MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 07: Travis Porter attends the 2022 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards on September 07, 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida.(photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)
For those of you who rocked with Travis Porterin 2010 when they signed to Jive Records, you may remember this three-man band was often mistaken for one person.
Most known for their hit songs Bring It Back, Ayy Ladies and Make It Rain, this group made a name for themselves through these club anthems and hood classics. The group consists of stepbrothers Ali & Quez, and their longtime friend Strap who they met in school.
Recently, Travis Porter stepped into The Shade Room backstage at the Millennium Tour in Dallas, Texas with interviewer, Taylor Bickham, to get some things off their chest. Everything you can think of was discussed: the origin of their name, their thoughts on not getting the flowers they deserved, their relationship with Adidas, which artist helped expose them to a different market of fans, the Millennium Tour and more!
Interviewer: How yall been?
Strap: Working, busy. Tour life
Quez: We been great. We been enjoying life. We been having fun still. Thats the best part about all of it. We been having fun.
Interviewer: A lot of people want to know why Travis Porter is a singular name and yall are a three-person band?
Quez: We do everything alike
Strap: We are the same person. 3 Times!
Quez: Its three of us but we the same person. We just look a little different
Ali:We just dont all have the same girlfriend.
Interviewer: A lot of folks refer to yall as the Original Migos how yall feel about that?
Strap: I would just say we the original three-man rap group. Of course they gone always compare the next people that come after but we got our own lane, and we always stayed in our own lane
Interviewer: So, yall are saying you all go outside of the box?
Strap: We outside, outside. Look at our name! Straight out the box. Straight out the bowl.
Interviewer: Have yall ever broken up?
Quez: As a group we did. It wasnt like
Strap: It wasnt like that
Quez: Them n- wasnt f– with me. It wasnt no sh like that. We all was just like okay cool. Lets just pause.
Strap: We were just living life
Quez: It was like if we cant get to the studio. Why we still talking about the studio? We got newborn kids. You know sh like that. So its kind of hard for active parents to get in the studio. Strap: All the time
Quez: To make it worthwhile. Because the way we make music is like day in and day out, not like clocking in and clocking out. We might sleep in this motherf-. But you know, baby mama might got a problem with that two nights in a row. Asking where the f you been?
Interviewer: With yall taking that pause in music, do yall regret it?
Quez: I dont think we regret it. I feel like this is even the fun part about everything. This was the most fun part about us even being in the rap industry. The grind to get to the next level. This is fun. I feel like a challenge is always good and for things to not just be easy as hell. Even though we get love everywhere, the love is still there. But, its just where people see you at in their minds. I feel like this is the best time for us. We love grinding. We love being on the road. We love putting out music. We love the ridicule and when people say that aint it so we can go harder.
Strap: We good with constructive criticism.
Interviewer: It seems like on social media a lot of people are not clear on your song ‘A.D.I.D.A.S.’ Is it about the brand Adidas or is it the acronym All Day I Dream About Sex, like it says in the song?
Strap: I thought we played it both ways. We did it both ways
Quez: Yeah, double entendre
Strap: Shoutout to the producer who made it. It was such a good production. Thats like one of our fan favorite songs.
Quez: I was telling her [interviewer] that. At the time we were shifting the culture in Atlanta. So, we had everyone in Adidas, but Adidas never cut us a check.
Strap: They showed love.
Quez: They gave us free clothes
Strap: But, everybody give us free sh
Quez: But, guess what though? After that, in 2014, thats when Adidas started signing rappers. Thats when I was like, hold on.
Strap: We were before the wave
Quez: They did Big Sean and a couple more other n–s and we were like, bro hold on man. We started it in the A and they looked over Travis Porter. Like always, you know how that go.
Interviewer: How do yall feel about Adidas dropping their partnership with Kanye West?
Quez: They dropped it?
Ali: Man, I dont like it.
Quez: I dont like it either. I feel like people should be able to separate the art from the person. I can do it.
Interviewer: In all aspects? Even in situations like, R. Kelly?
Quez: Definitely listening to R. Kelly at the crib. Im playing R. Kelly in the car. I can tell the difference between artist and the music. I can differentiate the two.
Ali: You cant drop someone who brought you back to life.
Quez: If they was f– with him, they need to keep f— with him. Yall aint f— with him because of his personal views? But, yall was already f— with him. So, yall just didnt know this about him or something? Are the sales dropping? I dont know. I just feel like they are tripping.
Interviewer: Do you guys feel like you get the flowers you deserve?
Strap: Its really a stiff a– no.
Quez: Heisman Trophy stiff
Strap: But at the same time, a lot of people aint get their flowers. It dont just start and end with Travis Porter. Its a lot of n- that dont get their flowers, and they them n- type sh. I dont want to be like yeah we dont get our flowers when its other n– who have done more than what we did
Quez: And, they havent got their flowers
Strap: So we aint gone cry about it. We gone keep going harder.
Interviewer: Do you have any songs that you feel like didnt get the credit it deserved?
Ali: Nah. I feel like the songs that didnt get as much love people still listen to til this day.
Interviewer: I feel like Cake didnt get the recognition it deserved.
Quez: You right, but it did though because when we perform it everybody know it. But, thats like our career. Thats like Travis Porter career. Its like they know it but its like have we heard it? Its like we know them n—. We love them n—-. But, where they at? Thats how that song is. Its like its there. Everybody know it. But, it didnt get as much love as Make It Rain or Bring It Back but it was a hood classic. Some of the sh just dont go like that. Like, I could name 100 Boosie songs that nobody ever heard of but they are a classic to me.
Interviewer: Yeah, how does it make you feel that people still rock with yall like there was no pause?
Ali: I mean.. I know I still got it. I know Im him.
Quez: That comes with a solid foundation, like Strap said, how we were brought up and how we started.
Ali: We are a people person.
Quez: We will leave the section and go to the bar. Even if we got a show and only 300-500 people pull up, we going to the bar and get shots for everybody. It aint too many people where we cant show everybody love.
Strap: I feel like the way we show our fans love we make them feel like they know us more so they appreciate it. They appreciate the music and it always take you back to where you were at. We got memories together. Simple as that.
Ali: And our music crossed over, and I gotta give that to Mac Miller for putting us on his tour. It crossed us over to a whole nother world
Quez: He put us in a whole different realm when it came to the music and thats when we dropped ‘Reup’. Thats one of them songs. It was a sleeper but his fans are the ones that took that and ran with it. You know what Im saying? Shoutout to Mac Miller. Rest in peace to the homie.
Interviewer: Who asked yall to join the Millennium Tour?
Quez: Sh, Bow Wow.
Interviewer: What was that like? How did he ask yall?
Quez: Sh, Facetime. He was like, Bro. What you doing? What yall tryna do? I was like, What the money looking like? And, shoutout to our homie, Bart, he was pushing for us to be on this tour, too. Hes one of our homies from Atlanta.
Interviewer: What does being on this tour mean to yall and your contribution to the culture?
Ali: It feels good. You kind of forget because you aint performed in a big crowd like that in a long time, and its just like damn we really them. Thats how it feels every time we get on the stage.
Quez: Yeah, thats facts. And, we came out after everybody on this tour, and I feel like we a good addition to whats going on. And, we got the best show. We got the best set.
Interviewer: On this tour, who do yall feel like you were fans of?
Quez: Pleasure P
Ali: Yeah, Id say the same thing
Strap: Me too
Ali: That Did You Wrong got my girl back five times
Quez: Like literally, I lost my virginity to a Pleasure P song. So, thats why I resonate
Interviewer: And, my last question is for Strap, I saw a video on Twitter and it was a podcast, and you specifically said that you think sex is 90% of a relationship. So, tell me why you think its 90% of a relationship?
Strap: That was 90% Cassamigos answering for me. Lol.
It’s clear that Travis Porter truly appreciates the love they’ve been receiving during the Millennium Tour, and fans are here for the nostalgia their music brings.
Roommates, what Travis Porter song is your fave?
