André Troutman
American musician and talkbox artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
André Troutman is an American musician and songwriter known for his work in hip-hop and R&B music. He is best known for his appearance as a featured artist and producer on Kanye West's twelfth studio album, Bully (2026),[1] and also serves as West's music director.[2][3]
Early life
Troutman is the younger cousin of musician Roger Troutman, founder of the funk band Zapp and a pioneer of the talk box. He has cited this connection as an influence on his use of the instrument.[4]
Career
Troutman has worked as a talkbox performer and collaborator in contemporary R&B and hip-hop, contributing to recordings and live performances with various artists.
Troutman contributed talkbox to the song "Same Time, Pt. 1" by Big Sean from the album I Decided (2017).[5]
Troutman has also appeared as a featured performer on recordings by other artists, including the song "Fired Up" by Eric Darius from the album Breakin' Thru (2017).[6]
Troutman has been featured on projects by R&B artists including Major and Rhyon Nicole Brown[7][8]
In 2023, he was featured as part of "The Link Up", a collaborative performance series led by Coco Jones highlighting emerging Black musicians, where he performed as a talkbox player during live reinterpretations of R&B songs.[4]
Troutman also appeared in additional performances with Jones, contributing talkbox to arrangements of songs including Destiny's Child's "8 Days of Christmas" and Mary J. Blige's "Real Love".[9][10]
In 2025, Troutman began working with Kanye West as his music director, and was a performer at West's January Mexico City shows and at the April 2026 SoFi Stadium concerts,[11] which broke multiple SoFi Stadium records.[12] During this time, Troutman also contributed to Bully, the twelfth studio album by Kanye West, where he is credited among the album's writers, producers, and performers.[1] He is listed as a featured performer on "All the Love"[13] and "White Lines". The former was described by Billboard as "the crown jewel of Bully"[2] and ranked by Rolling Stone among the top songs on the album.[14] This led to Troutman charting at the #5 spot on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart for April 11, 2026.[15]
Discography
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [16] |
US R&B [17] |
AUS [18] |
AUT [19] |
CAN [20] |
UK [21] |
IRL [22] |
LTU [23] |
CZ [24] |
POL [25] |
NLD [26] |
SWE [27] |
NOR [28] |
NZ [29] |
POR [30] |
WW [31] |
Smooth Jazz | ||||
| "Fired Up" (Eric Darius featuring André Troutman and Rodney Jones Jr.) |
2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | Breakin' Thru[33] |
| "All the Love" (Kanye West with André Troutman) |
2026 | 27 | — | 33 | 43 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 18 | 37 | 33 | 43 | 57 | 52 | 35 | 23 | 31 | — | — | Bully[1] |
| "White Lines" (Kanye West with André Troutman) |
82 | 22 | — | — | 87 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 168 | 196 | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Writing and production credits
| Title | Year | Artist | Album | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "King" | 2026 | Kanye West | Bully | Writer, producer |
| "Father" | ||||
| "All the Love" | Producer, performer | |||
| "Mama's Favorite" | Writer, producer | |||
| "Sisters and Brothers" | ||||
| "Bully" | Producer | |||
| "Highs and Lows" | ||||
| "I Can't Wait" | ||||
| "White Lines" | Performer | |||
| "Damn" | Producer | |||
| "This One Here" |