Travis Miller (musician)

Travis Miller (born May 13, 1984) is a multi-genre American recording artist and music producer from Richmond, Virginia. He is best known for his 2012 album Mista Thug Isolation and his 2015 album Oblivion Access, both of which were released under his most popular stage name Lil Ugly Mane.

Musical career

In 2007, Miller rapped in a group known as The Legacy, under the name Yung Gus.^[2] He also released at least one hip hop song in the style of Insane Clown Posse, under the name Spook Lo.^[3]

Early in his career, he contributed to a number of musical projects in varying genres, such as Vudmurk, Across, Public Garden, Cat Torso, Dreamo and Stormguy,^[4] and Head Molt.^[5][6][7]

Miller joined the hip hop production group Chocolate Milk Collective (CMLK) in 2010 under the name Shawn Kemp. The group has been inactive for some time.^[8][9] Under the Shawn Kemp name, he was also credited for scoring an infomercial for Slippy Syrup vape juice.^[10]

He began uploading music to Bandcamp under the name Lil Ugly Mane in 2010. This was followed by his debut mixtape, Playaz Circle, in 2011.^[11] His early work drew influence from the early Memphis rap scene's dark, horrorcore and gangsta rap lyrics, distinctive production style, and lo-fi recording quality. He collaborated with underground hip hop collective Raider Klan, who were also heavily influenced by early Memphis rappers such as Three 6 Mafia, on several songs, and designed much of their cover art, drawing influence from classic Southern rap designers Pen & Pixel.^[12]

His debut album, Mista Thug Isolation, was released in 2012. The album made waves within underground hip hop, earning positive reviews from Mishka NYC, among others,^[13] and support from members of hip hop group Odd Future.^[14] It was followed by shorter and more experimental projects such as Uneven Compromise and On Doing an Evil Deed Blues, and the collaborative EP Supasonic with Supa Sortahuman. In 2013, he announced that he planned to retire the Lil Ugly Mane project,^[15] although this appears to have not transpired.

Over the next few years, Lil Ugly Mane sporadically released pre-recorded material, such as the single "Underwater Tank" in collaboration with Antwon^[16] and the critically acclaimed, genre-spanning mixtape Third Side of Tape.^[17][18][19]

In late 2015, Lil Ugly Mane released the album Oblivion Access, a more experimental and personal album than previous offerings,^[20] as well as a collaborative album with Nickelus F, Trick Dice.^[21]

In early 2016, it was announced Lil Ugly Mane, Antwon, and Wiki had formed a new group called Secret Circle. Their first song, "Keep It Low", was released in June of that year.^[22][23] Secret Cirlce broke up in 2018.^[24]

In early 2017, Miller announced he would be releasing further music under the new alias Bedwetter. The first installment in the Bedwetter series was released on Bandcamp in January 2017.^[25] In June of the same year, he teased a new release under the Lil Ugly Mane alias on his Facebook page.^[26]

Discography

References