André Lavern Troutman (born November 25, 1989) 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), and also serves as West's music director. 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.
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
Troutman contributed talk box to the song "Same Time, Pt. 1" by Big Sean from the album I Decided (2017). That same year, he appeared as a featured performer on "Fired Up" by Eric Darius from the album Breakin' Thru (2017).
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. 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".
In March 2025, Troutman began working with Kanye West as his music director, and was a performer at West's January 2026 Mexico City shows and at the April 2026 SoFi Stadium concerts, which broke multiple SoFi Stadium records. 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. 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. He is listed as a featured performer on "All the Love" and "White Lines". The former was described by Billboard as "the crown jewel of Bully" and ranked by Rolling Stone among the top songs on the album. This led to Troutman charting at the #5 spot on the Billboard Emerging Artists chart for April 11, 2026. Discography Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications AlbumUSUSHH/R&BAUSPeaks in Australia: "All the Love"CANUKPeaks in the United Kingdom: "All the Love": IRLPeaks in Ireland: "All the Love" NZPeaks in New Zealand: "All the Love": PORPeaks in Portugal: "All the Love" and "White Lines": WWSmooth Jazz Airplay "Fired Up" 2017 — — — — — — — ——3— Breakin' Thru "All the Love" 2026 27 — 3328 28 30 352331—— Bully "White Lines" 82 22 — 87 — — — 168196—— "—" 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
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