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.

A graduate of Central State University,[3] his first band was called the Crusaders; however, they are not to be confused with the jazz group featuring Joe Sample and Wilton Felder.

Within two years, Troutman and his brothers were discovered by George Clinton, who signed the newly christened Zapp to his Uncle Jam Records label in 1979.

Featuring a funk cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", which went to number 1 on the R&B singles chart,[4] the album sold over a million copies.

The same year, Troutman recorded with Parliament-Funkadelic on the band's final Warner Brothers' album The Electric Spanking of War Babies.

In 1988, Troutman made an appearance on Scritti Politti's third album Provision, providing talk box vocals on the songs "Boom There She Was" and "Sugar and Spice".

In 1989, NBA Entertainment selected Troutman among a variety of candidates to record a tribute song called "I'm So Happy" for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The same year Troutman featured alongside Dr. Dre on 2Pac's "California Love", which topped the Billboard Hot 100, sold over two million copies, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

In 1998, he appeared in a remix version of Sounds of Blackness' "Hold On (A Change Is Coming)", which sampled Zapp's "Doo-Wah Ditty (Blow That Thang)".