S. Samuel
Nappy Boy rapper Travis McCoy recently previewed tracks from his upcoming solo album, The Lazarus Project, and announced plans to drop a mixtape aimed at his ex-girlfriend, Katy Perry.
The Gym Class Heroes front man performed his first solo show at the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn, NY.
“So for those of you that don’t know. I got a solo project coming out entitled The Lazarus Project. It’ll be out earlier [next year] and tonight we’re going to be playing selections from The Lazarus Project. Thanks again for coming out tonight. In case you didn’t know, this is our first time ever playing any of these songs so you motherf*ckers are getting the first glimpse into The Lazarus Project and I hope you enjoy yourselves.” (SOHH)
McCoy also announced that he teamed with DJ Clinton Sparks for a mixtape which pokes fun at his ex-girlfriend’s new relationship with Forgetting Sarah Marshall star, Russell Brand.
“Let’s get into some mixtape sh*t because before The Lazarus Project actually drops I got a couple of mixtapes coming out and I know you guys have been waiting for the Death Comedy Jam, Vol 1. We got that dropping as well as Clinton Sparks and myself have another mixtape dropping called “Forgetting Katy Perry.” (SOHH)
According to McCoy, he didn’t place a strong emphasis on snagging collaborations for his first album.
“I tried to keep the guest appearances at a bare minimum because this is my first effort away from Gym Class Heroes, so I didn’t want it to be super appearance-driven,” McCoy said in an interview. “It’s me showing another side of Travis. There’s a lot more singing and a lot more melody, but I think the guests that are on the record are there for a reason and are meant to be on the record. I feel like a lot of people in the hip-hop world don’t take me seriously as a rapper. And I feel that first-and-foremost I came up as a rapper before I started singing. All a lot of people know from me is ‘Cupid’s Chokehold,’ and they don’t scratch the surface and see beyond that dude who sings the song about his girlfriend. With this record, I feel like people are going to take me more seriously as a rapper and hopefully, as a singer as well.” (Billboard)
McCoy made headlines earlier this year after publicly being inducted into T-Pain‘s camp.
In a recent performance documented by a Thr33 Ringz webisode video clip, the Auto-Tune king is shown on stage offering fans a first public announcement of the union. “Check this out, I wanna bring somebody back on-stage,” Pain tells the screaming crowd. “I’m gonna make this real quick — everybody get your phones out, you ready? Ladies and gentlemen, [McCoy] signs to Nappy Boy Entertainment.” (Thr33 Ringz)
Watch the video of McCoy’s announcement below:
