T. Mills

T. Mills

T. Mills performing in Hollywood in 2013
Background information
Birth name Travis Tatum Mills
Born April 12, 1989
Origin Riverside, California, United States
Genres
Occupation(s) Rapper, singer, songwriter
Years active 2009–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website tmillsmusic.com

Travis Tatum Mills (born April 12, 1989), better known by his stage-name T. Mills, is an American rapper and singer from Riverside, California. Mills has released one independent studio album Ready Fire Aim (2010) on Uprising. Then he signed to Columbia Records and has released two EPs Leaving Home EP and All I Wanna Do. T. Mills will release his major label debut in 2014 on Columbia Records.

Early life

T. Mills was born Travis Tatum Mills on April 12, 1989.[1] At the age of 5, T. Mills' uncle gave him his first guitar, and by age 15, Mills dropped out of sports to start a punk rock band with his friends.[2] He stated in an interview Bone Thugs-n-Harmony inspired him to start rapping with the way they mix rapping and singing in their songs.[3]

Musical career

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

At age 17, he began his solo career writing music in his bedroom using software such as Pro Tools, Logic and Reason to create backing tracks for his songs, and by the age of 18, he was posting his music on MySpace.[4][5] Mills quickly gained attention self-releasing music online, leading to a spot on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour performing in a Babycakes merchandise tent.[6] After several notable live performances, Mills was getting offered record deals by multiple labels before signing to Laguna Beach label and Uprising Records, who led him to released his first EP, titled Finders Keepers on July 14, 2009 and his debut album, titled Ready, Fire, Aim! on September 28, 2010.[7][8]

T. Mills performing during March 2012.

In 2011, T. Mills signed a deal with Columbia Records, which led him to begin working on his album. During a 7-month process of recording around 140 songs, which he narrowed down to 10. He later decided rather than release an album, he would release a free project to the fans, which would be[9] Mills' second EP, Leaving Home EP, was released for retail sale on December 13, 2011, by Columbia Records.[10] This EP included his breakout hit "Vans On".[11][12] In December 2011, Mills released a track "Beat It Up" featuring Juicy J.

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

In March 2012, Mills received a 2012's MtvU Woodie Award nomination for Best New Artist.[13] On July 23, 2012, Mills released a mixtape, titled Thrillionaire on DatPiff. Thrillionaire features guest appearances from Smoke DZA, Audio Push and James Fauntleroy II,[14] while its production was handled by Sledgren, The Monsters and the Strangerz and Kane Beatz, among others.[15] The tape was promoted by two singles—"Lightweight" and "Diemonds", all 3 tracks including (the mentions which are labeled to be the two released singles) and "Other Bitch Callin'", were serviced as an accompanying music videos.[2][16][17] After the release, Mills announced his plans to release a Thrillionaire 2 with the second one already completed.[18]

While announcing the release of his major-label debut studio album, during the second quarter of 2013.[18] Mills has been working on the album with artists, such as Juicy J, Mike Posner, James Fauntleroy II, Travis Barker, Layzie Bone and Skeme, with its production on the album will come from Mills' himself, Kane Beatz, 1500 or Nothin', Malay and Boi-1da, among others.[2][18][19][20][21][22][23] On February 15, 2013, Mills announced that his first single for his major-label debut will be coming soon.[24] The single titled, "Loud" was released on March 5, 2013 for digital download, and the live music video the following day.[25][26] The song was produced by Pop Wansel and samples "I Know You Got Soul," by Eric B. and Rakim.[27] He said that the hook for the song was one of his favorites out of all the hooks he has written.[22]

In April 2013, Mills toured the United States with rapper Sammy Adams.[28] On June 27, Mills featured on Mike Posner's remix of "We Own It (Fast & Furious)" along with Sammy Adams and Niykee Heaton.[29] After Mills was touring the United States with We the Kings, and fellow supporting acts The Ready Set and Breathe Carolina on the SummerFest 2013.[30] The music video for the album's second single "All I Wanna Do", was shot in July 2013.[31] Starting on February 24 through April 24, 2014, T. Mills is touring on the All I Wanna Do tour.[13] On February 18, 2014, T. Mills announced the All I Wanna Do EP.[32] Then on February 24, 2014, Mills released the audio to "All I Wanna Do". The following day, T. Mills released the All I Wanna Do EP to iTunes. The EP featured production from Boi-1da and Malay.[13]

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.[33] 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

T. 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][34][35] 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.[36]

He was known for his large stretched ears which he started stretching when he was 15.[37] 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.[35] T. Mills is known for his large following on multiple social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook[38] and Instagram.[33]

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
"—" 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

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 N/A

References

  1. ↑ The Break Presents: T. Mills - XXL
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "T. Mills Raps of Willpower in 'Diemonds,' Reveals New Song - The Boombox". Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "Fire Starter". Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  4. ↑ T. Mills Debuts ‘Vans On’ Video
  5. ↑ T. Mills Bio | T. Mills Career | MTV
  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. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "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
  10. ↑ "T. Mills Premieres "Stupid Boy" on MySpace, Announces Debut Album Details". Hip-Hop Press. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  11. ↑ Video: T. Mills "Vans On" | Complex
  12. ↑ MTV PUSH Artist Of The Week: T. Mills
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 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. ↑ Mixtape: T. Mills "Thrillionaire" | Complex
  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. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 "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. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "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. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Exclusive: T. Mills talks growing up for his major label debut album | Sound Check - Yahoo! Music
  23. ↑ T. Mills talks collab with Mike Posner (Power 106 Snowed In) - YouTube
  24. ↑ "Twitter / ilovetmills: New single hittin iTunes soon". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  25. ↑ iTunes - Music - Loud - Single by T. Mills
  26. ↑ T. Mills Posts New Video | Sputnikmusic
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Our New YNG FAV: T. Mills | NBC 7 San Diego
  28. ↑ "Announcing the Sammy Adams & T.Mills Tour | The Official T Mills Site". Tmillsmusic.com. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  29. ↑ Rap-Up.com || New Music: Mike Posner f/ T. Mills, Sammy Adams, & Niykee Heaton – ‘We Own It (Remix)’
  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. ↑ Right before we wrecked a hotel #bts All I Wanna Do | The Official T Mills Site
  32. ↑ "Twitter / ilovetmills: All. I. Wanna. Do. 2.25.14". Twitter.com. 2014-02-18. Retrieved 2014-03-14.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "T.Mills: The Playlist Artist". Forbes. 2012-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  34. ↑ "Buzzworthy Blog Exclusive: T. Mill Q&A | Video". MTV. 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Daily Loud Interview With T. Mills". YouTube. 2012-11-30. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  36. ↑ "#TatTales Week 2: T. Mills (@ilovetmills)". The Source. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  37. ↑ "Pop artist T. Mills takes out his ear plug for Kobi - YouTube". YouTube.com. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  38. ↑ "https://www.facebook.com/ilovetmills?fref=ts"

External links