Lil Ugly Mane

Travis Miller (born May 13, 1984), best known professionally as Lil Ugly Mane, is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer.

Noted for his diverse style, introspective lyrics, and various side projects, Miller's work spans a wide range of genres, including experimental hip hop, black metal, lo-fi music, indie rock, and free jazz.

Miller began his performing career in the 2000s in the noise and punk circles of Richmond, Virginia, though his published work includes pieces from as early as 1999.

He first gained wider recognition in the early 2010s through his work with Florida hip hop collective Raider Klan and his debut album Mista Thug Isolation in 2012.

[11] The album was produced by Miller under the alias Shawn Kemp, and contains a feature from rapper and Raider Klan member Denzel Curry on the song "Twistin".

[13] Despite a lack of promotion by Miller, the album gained attention primarily through word-of-mouth marketing, and was praised by Odd Future members Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator.

[10] Mista Thug Isolation was followed by a number of smaller releases, including the EP Uneven Compromise in October 2012 and two volumes of the mixtape Three Sided Tape, consisting of unreleased songs and instrumentals that were recovered from Miller's broken computer, in August 2013.

[17] On August 30, 2013, Miller released the single "On Doing an Evil Deed Blues", in which he outlined his grievances with the music industry and his intention to retire the Lil Ugly Mane project.

[18] After the release of the single, Miller labeled Lil Ugly Mane as "defunct" on his Bandcamp page, and largely withdrew from the public eye.

He infrequently returned to upload new music, including the 18-track mixtape Absence Of Shitperson and the EP The Weeping Worm in 2014, but remained quiet on social media.

[20] In a statement made alongside its release, Miller announced that a physical box set of the trilogy would be distributed and suggested that his listeners "shouldn't be so Stratfordian".

[23] Miller's second album Oblivion Access was released on December 18, 2015; he described the project as "the last of the filthy water funneling out of the bathtub I've been soaking in for 5 years".

[24] An experimental hip hop album, its lyrics were characterized by music publications as the darkest thus far in Miller's discography; they explore topics such as existentialism, boredom spurred by the Information Age, and the cycle of violence.

[25] Joe Sherwood of Tiny Mix Tapes appraised it as a "eschatological/scatological compendium of life and death in the rap game", and highlighted the stylistic contrast between the album and Mista Thug Isolation, commenting: "There's no self-serious reinvention to be found, and maybe that's the point — what started as a jokey pastiche of Memphis rap is coming to an ironic conclusion, even with the former veneer stripped away.

"[27] In 2016, Miller formed the underground hip hop supergroup[28] Secret Circle with rappers Wiki and Antwon, releasing their first track "Keep It Low" on June 8.

The following day, he posted a statement on Facebook in which he recounted a three-month-long struggle with finding psychiatric care, eventually leading to his admittance and discharge from a hospital after asserting he was not suicidal or at risk of hurting others.

[31] In the same post, he criticized the American mental healthcare system as "absolute shit" and said that it had a "very real potential to turn people who voluntarily seek help ... into violent suicidal monsters".

[34] In July, Secret Circle followed up with the single "Tonka Truck", produced by Left Brain of Odd Future, and later released "Ounce Of It" in February 2018.

[46] Tom Breihan of Stereogum called it an "unexpected and pretty-great take on Folk Implosion-style '90s breakbeat-slacker indie rock", while Patrick Lyons of Spin labeled it "something resembling a specific corner of '90s alternative music".

Miller (right) performing in August 2018