Search: Travie McCoy. Did you mean Travis McCoy? No. I didn't actually. I meant Travie Lazarus McCoy. I honestly can't believe how many people get his name wrong and call him "Travis." Yes, that's his legal name, but it's Travie. Sorry, but get it right. Lazarus was released last week (6/8/10) and it already has gotten attention, because of it's current chart topper, "Billionaire (Featuring Bruno Mars)," which couldn't be anymore appropriate in this economy. As I write this, "Billionaire" is actually #5 on Billboard's Hot 100. Anyone's who's hoping for the entire album to sound similar to "Billionaire" will be quite disappointed to find that each song has something unique about it; while any Gym Class Heroes fan that expects Travie to use his talent of mixing genres, will get exactly what they're expecting. On Lazarus, Travie mixes pop, rap, hip-hop, reggae, pop-punk, rock, and r&b. I don't mean to compare Gym Class Heroes and Travie's solo work so much, but his words are still witty and he's still... well, doing exactly what got him signed in the first place: poking fun at everyone. By no means am I saying one is better than the other, but the hard times Travie was going through were evident on Gym Class Heroes's The Quilt, but Lazarus is just a feel-good album. I couldn't be any happier with the fact that Travie doesn't just rap on Lazarus, but SINGS too. He's proven that he's perfectly capable of doing both extremely well.
If I had to recommend one song, it would probably have to be "Superbad (11:34)." Love love love "Superbad (11:34)" and it's one of those songs that you just can't explain why. It has a rock feel with... whatever genre T-Pain is, but it doesn't have Travie's typical rapping either. That's probably the best way to describe it. I feel like fans aren't too fond of "Akidagain," but I personally like it. In "Akidagain," Travie describes all the toys and things he cared about as a child and how is life is different now after growing up. The chorus is sung by children which adds a nice touch and rather than it sounding cheesy, it actually reminds me of the chorus of children singing in Pink Floyd's "We Don't Need No Education."
Last, but not least: by no means does the release of Lazarus mean that Gym Class Heroes is over. They're actually the opposite of over. What I mean by that is, they're currently working on their next album, The Paper Chronicles 2, which is to be released 2011. I excited for their future music, but for now, I couldn't be happier with Travie McCoy's solo debut.
myspace.com/traviemccoy
purevolume.com/traviemccoy
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