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Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time. The term Twin Cities in the United States refers specifically to the cities Minneapolis and Saint Paul, both of which are in the midwestern state of Minnesota.

Cities twinned geographically do not necessarily match demographically, economically, or politically.

In most cases, cities that grow into each other's space in this way lose their individual identities, and whatever border or barrier still separates them becomes irrelevant as they fuse into one new city. One famous example of this is Budapest in Hungary, which began as two settlements (Buda and Pest) facing each other across the Danube at a strategic fording place along a trade route. However, there are twin cities which have been able to resist this final union and have maintained individual identity against the tides of history, economics and demographics.

Twin cities often share an airport, into whose airport codes are integrated the initials of both cities; DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth), MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul), and RDU (Raleigh-Durham) are examples.

In some cases, such as Albury/Wodonga in Australia, the two cities are permanently divided by a state border, often one that strictly adheres to a geographical landmark, such as the Murray River that divides New South Wales from Victoria, and thus Albury from Wodonga.

Examples[link]

A remarkable example of twin cities: Plaza Internacional of the Frontera de la Paz. On the left, Santana do Livramento (Brazil); on the right, Rivera (Uruguay).

This article may contain excessive, poor or irrelevant examples. You can improve the article by adding more descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions. (November 2009)

Asia[link]

• Dhaka and Gazipur, Bangladesh
• Tel Aviv and Jaffa, Israel
• Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan
• Jhelum and Sarai Alamgir, Pakistan
• Guangzhou and Foshan, People's Republic of China
• Hong Kong and Shenzhen, People's Republic of China
• Macau and Zhuhai, People's Republic of China
• Dipolog and Dapitan, Philippines
• Taipei and New Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan)
• Dammam and Khobar, Saudi Arabia
• Johor Bahru, Malaysia and Singapore
• Seoul and Incheon, South Korea
• Bangkok and Nonthaburi, Thailand
• Chiang Mai and Lamphun, Thailand
• Songkhla and Hatyai, Thailand
• Ramallah and al-Bireh, in the West Bank

India[link]

• Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, Gujarat, are looked upon as merging into a new twin city in-the-process.
• Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Orissa
• Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali, Punjab
• Hubli and Dharwad, Karnataka
• Hyderabad and Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh
• Kochi, also called Fort Kochi or Cochin and Ernakulam, Kerala^[1]
• Kolkata and Howrah, West Bengal
• Mandla and Balaghat, Madhya Pradesh
• Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane, Maharashtra
• Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Maharashtra
• Surat and Navsari, Gujarat, are in the process of merging and will be completed by 2015.
• Sangli and Miraj
• Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu
• Udhana and Sachin, Gujarat, Gujarat, are one of the first Twin Cities in India
• Warangal and Hanamakonda, Andhra Pradesh
• Durg and Bhilai, Chhattisgarh
• Siliguri and Jalpaiguri, West Bengal
• Ranchi and Hatia, Jharkhand
• Lucknow and Kanpur,Uttar Pradesh
• Ghaziabad and Noida,Uttar Pradesh,

Europe[link]

• Gornja Radgona, Slovenia and Bad Radkersburg, Austria
• Aalborg and Nørresundby, Denmark
• Brighton and Hove, England
• Chatham and Rochester, England "it's a wise man who knows where Chatham ends and Rochester begins." Charles Dickens
• City of London and City of Westminster, England. Both were absorbed into Greater London in 1965.
• Leeds and Bradford, England
• Manchester and Salford, England
• Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Gateshead, England
• Sheffield and Rotherham, England
• Valka, Latvia and Valga, Estonia
• Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, Germany
• Mainz and Wiesbaden, Germany
• Ulm and Neu-Ulm, Germany
• Zgorzelec, Poland and Görlitz, Germany
• Buda and Pest, Hungary
• Komárno, Slovakia and Komárom, Hungary
• Rotterdam and The Hague, The Netherlands
• Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg, Norway
• Porsgrunn and Skien, Norway
• Sandnes and Stavanger, Norway
• Bielsko and Biała, Poland
• Těšín, Czech Republic and Cieszyn, Poland
• Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
• Novi Sad and Petrovaradin, Serbia
• Zemun and New Belgrade, Serbia
• Gorizia, Italy and Nova Gorica, Slovenia
• Alcobendas and San Sebastian de los Reyes in Madrid, Spain
• Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmö, Sweden, often referred to as twin cities, as part of the Öresund Region, divided by the Øresund strait.
• Gothenburg and Mölndal, Sweden
• Tornio, Finland and Haparanda, Sweden

North America[link]

• Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, popularly known as the "Twin Cities" in the United States
• San Francisco and Oakland, California, together with San Jose, California are the major cities of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region
• San Diego, California in the United States and Tijuana, Baja California in Mexico
• Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. as part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area, a megalopolis with many other component cities and towns, including many in Virginia.
• Dallas, and Fort Worth, Texas, the main cities of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, a megalopolis in northeastern Texas.
• Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina, the two main cities of the three-city Research Triangle area.
• Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario
• Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, the two largest cities of the Tampa Bay Area
• Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts, locally known as the Knowledge Corridor.
• San Bernardino and Riverside, California, the central cities of the area popularly known as the Inland Empire.
• Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Even though both cities were merged into the Halifax Regional Municipality they are geographically separated by Halifax Harbour and still retain separate identities.
• Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the core cities of the Wyoming Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania
• Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario
• Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec form the National Capital Region, geopolitically separated by the Ottawa River.
• Veracruz, Veracruz and Boca del Río, Veracruz
• Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey
• Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
• New York and Brooklyn. Before Brooklyn became a part of New York City, Emma Lazarus wrote, " . . . her mild eyes command/The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame./ . . . 'Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free . . . .'"

South America[link]

• Carmen de Patagones and Viedma, Argentina
• Santa Fe and Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina
• Aparecida and Guaratinguetá, Brazil
• Chuí, Brazil and Chuy, Uruguay
• Cuiabá and Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil
• Florianópolis and São José, Santa Catarina, Brazil
• Ilhéus and Itabuna, Brazil
• Juazeiro and Petrolina, Brazil
• Teresina, Piauí and Timon, Maranhão, Brazil
• Recife and Olinda, Brazil
• Rivera, Uruguay and Santana do Livramento, Brazil
• Vitória and Vila Velha, Brazil
• Concepción and Talcahuano, Chile
• La Serena, Chile and Coquimbo, Chile
• Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, Chile
• Barranquilla and Soledad, Atlántico, Colombia
• Leticia, Colombia and Tabatinga, Brazil
• Lima and Callao, Peru

Australia[link]

• Albury and Wodonga
• Canberra and Queanbeyan
• Coolangatta and Tweed Heads
• Forster and Tuncurry
• Harden and Murrumburrah

Africa[link]

• Rabat and Salé, Morocco.
• Fes and Meknes, Morocco
• Kinshasa, capital of Congo DR and Brazzaville, capital of Republic of the Congo
• Cairo and Giza, Egypt
• Harar and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

Fictional twin cities[link]

• Gotham City (the home of Batman) and Metropolis (the home of Superman) have sometimes been presented as twin cities, mainly in 1970s and 1980s stories by DC Comics. The two cities were shown as located on opposite sides of a large bay.^[2][3]
• Central City and Keystone City, from the current Flash comics, are shown as twin cities. Before the 1985-86 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, Central and Keystone are presented as located in the same space but on different parallel Earths.^[4]
• Ankh-Morpork, from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, is referred to as "the twin cities of proud Ankh and pestilent Morpork"^{[citation needed]}
• Duckburg and St. Canard were depicted in the cartoon Darkwing Duck as sister cities connected by a bridge, very similar to Oakland and San Francisco.
• Springfield and Shelbyville from The Simpsons are usually presented as twin cities with an intense rivalry.^[5]

Tri-Cities[link]

United States[link]

• In Iowa: Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha
• The Tri-Cities, Washington, consisting of Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick, Washington, along the banks of the Columbia River
• The Tri-Cities, Tennessee, Tennessee and Virginia, consisting of the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia, Kingsport, and Johnson City
• The Research Triangle in North Carolina, consisting of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
• The Golden Triangle in Texas, consisting of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange.
• The Piedmont Triad in North Carolina, consisting of Greensboro, Winston-Salem (itself a merged city), and High Point.
• The Tri-Cities in Michigan, consisting of Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland in the Saginaw Valley
• In Illinois and Iowa: three of the four Quad Cities—Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport in Iowa—were formerly known as the Tri-Cities, before the inclusion of East Moline, Illinois and later, Bettendorf, Iowa
• In Kane County, Illinois, the county seat of Geneva and the nearby cities of Batavia, and St. Charles,
• The Capital District in New York, consisting of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy
• In Colorado: the towns of Firestone, Frederick, and Dacono (known as the "tri-towns")
• In Nebraska:
  • in the south-central part of the state, Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings
  • in the panhandle, western part of the state, Gering, Scottsbluff and Terrytown are border to border
• Tri-Cities, Virginia, consisting of Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell in the Greater Richmond Region
• In New Hampshire: Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester in the Seacoast Region
• In Florida:
  • In the southeast of the state, South Florida, consisting of the anchor cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. This region is sometimes referred to as the tri-county area (Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties)
  • On the Gulf of Mexico Coast, the Tampa Bay Area, consisting of Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg
• In Oklahoma: Tuttle, Newcastle, and Blanchard (sometimes with the town of Bridge Creek)
• In California:
  • The San Francisco Bay Area, anchored by the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.
  • In Alameda County: Fremont, Newark, and Union City are referred to as the Tri-City Area.
  • In Santa Barbara County: Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria, sometimes referred collectively as the South Coast. The term 'tri-cities' is only rarely used as a reference to them, and is considered somewhat old.
  • In San Diego County: Oceanside, Vista, and Carlsbad are sometimes referred to as the tri-cities.
• The Triple Cities in New York: Binghamton, Endicott and Johnson City
• The Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania: Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton
• In Alabama: Huntsville, Decatur, and Athens

Canada[link]

• Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody, located in the north-eastern section of Metro Vancouver.
• Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, Ontario. (Cambridge, Ontario, itself is the "tri-city" amalgamation of the City of Galt, and the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair in 1973.)

Mexico[link]

• Torreón, Coahuila, Gómez Palacio and Lerdo, Durango — see also Comarca Lagunera
• Monterrey and San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León
• Monterrey and San Pedro Garza García
• Monterrey and Guadalupe, Nuevo León
• Monterrey and Escobedo, Nuevo León
• Monterrey and Santa Catarina, Nuevo León
• Saltillo and Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila
• Piedras Negras, Coahuila and Eagle Pass, Texas
• Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila and Del Rio, Texas

Asia[link]

• Arcot, Ranipet and Walajapet towns in Tamil Nadu
• Warangal in India, Andhra Pradesh consists of the towns of Warangal, Hanamakonda, and Kazipet.
• The second Tricity in North India consists of the towns of Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar (Mohali).
• Tricity of Nepal consists of the cities of Baglung, Beni and Kusma along with several towns and villages along the Kali Gandaki valley.
• Dhahran, Dammam and Khobar in Saudi Arabia

South America[link]

• Near Iguazu Falls: Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.

Europe[link]

• The Tricity in Poland consists of Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot
• The cities of Oxford, Cambridge and London are sometimes considered as a tricity of scientific excellence connected by good rail or road connections.

Quad cities[link]

• In Iowa: Iowa City, Coralville, University Heights and North Liberty
• In North Carolina, the Unifour: Hickory, Lenoir, Morganton and Alexander County
• The Quad Cities of Ontario, Canada include Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, and Guelph, Ontario.
• Quad Cities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. It also includes a fifth member, East Moline, Illinois.
• The Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area in Alabama is locally referred to as "the Quad Cities", with Florence, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. Formerly, when Muscle Shoals was a mere village, this region was known a "Tri-Cities", Alabama. Actually, they are all incorporated as towns except for Florence.
• The Quad Cities of Minnesota consist of Virginia, Eveleth, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron.
• Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area consists of the City of Pattaya, Town of Chonburi, Portal town of Laem Chabang and Town of Sattahip on the west coast of Chonburi Province, Thailand

Examples of cities formed by amalgamation[link]

Asia[link]

• Wuhan in China consists of the towns of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang in Hubei Province
• Bangkok the capital and largest city of Thailand was created in 1971 when the previous Bangkok province (Phra Nakhon) was merged with Thonburi province.

Europe[link]

• London grew from its cores in the City of London and the City of Westminster to encompass many other towns and villages.
• Budapest is the amalgamation of Buda, Pest and Óbuda.
• Berlin (Berlin and Cölln), in Germany
• Duisburg (Duisburg and Hamborn, 1929–1935 called Duisburg-Hamborn), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Wuppertal (Barmen and Elberfeld), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
• Zagreb grew from the twin towns of Gradec and Kaptol.
• Belgrade now includes the formerly separate city of Zemun.

North America[link]

• Richmond (Richmond and Manchester) in central Virginia
• Cleveland (Cleveland and Ohio City) in Ohio
• Minneapolis. St. Anthony (not to be confused with St. Anthony Village, a modern city which is a suburb of Saint Paul) was a twin city to Minneapolis in the two cities' youth. Minneapolis annexed St. Anthony in the late 1800s.
• New York City (five boroughs, historically especially between Manhattan and Brooklyn)
• Fremont, California was formed in 1956 by the combination of the five towns of Centerville, Irvington, Niles, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs, California. The town of Newark has always refused to merge into Fremont, and Newark is completely surrounded by Fremont.
• What is now the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina was once two separate towns called Winston and Salem that were combined into one.
• Ottawa, Ontario, was given its large area by the amalgamation in 2001 of the old City of Ottawa, the suburbs of Nepean, Kanata, Gloucester, Rockcliffe Park, Vanier and Cumberland, Orleans, and the rural townships of West Carleton, Osgoode, Rideau, and Goulbourn
• Gatineau, Quebec, formed by the amalgamation of the old City of Gatineau, City of Hull, City of Aylmer, City of Buckingham and the Municipality of Masson-Angers all facing the City of Ottawa, Ontario from the north shore of the Ottawa River.
• Toronto formed by an amalgamation of the Old Toronto with East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York, which were themselves products of earlier amalgamations.
• Thunder Bay, Ontario (Fort William and Port Arthur).
• Lloydminster, Canada, on the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, was formed as a single entity in 1903, when both future provinces were part of the Northwest Territories, but was divided into two separate entities in 1905 because the border between the newly created provinces bisected the community. In 1930, the two towns were reunited as a single town under the shared jurisdiction of both provinces, and Lloydminster was reincorporated as a single city in 1958.
• Halifax and Dartmouth (Canada) were forcibly merged in 1996 along with Bedford and Halifax County to create the Halifax Regional Municipality.
• Saguenay, Quebec (Chicoutimi, Jonquière, et al.)
• Seattle annexed the neighboring towns of West Seattle and Ballard.
• Lincoln City, Oregon was formed in 1965 by merging the extant seaside towns of Oceanlake, Delake, and Taft, with the adjoining unincorporated areas of Nelscott and Cutler City.
• Pittsburgh annexed Allegheny City, which is now the quarter of the city that lies north of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. Also annexed was Birmingham, now referred to as the "South Side".
• Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, officially founded in 1961 is actually composed of the old town of San Félix at the east and the new modern planned town of Puerto Ordaz at the west of Caroní river in Bolívar state.
• Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which absorbed the cities of South Bethlehem, and West Bethlehem. The former Bethlehem and South Bethlehem are situated in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and West Bethlehem is in Lehigh County. As a result, present-day Bethlehem straddles the county line.
• Montreal, Quebec, was merged with the other 27 communities on the Island of Montreal by an act in the Quebec Parliament in 2002. Several communities later voted via referendum to de-merge and there are now a total of 15, leaving Montreal merged with the other 12.
• Kingston, Ontario was amalgamated in 1998 with the neighboring Kingston and Pittsburgh Townships.
• Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1971 was the first major North American city to be amalgamated in what was known as Unicity. The centralized city of Winnipeg was merged with all of its suburbs (12 other communities and municipalities), more than doubling its population. See also Subdivisions of Winnipeg#Unicity
• Helena-West Helena, Arkansas was formed in 2006 by the merger of the previous cities of Helena and West Helena.
• Greater Sudbury, Ontario, was formed in 2001 by the amalgamation of the former Regional Municipality of Sudbury, comprising the municipalites of Sudbury, Nickel Centre, Valley East, Capreol, Rayside-Balfour, Onaping Falls and Walden, plus a number of previously unamalgamated townships. The amalgamation made it the most populous city in the Northern Ontario region.

See also[link]

• Divided cities
• United cities
• Cross-border town naming
• Megacity
• Sister cities
• List of metropolitan areas that overlap multiple countries
• List of twin towns and sister cities
• Global city
• Ecumenopolis
• Metropolis
• Megalopolis

References[link]

Theo Parrish
Background information
Born	1972
Origin	Washington, DC
Genres	Detroit Techno, House
Labels	Sound Signature Peacefrog Records Ugly Edits
Associated acts	3 Chairs The Rotating Assembly The T.O.M. Project KDJ
Website	MySpace Facebook

Theo Parrish is a musician and selector based in Detroit, Michigan, often described as a 'techno/house' artist.^[1] He was born in Washington, DC. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois listening to jazz musicians like Miles Davis, Nina Simone, and George Gershwin^[2]. He graduated from the Chicago Academy of the Arts and went to study at the Kansas City Art Institute. While at KCAI, he concentrated on sound sculptures, creating sonic pieces by combining live instruments, human voices, and looped recordings. He received his BFA in 1994 and moved to Michigan to focus on musical projects.^[3]

He has recorded music under his own name as well as with Rick Wilhite, Marcellus Malik Pittman and Kenneth Dixon Jr as 3 Chairs.^[4] He also puts out releases on his record label, Sound Signature. Another aspect of Theo Parrish's productions are his re-edits, often of old disco, funk or soul records. He is almost as renowned for his expansive and genre-hopping live DJ sets as his productions, and plays a monthly residency at the London nightclub Plastic People.

Discography[link]

Labels[link]

• Sound Signature
• Ugly Edits

Studio Albums[link]

• 1998 First Floor - Peacefrog Records
• 2000 Parallel Dimensions - Sound Signature
• 2007 Sound Sculptures Volume 1 - Sound Signature
• 2010 Sketches - Sound Signature

References[link]

External links[link]

• Theo Parrish discography at Discogs
• Sound Signature on Myspace
• Sound Signature on Facebook

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Travie McCoy
Travie Mccoy at warped tour on 2008
Background information
Birth name	Travis Lazarus McCoy
Also known as	Travie McCoy, Schleprok
Born	(1981-08-06) August 6, 1981 (age 30) Geneva, New York, U.S.[1]
Genres	Alternative hip hop, alternative rock, pop, reggae fusion
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, Rapper
Instruments	Vocals, drums, guitar
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Decaydance, Fueled by Ramen, Nappy Boy, Bat Squad
Associated acts	Gym Class Heroes, Cheryl Cole, Deuce, Bruno Mars, Tyga, Patrick Stump, Taio Cruz, Neon Hitch, StooShe, Eminem, Wiz Khalifa, Nas
Website	TravieMcCoy.com
Notable instruments
Guitar, Drum

Travis Lazarus McCoy (born August 6, 1981), known by his stage name Travie McCoy, is an American singer and rapper. He is the lead vocalist of the alternative hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes. He released his debut solo album Lazarus on June 8, 2010.

Raised in Geneva, New York, McCoy became involved with punk rock scenes as a teenager. He formed the group Gym Class Heroes with childhood friend Matt McGinley, and after several line-up changes, the group was signed to Fueled by Ramen, and released their debut album. The group achieved mainstream success in 2006 when its album As Cruel as School Children was released, Gym Class Heroes are most notable for the song "Cupid's Chokehold".

Gym Class Heroes took a three year hiatus from music, leaving McCoy to focus on his solo career; McCoy released his debut solo album, Lazarus, in 2010. The lead single from the album, "Billionaire" featuring Bruno Mars, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, and number three on the UK Singles Chart. The single was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. McCoy is signed to T-Pain's label Nappy Boy Entertainment.

Early life[link]

McCoy was born and raised in Geneva, New York, United States.^[1] His father is Haitian and his mother is of Irish Filipino and Native American ancestry.^[2] As a child, McCoy was a wheelchair user for four months after a skateboarding accident; his lack of mobility allowed him to focus on art.^[3] When he was 15, McCoy worked in a tattoo parlor as an apprentice, and shortly after, he began tattooing his friends.^[4] His cousin is Tyga from Young Money.

As a teenager, McCoy was a fan of hardcore punk bands such as Snapcase and Earth Crisis, as well as underground rap acts such as Company Flow and the Arsonists. He says of his musical tastes "I was never a typical hip-hop kid. I didn’t want to be pigeonholed."^[5] McCoy frequently took buses to Manhattan throughout high school to participate in battle raps at the indie rap club Fat Beats.^[5] He played the drums in high school and created a rap group with his father and his brother called True Life Playas, and says of the experience, "It was so bad! The tapes exist somewhere but hopefully they'll never be found."^[6] In high school, he met future bandmate Matt McGinley in his gym class and the two bonded over a common interest in music, in particular punk rock, indie rock and hip hop. They decided to start a band and played with other musicians until Gym Class Heroes was formed in 1997.^[7]

After graduating from Geneva High School, McCoy attended art school at Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute and majored in fine arts and illustration.^[3][6][8] However, he dropped out at age 20 to focus on his tattoo work and his musical career.^[4] At one time, McCoy was working at a tattoo parlor during the night and teaching art at a Boys & Girls Club in the daytime, and working at a gas station at night.^[3] He decided to quit all three jobs and work on art full-time, opening an art show with his friend. He lived off of the money he made from selling paintings before Gym Class Heroes became successful.^[3]

Career[link]

Travis made his MTV debut in the summer of 2002, as he appeared on stage at the beach house, winning a standard nationwide MC battle that was held on the MTV show Direct Effect.^[9]

Gym Class Heroes[link]

McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley became friends at their local high school's gym class in ninth grade in Geneva, New York.^[6] They officially came together in 1997.^[4] The band formed when bassist Ryan Geise and drummer Matt McGinley were performing at a party in an instrumental band with no vocals. McCoy, who was in attendance at the party, took the microphone onstage and started rapping.^[10] A week later, the group came together and started making music. A prominent opening act for Gym Class Heroes was the critically acclaimed hip-hop group "ModifiedBlockStyle."

After the addition of guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo and bassist Eric Roberts, Gym Class Heroes was signed to Fueled by Ramen and Decaydance Records, Pete Wentz's independent record label. On the label, the band released the gold-selling album As Cruel as School Children. Since that release, the band's single "Cupid's Chokehold" reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart and #4 on the Bilboard Hot 100. "Clothes Off!!" and "Cookie Jar" peaked at #5 and #6 on the UK Singles Chart. They have collaborated with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump on numerous occasions, notably for providing backing vocals on the song "Cupid's Chokehold". Stump also produced the majority of their album The Quilt, which was released on September 9, 2008 and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and #41 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 2009, McCoy remixed the Bring Me the Horizon song "Chelsea Smile" for their remixes album, Suicide Season: Cut Up!.

McCoy and Gym Class Heroes released a new album, The Papercut Chronicles II, in November 2011.^[11]

Solo career[link]

McCoy in 2007.

In early 2010, McCoy announced that he would be pursuing a solo career. He denied rumors that Gym Class Heroes had broken up, asserting that "Since the inception of Gym Class in 1997, every member has had another musical outlet, if not three or four. This is just another one of those."^[12] McCoy had originally prepared to record an introspective album of "sad and somber" acoustic songs reflective of his state of mind following his breakup with Katy Perry and his addiction to painkillers.^[13] However, he decided to scrap his early material and start over, calling the early material "too personal" and saying "I didn't want that to be my first look as a solo artist," comparing the album to Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak.^[12][13] He relocated to Miami, Florida, to record new material and recover from his addiction, which helped him to create a more upbeat album because he "want[ed] to do something positive."^[13]

McCoy decided to officially call himself "Travie" instead of Travis; he explained that he has been called Travie by friends and family for "as long as [he] can remember."^[14] He believes that the new name allows listeners to the become "that much closer" to him and to "feel much more comfortable with calling me Travie and being part of the family."^[14]

In early May 2010, McCoy released the hit single "Billionaire" with Bruno Mars, which has been successful in Europe and the U.S. since its release. McCoy released his first solo album, Lazarus on June 8, 2010, after being in the works for a year and a half. He calls the album "The longest, I think, I've spent on a record in my whole career."^[12] He stated that he wanted to keep the number of collaborations on the album "kinda tight," but he plans to work with other artists on remixes of the album.^[12] Producers on the album include Bruno Mars, T-Pain, The Smeezingtons, The Stereotypes, Lucas Secon, Oligee and Josh Abraham; Mars, T-Pain and Cee Lo Green provide guest vocals.

Travie McCoy performing on March 18, 2011 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The album debuted at number 25 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with sales of 15,000 copies.^[15] On 21 August 2010 Lazarus was released in Europe and entered the UK Album Charts at number 69, its peak position thus far.^[16] "Need You" was the second single from the album in the U.S, released in September 2010. "We'll Be Alright" was released on October 25, 2010 as the second single in the United Kingdom, and has been featured in the trailer of Yogi Bear.^[17]

In July and August 2010, McCoy supported Rihanna on some of the North American dates of her Last Girl on Earth Tour.^[17]

McCoy and Bruno Mars embarked on a 13-date tour of Europe throughout October and November. They played five dates in the United Kingdom, four in Germany and one each in Holland, Denmark, Sweden and France.^[17]

McCoy performed at the 2010 MTV VMAs on September 12, 2010, on the main stage before the program cut to a performance by N.E.R.D.^[18] In November 2010, McCoy performed on the Australian Summerbeatz tour alongside Flo Rida, Jay Sean and Soulja Boy.

"Billionaire" was performed on the September 21, 2010, episode of Glee.^[19]

McCoy is featured on the remix of teen-pop singer Jessica Jarrell's debut single "Up and Running," on the singer's upcoming debut album on Island Records.^[20]

McCoy is also featured on Livin's City of Brotherly Love album, scheduled to be released in early 2011 on 700 Level Entertainment. The track "When I Approach" features Livin, McCoy and Joe Budden, and is produced by Sev-One. A video released on YouTube showed McCoy recording the song.

In mid-2010 he worked with producer Starsmith and British singer Cheryl Cole for her upcoming album. He is featured on the track "Yeah Yeah" of Cole's album Messy Little Raindrops.^[21]

In November 2010, McCoy collaborated with English R&B artist Taio Cruz on Cruz's single "Higher".

McCoy runs his own music imprint called The Bat Squad, which consists of Tim William, Nicholas Scimeca, Tequila Mockingbird, The Lazarus Project and himself. McCoy and Nicholas Scimeca formed the duo Tequila Mockingbird which is also signed under Decaydance Records, and they are working on a project. They recently released the songs "Brooklyn Basement" and "Snowglobe, a track that ended in Mic Terror's mixtaper "The Late Pass Volume 2"."^[22]

He performed "Stereo Hearts" with Maroon 5 on November 5, 2011 on Saturday Night Live. He, along with Gym Class Heroes, performed the aforementioned song with Adam Levine at the American Music Awards of 2011.

In January 2012, McCoy collaborated with English Girl Group Stooshe with their single Love Me.

On April 24th 2012, McCoy's song with ex Hollywood Undead singer, Deuce, was released on Deuce's album Nine Lives. The title of the track is I Came to Party.

Personal life[link]

In early March 2008, McCoy opened up about his battles with opioids. He stated that he had been addicted to pharmaceuticals since he was 15 years old.^[23] The death of his cousin in 2007 led McCoy to retreat further into his addiction, leading him to "dive into drugs face-first."^[24] He went through his second stint in a detox program, in which his opiate receptors were cleaned. He said of the experience, "I feel like a layer of shit has been peeled off of my brain."^[24] On his blog, he also stated that "I felt an enormous amount of guilt for glorifying drug use in our music."^[24]

McCoy was arrested on July 2, 2008, after hitting a man on the head with his microphone. The man had been in the crowd at a concert in St. Louis when he shouted racial slurs at McCoy.^[25] McCoy asked the man, "What did you just call me?" As security was removing the man from the venue, McCoy brought the man on stage to call him out in front of the crowd. In a statement, McCoy's publicist said that the man hit McCoy's knee, which was in a brace after he had suffered a recent strain.^[25] McCoy was later charged with third-degree assault and a warrant issued for his arrest.^[25]

On October 28, 2010, McCoy was arrested again while on tour in Berlin, Germany for spraying graffiti on the Berlin Wall. He was later released on €1,500 bail ($2,081), and continued on his European tour in Amsterdam.^[26] He later posted a picture of the artwork on his Twitter account.^[26]

McCoy dated singer Katy Perry on and off for several years; they met in a recording studio in New York City.^[27] He had given a promise ring to Perry,^[28] and when asked if this was rehearsal for an actual proposal, McCoy shrugged with a grin. The two broke up in December 2008.^[29] They began dating again in April 2009.^[30] However, they broke up once more a few months later. McCoy is allegedly the subject of Perry's song "Circle the Drain", from her 2010 Teenage Dream album.^[31] McCoy says of the relationship, "I'm over it. There's no bad blood. I wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors. I'm not the type to hold grudges. Why would I? Our time together was awesome and it's time to move on. Now she's with Russell Brand and the dude's awesome, I wish the best for both of 'em. And we both have gone our separate ways so it is what it is."^[32]

Travie McCoy is Young Money rapper Tyga's cousin and was featured on his debut single "Coconut Juice" from the album No Introduction.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Featured singles[link]

Album appearances[link]

|- | style="text-align:left;"| "Nine Lives" | Deuce | style="text-align:center;"| I Came to Party|-

References[link]

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