Over the course of the past semester, musical multi-hyphenate and University of Miami junior Travian McNair has been making a splash in the hip-hop scene both on- and off-campus. From dropping multiple singles and projects to opening for Quavo at this year’s homecoming, McNair has been on a roll. But where does his love for his craft really come from, and where is he heading next?
Sporting a black-and-white, flower-patterned knit bucket hat, a color-coordinated knit sweater and glistening gold jewelry, Travian greeted the intimate crowd of 30 to 40 people watching his SkateBird Miami performance. Following the two openers of the event, the evening’s headliner, Travian, had finally stepped out onto the dimly lit stage.
Once the drummer, guitarist, saxophonist and two keyboardists were set up and ready to go, Travian moved the microphone to his mouth and began his 45-minute set. As the show progressed, audience members began to sweat out of their clothes as a result of cheering, dancing, jumping and singing along to Travian’s catalog of genre-bending, up-tempo records that fuse hip-hop with electronic, house and jazz music.
On the final Thursday evening of September 2023, SkateBird Miami, a 12,000 square foot skatepark nestled in the northside suburbs of the city, became enveloped with the sound of lively music and the scent of mouthwatering food. The weekly “Sound Sessions” showcase, which highlights rising talent in the Miami-Dade area, had just begun, and attendees made their way into the skatepark for a night of entertainment away from the chaos of a typical Thirsty Thursday in Coconut Grove or South Beach.
On and off the stage, New Jersey native Travian McNair, a University of Miami junior majoring in economics and minoring in music industry and sports administration, has spent the last three years carving out his own lane in the hip-hop space under the mononymous stage name Travian.
The 20-year-old DJ, producer and rapper has performed at several venues between South Florida and the New York City tri-state area and even received a shout out from the notable hip-hop, Chicago-based multimedia company “Lyrical Lemonade,” which is run by prolific American music videographer and producer, Cole Bennett, and boasts an audience of over 21.2 million YouTube subscribers. In recent months, most ’Canes have come to know Travian from his UM homecoming performance in which he opened for chart-topping Atlanta rapper Quavo. With two mixtapes, two collaborative Eps and a collection of other singles under his belt, McNair doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Ahead of the release, his latest intimate and sultry single “Your Love,” Distraction had the pleasure to sit down with McNair at a tucked-away table amongst the colorful flowers and lush trees of the Gifford Arboretum to discuss what’s to come for the up-and-coming multi-hyphenate musician. Over the course of the conversation, he made one thing clear: he’s not doing anything but being true to himself and creating the music he loves, while painting poetry with his words along the way.
“People connect to the music when you as the artist are authentic,” said McNair. “At the end of the day, I really don’t like inauthentic people, so I have no choice but to be myself.”
Ahead of new material set to drop in the next couple of months and days before his headlining show at SkateBird Miami back in September, McNair dropped one of his latest singles entitled “Go Wrong,” a collaboration with 21-year-old London-based R&B singer Sophia Cortes. She met McNair at Pirate Studios after being convinced by her close friend, British producer Cableknit, to attend the session, and she regards her collaboration with Travian as a standout amongst the rappers she’s worked with. Citing the soft, groovy chorus of “Go Wrong,” which McNair wrote, Cortes admits their studio session left her on a creative and spiritual high.
“I can tell Travian is a very introspective person, and I see that in his lyricism and his songwriting,” said Cortes towards the beginning of the FaceTime interview. “It was really refreshing and inspiring to see someone who has their own distinct style and flow.”
In spring of last year, McNair released two singles — “I Use 2” and “All the Time” — that featured samples of Lauryn Hill’s “I Used to Love Him” and The Stylistics’ “Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart),” respectively. These two tracks provided modern updates to these R&B chart-toppers, with “I Use 2” adopting a dance and house music twist and “All the Time” on an alternative hip-hop flare akin to that of New Yorker Joey Bada$$.
Despite his innate talent and hard work, McNair hasn’t quite had his big break as a hip-hop artist; he hasn’t scored a feature on a chart-topping single with an A-list rapper or had an audio of his own song go viral on social media platforms, such as TikTok. Among the thousands of people trying to pursue rap careers every day, McNair acknowledges that it can be hard to stand out amongst the crowd and that he feels the pressure to succeed.
“Realistically, nobody has to care about my music. As an up-and-coming artist, you’re constantly trying to prove yourself,” said McNair during the Zoom interview back in December 2023.
“You feel like you’re not in the position you’re supposed to be in,” he later added.
Yet when Travian was asked where he saw his career going in the near future, he responded swiftly without hesitation or second thought.
“In five, 10 years’ time, I will be one of the biggest independent artists in the world,” said McNair with an affirmative and confident tone.
Expanding Horizons on the Internet
Toward the end of January 2023, McNair released another collaborative EP, “International Waters,” with 20-year-old London-based producer and photographer Jamie Salmons, who produces records under the moniker Cableknit. Although thousands of miles and an ocean separate the two creatives, Salmons initially reached out to McNair over Instagram after British rapper Niko B released his single “International Baby” in February 2021, which featured a beat McNair produced during his senior year of high school.
In the following weeks and months, McNair and Salmons began sending beats back and forth, asking for each other’s input and providing each other constructive criticism. After months of exchanging messages, the British-American producer-rapper duo pair finally had the opportunity to meet up and record material for the “International Waters” EP at Pirate Studios in North London. Salmons says he enjoys working with McNair because of his vast array of musical influences — which ranges from Kaytranada and Tyler, the Creator to Amy Winehouse and Marvin Gaye — and his openness to incorporating them in his music.
“It’s freeing as a producer,” said Salmons during our video call interview when asked about McNair’s sonic flexibility. “I’ll send him a demo that’s not even rap-oriented and he’ll go for it. He prefers that actually.”
The kind of collaboration that McNair facilitated with Salmons was not the first time the rapper pursued the internet for musical opportunities. During the COVID-19 pandemic that sent most Americans into lockdown, McNair retreated to the confines of his bedroom and began spending his days playing PlayStation video games with old friends from his time as a basketball player. Through these hours of gaming, McNair became connected with 23-year-old, Los Angeles-based rapper Khari Thomspon, who uses the stage name kharikyoto, and they began developing a friendship.
Once the pair realized they both had an unrelenting love for creating beats and writing bars, they naturally joined forces and started releasing singles together. From months of collaboration came the joint EP “Carte Blanche,” a six-track offering released back in August 2022 that sonically explores old school hip-hop and soul. When reflecting on the experience of crafting “Carte Blanche,” Thompson recalls being impressed with McNair’s dedication to and expertise in his craft.
“Travian has such a hard work ethic that it pushes me to do more,” said Thomspon in the middle of our over-the-phone interview. “Sometimes, I’ll hear his verse and redo mine because I’ll think to myself: ‘Damn, this 20-year-old kid is whooping my ass.’”
Returning to the SkateBird Miami stage, as Travian’s set concludes, his band began their big instrumental blowout. The drummer in the back ferociously beat his drumsticks on the drums and symbols. The keys players on the side briskly moved their docile fingers across the width of the keyboard, playing multiple notes at once. And at the center of the stage, the saxophonist ruthlessly blew into the mouthpiece, emitting a booming, snappy melody that ensured the audience wouldn’t go home and forget Travian’s name.
words_andrew mccleskey. photo_sharron lou. design_marita gavioti.
This article was published in Distraction’s Spring 2024 print issue.
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