In summer 2010, while working on a solo rock & rap project Give the Drummer Some, blink 182 drummer Travis Barker teamed up with Chicago’s The Cool Kids to release the (obviously) beat heavy, grumbly, p-funk bass, synth-happy single “Jump Down.”
The release included a special embeddable widget that allows fans to enter their email address, download the track, and get a pair of 3D glasses mailed to their house, if they share the widget with friends. Done strictly for the fans, the entire “Jump Down” project was offered for free.
A “Jump Down” video launch party was held on October 7, 2010, at the Music Box in L.A. Hosted by Sneaker Pimps, the party featured live performances by Barker and the Cool Kids themselves.
A 3D Video of “Jump Down” debuted at TravisBarker.com. The clip features Barker drumming while Chuck Inglish and Sir Michael Rocks (The Cool Kids) rap and others perform tricks on their bikes, spraying graffiti, and showing off rad cars. The feel is part skate film and part 1990s west coast rap video.
His guest-heavy first solo outing Give the Drummer Some dropped in early 2011. The album, which Barker helped produce, features appearances from Slipknot singer Corey Taylor, B.o.B, Slash, Snoop Dogg, Tom Morello, Lil Wayne, and Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington.
The first singles: “Can A Drummer Get Some” features The Game, Swizz Beats, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross, “Jump Down” features The Cool Kids, and “Carry It” features RZA, Raekwon, and Tom Morello.
“Devil’s Got A Hold of Me” features hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse, “Misfits” features Steve Aoki, “Cool Head” features Kid Cudi, “Don’t F*** With Me” features Paul Wall, Kurupt, and J Roc, “City of Dreams” features The Clipse and Kobe, and “On My Own” features Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.
In March 2011, he called rock fans “Nazi bastards” for hating on hip-hop “It seems like I have more in common -- or hit it off better -- with rappers than fools that are in rock music,” he was quoted saying in NME magazine.
Two new Barker videos were released in May 2011. “Saturday Night” features Slash and Barker side band the Transplants, while “Misfits” features Steve Aoki of Dim Mak on vocals. Around the same time, Barker said he was almost done repairing tattoos that were burned off during a 2008 plane wreck.
In late 2011, Barker chose the band Twin Berlin as the winner of Guitar Center’s Your Next Record unsigned artist competition. The band won a session at Red Bull Studios in L.A. to record a 3-song EP with Barker, with Barker appearing on their single from the EP. The release receives worldwide digital distribution through TuneCore, and the band scored $10,000 in gear from Guitar Center. He produced the Twin Berlin EP There Goes My Virtue and its first single “Can't Take, Take, Take.”
His lawyers served a cease and desist letter to MediaTakeOut in early 2012, for allegedly posting naked pics of the drummer, said to be “private and never intended for public viewing or to be seen by anyone else.”
Later that year, he was named the 11th highest paid drummer in the world by pop culture analyst website Celebrity Net Worth, which rates his worth at $85 million. Ringo Starr’s worth of $300m makes him $50m richer than Phil Collins, $75m better off than Dave Grohl, and $100m wealthier than Don Henley. The list also includes Lars Ulrich, Charlie Watts, Larry Mullen, Roger Taylor, Joey Kramer, and Chad Smith.
In Autumn 2012, a free download of “Push Em,” from his collaborative five song EP with Yelawolf Psycho White (due November 13), was made available online. The EP, released November 13, features guest vocals from Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants), and Skinhead Rob (Transplants, Death March), as well as scratches and cuts by Mixmaster Mike (Beastie Boys).
That winter, appearing in a sketch on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Barker joked about losing his mojo after becoming a parent. “Being a dad is great. But things start to happen to you that they don’t tell you about in parenting books. Dark things.”
In summer 2013, the Transplants, his band with Rob Aston and Rancid's Tim Armstrong, released a new album called In a War Zone that was supported by an 18-stop tour, including a show with Rancid at downtown's House of Blues on July 28 and 29, where Armstrong performed with both bands. That October, he turned up in Escondido to promote his clothing line Famous Stars and Straps at the PR7ME Ride Shop retail store launch at Westfield North County Mall.
Barker's newest band was founded in late 2013, featuring Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland and former Nine Inch Nails multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner, along with hip-hop performer Scroobius Pip. His 7th Annual Musink Tattoo & Music Festival ran March 21-23, 2014, at the OC Fair & Event Center, featuring his band Transplants along with the Descendents, Tech N9ne, Gorilla Biscuits, Love Canal, Judge, Strife, Rittz, H20, and others.
In June 2014, Barker guested on a single by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger, “Til Everyone Can See,” in support of the World Day Against Child Labour and also featuring violinist Ann Marie Simpson, Pharrell, Hans Zimmer, composer Dom Lewis, pop singer singer LIZ, and Minh Dang, a former victim of human trafficking.
That same summer, Barker teamed up with Kid Ink and Ty Dolla $ign to record a cover of “Rude,” by Canadian reggae group Magic. Continuing his collaborations, he joined Alabama rapper Yelawolf onstage at the Hollywood House of Blues in January 2015 for an impromptu acoustic performance of "Till It's Gone," from Yelawolf's album Love Story.
Barker appears on the 2015 solo album from Darryl McDaniels (aka DMC from Run DMC), which also features Sebastian Bach, Mick Mars, Tim Armstrong, Rome Ramirez, and Public Enemy's Chuck D. In addition, rapper Yelawolf recruited Barker for his own band, at least "When he's not with Transplants, when he's not with Run the Jewels," Yelawolf told Radio.com. "He's in my band, whether you like it or not."
His memoir Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums was released October 20, 2015. Early the following year, he appeared in a video for "100," the first single from his forthcoming collaborations project featuring rhymes from Tyga, Kid Ink, Ty Dolla Sign, and IAMSU!
In early 2016, Barker teamed up with rapper Asher Roth and producer Nottz for that duo's second collaboration as Rawth, for a new EP called Rawther.
Summer 2017 found Barker appearing on the Yelawolf track "Punk," alongside Juicy J and Flea. Barker made a surprise appearance August 31 at the Roxy in West Hollywood, for the first club show by Fever, featuring former letlive. frontman Jason Aalon Butler, Night Verses drummer Aric Improta, and the Chariot guitarist Stephen Harrison.
His 2018 MUSINK Tattoo Convention, Car Show & Concert took place March 16, 17, and 18 at OC Fair & Events Center, for a bill that included blink-182, Descendents, Lil Yachty, Good Charlotte, Fear, and more. Around the same time, it was reported he was drumming on new solo tracks being recorded by Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland.
July 2019 saw the release of a collaborative EP with 03 Greedo, Meet the Drummers, with its first single "Cellout." 03 Greedo was unable to promote its initial release due to being behind bars at the time. Around the same time, Barker's remix of Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION’s track “Falling Down,” originally recorded as "Sunlight on Your Skin" with ILOVEMAKONNEN, was shot as a video directed by Ramez Silyan. The remix was Barker's second collaboration that month, after his production work on "F9mily" from Lil Nas X's debut EP 7.
The Blink 182 drummer then teamed with emo-rapper nothing,nowhere on a single and video for "Destruction," and then a single for "True Love," off their Bloodlust EP, released September 20, 2019.
In late 2019, ILLENIUM released Barker's remix of his single “Good Things Fall Apart” featuring Jon Bellion. Says Barker, “In my head I pictured all these other parts and sounds from the moment I heard the song. I recorded drums first with all the other parts in my head and then built around it. It was such a well written song already it made my job easy.” Barker recruited Lil Wayne and Rick Ross for his own new track "Gimme Brain", the first release under his DTA Records label, a joint venture with the Elektra Music Group to explore cross-genre collaborations and develop new artists.
Barker, joined up with pop superstar Post Malone on April 24, 2020, for a livestream Nirvana tribute set to raise funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. Next came a collaborative single and video from 21 year-old South Florida singer, rapper, and guitarist POORSTACY, “Choose Life,” inspired by a famous monologue from the UK film Trainspotting.
"All Of Me," a summer 2020 single from the second album by Los Angeles duo The Score - comprised of Eddie Anthony (vocals, guitar) and Edan Dover (keyboards, production) - features Barker guesting on drums. Barker also appeared on the 2020 deluxe version of POORSTACY's debut album The Breakfast Club, drumming on the track “Choose Life.” His collaboration track with Run the Jewels, released around the same time, was called "Forever."
November 2020 found Barker guesting on a PoorStacy single, “Nothing Left,” and playing on a single from Atreyu, "Warrior."
Early the following year, he produced a new album by rapper Trippie Redd, Neon Shark VS Pegasus, via 10K Projects/Caroline. When asked about his first rock and roll album by rock/metal publication Loudwire, and why he chose Barker to collaborate, Redd said “it just felt right to make a rock record with him.” The project also features verses from Deftones’ Chino Moreno and Scarlxrd, Zillikami, and Machine Gun Kelly.
In June 2021, K.Flay released a collaborative single with Barker, "Dating My Dad." That August, Atreyu dropped a remix for their single "Warrior," featuring Barker and Zero 9:36. That November, alt-rocker grandson released a track called “Drop Dead” featuring Barker and Kesha.
Barker was briefly hospitalized with pancreatitis in summer 2022, just as
country star Warren Zeiders released his collaboration with Barker, a new version of his one year-old RIAA Gold-certified hit "Ride The Lightning."