Rapper
Cowboy Troy exploded onto the country music scene in 2004 with a blend of country and rap he likes to call "hick-hop." It was his appearance on the
Big & Rich track "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" that put him on CMT and into every honky tonk DJ's record collection that year, but
Troy's involvement in country music and with
Big & Rich began over a decade earlier. It was 1993 in his hometown of Dallas when
Cowboy Troy -- real name
Troy Coleman -- first met
John Rich.
Rich was then a member of Texassee, the band that would morph into
Lonestar.
Troy had grown up on
Jerry Reed,
Charlie Daniels, and
the Oak Ridge Boys, but he also loved the rock of
Kiss and
ZZ Top and the hip-hop of
Run-D.M.C. and
Sir Mix-A-Lot. He found a friend in
Rich, someone who was also based in country but a fan of all types of music. The two kept in touch as
Rich took
Lonestar to the top.
By 1999,
Troy was asking for time off at his job managing a Foot Locker and heading to Nashville to shop his rap-meets-country demos.
Rich was now working with
Big Kenny and the two were busy hosting their "Muzik Mafia" nights -- a performer's roundtable known for its risk-taking attitude.
Troy's style fit right in and he spent the next three years perfecting his live show. He was more than ready when
Big & Rich asked him to appear on their debut album.
Horse of a Different Color became a massive hit and the sold-out tour that accompanied it included a showstopping appearance from
Cowboy Troy. Performing "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" with the duo on the 2004 Country Music Association Awards made
Troy only the second black artist to take the stage at the show, the first being
Charley Pride 38 years earlier.
Cowboy Troy soon landed his own record deal with Warner Bros. Nashville and got to work on his debut with
Big & Rich as producers.
Loco Motive hit the shelves in May of 2005 as its first single, the rousing "I Play Chicken with the Train," was climbing the charts. He soon landed a gig as co-host of CMT's singing competition Nashville Star, which put him next to
Wynonna Judd on one season,
Jewel on the next. In 2007 he released his second full-length, the much more serious
Black in the Saddle. A year later he performed at the Republican National Convention and parted ways with Warner Bros. His 2009 album
Demolition Mission: Studio Blue Sessions landed on the indie label Winding Road.
–
David Jeffries, Rovi