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Roger Troutman | |
|---|---|
 Troutman in 1981 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Roger |
| Born | November 29, 1951[1] Hamilton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | April 25, 1999 (aged 47)[1] Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1975–1999 |
| Labels | |
Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999)[1][2] was an American singer and the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and influenced West Coast hip hop due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music.
Troutman frequently used the talk box, a device that is connected to an instrument (frequently a keyboard, but most commonly a guitar) to create different vocal effects. Troutman used a custom-made talkbox—the Electro Harmonix "Golden Throat"—through a Moog Minimoog and later in his career a Yamaha DX100 FM synthesizer.
As both band leader of Zapp and in his subsequent solo releases, he scored a bevy of funk and R&B hits throughout the 1980s and regularly collaborated with hip hop artists in the 1990s.