André Troutman
American musician and talkbox artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
André Lavern Troutman (born November 25, 1989[2][3]) 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),[4] and also serves as West's music director.[5][6]
November 25, 1989
- Musician
- songwriter
André Troutman | |
|---|---|
| Born | André Lavern Troutman November 25, 1989 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.[1] |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Talk box |
| Years active | 2016–present |
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.[7]
Career
Troutman has worked as a talk box performer and collaborator in contemporary R&B and hip-hop, contributing to recordings and live performances with various artists. He has been featured on projects by R&B artists including Major and Rhyon Nicole Brown[8][9]
Troutman contributed talk box to the song "Same Time, Pt. 1" by Big Sean from the album I Decided (2017).[10] That same year, he appeared as a featured performer on "Fired Up" by Eric Darius from the album Breakin' Thru (2017).[11]
In 2023, he was featured as part of "The Link Up", a collaborative performance series led by Coco Jones that highlighted emerging Black musicians, where he performed as a talk box player during live reinterpretations of R&B songs.[7] 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".[12][13]
In March 2025, Troutman began working with Kanye West as his music director,[14] and was a performer at West's January 2026 Mexico City shows and at the April 2026 SoFi Stadium concerts,[15] which broke multiple SoFi Stadium records.[16] In May 2026, Troutman served as the music director for West's concert at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, which drew a record-breaking crowd of 118,000 fans.[17][18] During this time, Troutman also contributed to Bully, the twelfth studio album by West, where he is credited among the album's writers, producers, and performers.[4] He is listed as a featured performer on "All the Love"[19] and "White Lines". The former was described by Billboard as "the crown jewel of Bully"[5] and ranked by Rolling Stone among the top songs on the album.[20] This led to Troutman charting at the #5 spot on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart for April 11, 2026.[21]
Discography
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [22] |
US HH/R&B [23] |
AUS [24] |
CAN [25] |
UK [26] |
IRL [27] |
NZ [28] |
POR [29] |
WW [30] |
Smooth Jazz | ||||
| "Fired Up" (Eric Darius featuring André Troutman and Rodney Jones Jr.) |
2017 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | — | Breakin' Thru[32] |
| "All the Love" (Kanye West featuring André Troutman) |
2026 | 27 | — | 33 | 28 | 28 | 30 | 35 | 23 | 31 | — | — | Bully[4] |
| "White Lines" (Kanye West featuring 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 | Producer |
| "Father" | Writer, producer | |||
| "All the Love" | Writer, 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" | Writer, producer |