Early on, Travis Thompson knew that hip-hop was his calling. He began penning raps of his own at 9 years old, so it was only a matter of time before things started to go his way. Now 22, the Seattle native—whose learned under the tutelage of former XXL Freshman Macklemore—has a deal with Epic Records and racked up millions of streams thanks to songs like "Need You," which has more than 5 million plays on Spotify. Around the time of the release of his latest EP, Runaways, Travis Thompson swung by XXL's Manhattan office to lay down bars for our What I Do freestyle series.

Travis' rhyme begins on a defiant note. "Whoever need to hear it get the fuck up off my dick/I been cavalierin', steerin', no appearance for a grip/Ain't no fake inside in my heart and ain't no vacance in my clique." He also displays the same self-confidence that's already got him this far: "I feel adjacent with your favorites, matter fact I know they scared/I done introduced myself to legends, who was so aware/Pray they expedite my come up, like I'm real, this shit not fair/And throwing Cuba Gooding punches in my room when no one's there."

Travis get his start rapping after binging rap videos on YouTube. "I was watching old [Lil] Wayne videos and for some reason, something about [him] stuck out to me and intrigued me," he shares. "It was something about the beats that bruh picked; I've been writing over Wayne beats since I was 9."

Catch Travis Thompson on the road this fall on his headlining U.S. tour and stay tuned for more videos from his latest project. Enjoy his freestyle up top.

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