Today, rising Washington rapper Travis Thompson releases BLVD Boy, a kaleidoscopic swirl of gleeful flows and sweet melodies that arrives just in time to soundtrack the peak of summer. Boasting features from G-Eazy, Juicy J, Kyle, and more, as well as production from Tyler Dopps, Illmind, Mike & Keys, and Mars, this new record follows 2019’s thrilling Reckless Endangerment, and its boisterous energy serves as a reminder that Thompson is one of rap’s most exciting new stars.
BLVD Boy’s title is a nod to Thompson’s youth, to the days he spent growing up and hanging out on Seattle’s Ambaum Blvd. The production’s electric energy and Thompson’s vivid bars evoke carefree days of skateboarding and house parties, and the all-around good vibes of his past and present. It’s all there on standout “Dead Prezis,” a G-Eazy-assisted, hyphy-inflected bop with soaring West Coast synths, lithe rhymes, and a hook that evokes the mellow lifestyle of a Blvd Boy. “All I ever wanted was a couple dead prezis in the pocket, and a couple of bad hoes going steady,” Thompson raps on the chorus. “And a lil’ neck pain, from the gold chain heavy.”
Travis added: “I named the album BLVD BOY because my very first mixtape was called Ambaum, which is the the street I grew up on, and this feels like not exactly closing the chapter on me being a kid- but starting to connect the dots and really just grow up. Sonically I wanted it to feel like every piece of the neighborhood growing up. From like west coast trunk slapping shit to pop melodies that my momma played on the way to church. I wanted to start telling the story of myself more in depth. Rawer. A straight to the point look of who I am and how I came up, but also examining how it made me who I am today. BLVD BOY!”
He infuses those vibes with playful pettiness on “711,” a pulsating, Juicy J-featuring track that finds Thompsonrecalling his younger days and flexing on haters. On “Parked Cars,” which features Kyle and Kota the Friend, he explores the claustrophobia he felt during the past year, dreaming of a better world amid hard times. “I wanted to capture the feeling of having nothing but time, a whip, and people around you who make you happy,” he says. It’s an apt description for both that song and for BLVD Boy—an LP as free and fun as a summer night.
This new record follows a hot streak for Thompson that began with his colorful 2016 tribute to the area that made him, Ambaum. Since then, he’s only grown as a writer and artist, releasing fully realized projects like 2018’s YouGood? and 2019’s Reckless Endangerment and working with some of rap’s biggest stars, including fellow Washington state star Macklemore on 2017’s “Corner Store.” BLVD Boy’s breezy production and intricate bars only underscore what’s made him great all along—there are few rappers with a personality and presence as magnetic as his.
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