts charted in the US, both earned millions of views on
YouTube.
Featured artist
In addition to tapping various pop and rock artists to guest on his own singles, McCoy
paid it forward, contributing feature spots on other recording artists' songs.
In 2012, the rapper guested on "Love Me" by the British girl-group Stooshe, and later
provided vocals on Olly Murs' song "Wrapped Up," which hit #3 on the UK Singles chart,
and broke into the Billboard Top 40 in the US.
Creating art
On top of being an accomplished rapper, singer, and songwriter, McCoy is also a respected
artist.
"I don't make music here, I paint here"
According to Miami.com, he debuted "sketches and tattoo-inspired works" at an exhibition
called "The Rich Event" in December 2012.
He said, "If it hadn't been for music, I definitely would have chased a career in the art world."
Family time
McCoy recently made amends with his estranged family.
He told Vibe in 2013, "In the past couple of years, my family and I have been through
some rough patches, but as I've gotten older I've learned to bury the hatchet...It was
nice spending time with my nieces and nephews — it was like Rugrats: The Movie."
The musician is especially close to his niece, Farrah.
As McCoy shared in April 2015, Farrah had "stage 4/5 kidney disease," and needed a transplant.
In September 2017, the rapper celebrated the four-year-old's health, writing: "Back to
the day before my baby angel got her Brand New Kidney...She had been so strong and resilient
and I can't thank you all enough for your prayers and well wishes."
Battling addiction
The rapper opened up about his addiction to pharmaceuticals in 2017 on R.A.
The Rugged Man Show:
"I tore my ACL, MCL, meniscus; twisted all that s--- up so I'm in the hospital all summer
and they put me on OxyContin...And they sent me home with a prescription full it"
"The first time I ran out, I got hella sick withdrawals."
When his doctor wanted to increase his prescription, McCoy quit cold turkey.
He was clean for a year before turning to the drugs again — for recreational use.
But at $30 a pill, he eventually turned to heroin, claiming that's the reason for the
opioid epidemic:
"These kids are like, 'Oh, it's prescribed by a doctor, it's okay,' and it's not."
"These doctors are no different than d-boys on the corner."
Finally getting clean in 2013, the rapper revealed why he stays sober.
"I had to like talk to myself, like, 'Do you want to die?'
And I was like, 'F---, no!'
And honestly, it was me having that conversation with myself and the birth of my niece, Farrah."
Back to Gym Class
McCoy brought Gym Class Heroes out of hiatus to work on their fifth studio album, The Papercut
Chronicles II, telling MTV in 2009, "All I got to say is it's definitely going back to
the essence of Gym Class Heroes, which is four dudes sitting in a room, vibing off each
other and making organic, dark metal."
The album came out in November 2011 and peaked at #54 on the Billboard 200.
But its lead single "Stereo Hearts" featuring Adam Levine is what put the hip hop rock outfit
back on the map.
Still, the rumored Gym Class follow-up album seems to have been put on hold indefinitely.
McCoy told Billboard in 2014, "When the time is right and I'm given the chance, we'll get
together and start working on the next Gym Class album."
With no release date in sight, the band recently announced that they are set to join Train's
annual Sail Across the Sun cruise in March 2018, suggesting that the wait for new Gym
Class Heroes music could be over as early as next year.
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