Gym Class Heroes' frontman Travie McCoy is celebrating the release of his new solo album with a flurry of activity. Here are the details provided by Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen: "LAZARUS" – which includes the smash hit, "Billionaire (Feat. Bruno Mars)" – arrives in stores and at all online retailers on June 8th. Starting today, "LAZARUS" will begin streaming exclusively via MySpace, for whom Travie recently performed a MySpace Secret Show at Sacramento's Harlows. To listen, please visit www.myspace.com/traviemccoy.
"Billionaire" is currently bulleting up the top 20 on Billboard's "Hot 100," while hitting the top 15 on the CHR/Top 40 chart. The track is also a digital sensation, with over 450,000 downloads sold thus far, claiming a top 10 spot at iTunes. What's more, three additional tracks from "LAZARUS" are now available for purchase on iTunes, including "We'll Be Alright," "Superbad (11:34)," and the just-released "Need You."
Likewise, the companion music video for "Billionaire" is also scoring, with MTV upping it to Heavy Rotation and VH1 putting it into Medium Rotation. The video was recently the #1 most played clip on Fuse, and just added to the channel's "No. 1 Countdown Pop" and "No. 1 Countdown Hip Hop." Additionally, MTV has named Travie their PUSH Artist of the Week, a high-profile weeklong program which began yesterday and prominently features him in spots across the network and online.
Travie is set to celebrate the release of "LAZARUS" with a pair of national television appearances – both accompanied by Bruno Mars. On June 15th, the pair will be performing on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno followed by a June 21st appearance on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, backed by the show's acclaimed house band and Travie's former tourmates The Roots.
Furthermore, Travis McCoy's Unbeaten Track, a documentary film chronicling McCoy's trip to India, South Africa, and the Philippines as the official ambassador of MTV's Staying Alive Foundation, an international mass media campaign working to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, has just been honored with a "Global Issues Documentaries" Gold award from this year's World Media Festival. The film follows McCoy as he visits youth-led projects responding to the threat of HIV/AIDS in their communities. Travis McCoy's Unbeaten Track is streaming now at http://www.staying-alive.org/en/videos. In keeping with the message of global HIV/AIDS awareness, Travie recently lent his voice and his song "Billionaire" to promo spots for The Lazarus Effect, an HBO documentary at the center of a multi-media campaign by (RED) to bring attention to the impact of large-scale AIDS programs at work in Sub-Saharan Africa and the life-restoring effect of ARV medicine now available to HIV-positive people for around 40 cents a day.
Known far and wide as the frontman of alternative hip-hop superstars Gym Class Heroes, McCoy's solo debut sees him teaming up with a diverse roster of talent for a genre-busting, groundbreaking new collection (see attached tracklisting). Among the contributing producers, writers, and artists are Cee Lo Green, T-Pain, Bruno Mars and the Smeezingtons (B.o.B, Cobra Starship, Flo Rida), Colin Munroe, Young Cash, Tim William, Detail (Akon, Lady Gaga), The Stereotypes (Ne-Yo, Mary J. Blige), Evan "Kidd" Bogart (Adam Lambert, Beyonce), and Josh Abraham (Velvet Revolver, 30 Seconds To Mars), Oligee (Flo Rida, Leighton Meester) & Lucas Secon (Pixie Lott, Sean Paul, The Cab).
McCoy is now traveling America on his first-ever solo tour, joining Photo Finish recording duo 3OH!3 and Decaydance/Fueled By Ramen labelmates Cobra Starship on the blockbuster "Too Fast For Love" tour, presented by MTV. The trek will culminate with a final stop in Asbury Park, New Jersey on June 12th as part of the Stone Pony's Summer Stage series. Kicking off all dates will be Photo Finish/Atlantic's own I Fight Dragons.