Posted on 05/12/2005 8:42:04 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Rapper wants to 'hick-hop' his way to country stardom
By Mario Tarradell
The Dallas Morning News
Cowboy Troy Coleman wants to become the first black country artist to break out since Charley Pride hit the charts almost 40 years ago.
DALLAS - Cowboy Troy can't walk into a concert venue without turning heads. He knows there's no way a 6-foot-5-inch black country rapper can escape the curious stares. Especially when he's wearing a Superman T-shirt. The spotlight, he admits, can be intimidating.
''There are times where if you let it wear you down, you can feel the pressure,'' says the 34-year-old Dallas-raised artist. ''There are times when I find myself walking through venues and I can kind of feel the looks from people. 'Oh, so he's the one.' I walk through places and I can hear the whispers. When the lights come on and the music starts and you're out there on stage and you hear the people cheering, clapping, it's pretty cool.''
It's also historic. Cowboy Troy Coleman is country music's first rapper, a purveyor of what he calls ''hick-hop,'' a mixture of authentic country instrumentation, hip-hop rhythms and flowing, rhyming words.
And if he's successful, he will become the first black country artist to break out since Charley Pride almost 40 years ago.
Cowboy Troy first attracted the attention of country fans in 2004 during Big & Rich's tour. He rapped on ''Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich),'' a cut from the pair's 2-million-selling debut album, ''Horse of a Different Color.''
When he performed that rap at last year's Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, he was the first black artist since Pride to take the stage at the awards show.
The buzz on him grew louder after five months on the road with Big & Rich opening for country superstar Tim McGraw. McGraw was so impressed with Cowboy Troy's rapping abilities that he asked Coleman to write a rap to perform during ''She's My Kind of Rain,'' one of McGraw's hit country ballads.
''You already had this rap on a major-label release and then you've got one of the biggest names in country music saying, 'Hey man, we want you to do something like that on my set,' '' says Coleman. He rapped during ''She's My Kind of Rain'' every night until the end of the trek.
Now Coleman's on his own. ''Loco Motive,'' which arrives in stores May 17, is the first release on Big & Rich's label, Raybaw, which stands for ''red and yellow black and white.'' He hopes to capitalize on the success of Big & Rich's album and the media attention showered on the Muzik Mafia, the no-boundaries artist collective formed by Big Kenny and John Rich.
''It's important that Cowboy Troy is the first one because it kind of goes along with the whole Mafia theme of music without prejudice,'' says Cory Gierman, general manager of Raybaw Records and one of the founders of the Muzik Mafia. Coleman's time on the Big & Rich tour helped, too.
''He was the first one to get the exposure. So we decided to
"He was the first one to get the exposure. So we decided tokick it off with him and get the train rolling."
Every track on ''Loco Motive'' showcases Cowboy Troy's way with rhymes. His robust voice glides smoothly over country-rocking instrumentation. Big & Rich sing on three cuts, and McGraw and Muzik Mafia members James Otto and Jon Nicholson each sing on one track.
The lead cut on ''Loco Motive'' is the rock-and-hip-hop-influenced ''I Play Chicken With the Train,'' a loose metaphor for his battle to stare down the country music world:
''People said it's impossible . . . not probable . . . too radical/But I already been on the CMA's . . . ,'' he raps.
''I'm big and black, clickety-clack/And I make the train jump the track like that!''
For Troy Coleman, that country, rock and hip-hop combo was the soundtrack of his high school days.
He was enthralled with music, all kinds of it. He moved from the country sounds of Charlie Daniels, the Oak Ridge Boys and Jerry Reed to rockers Kiss, Kansas, Eagles, ZZ Top and Foreigner. But he had a penchant for rappers - LL Cool J, Sir Mix-A-Lot, Run DMC, Ice-T and Ice Cube. Rapping was a fun pastime that got him noticed.
Today, Cowboy Troy's life is on a roller coaster. He and his wife, Laura, relocated to Nashville. He is promoting the upcoming ''Loco Motive'' with the usual media interviews and personal appearances. But he knows the album might face an uphill battle. In a genre guilty of supporting the conventional and ignoring the experimental, his one shot is make-or-break.
Unconventional artists such as Cowboy Troy either explode instantly or fizzle quickly.
Country rap may not be the big stretch it appears. In the original square dancing, the announcer was essentially rapping to an Appalachian beat.
''Cowboy Troy is what he says he is,'' says Paul Worley, head of the artist and repertoire department for Warner Bros. Nashville and a co-producer of ''Loco Motive.'' ''We did not make him up. He's a 6-foot-5 black rapping cowboy that grew up in Dallas loving all kinds of music, and yet his first love is country music. . . . So when I started hearing some of these songs, I thought, 'We gotta do this 'cause it's great.' ''
"The Ho's Get Prettier At Closin' Time."
Liberals have taken over Music Row, in case y'all didn't know.
After Big & Rich, I'd say that this guy has a pretty good shot at the big time.
Could be just a faze, who knows? I mean, a whole bunch of folks thought Garth Brooks changed his name, his style, and crossed over into "Goth Rock". That too was just a faze...publicity stunt actually.
There's some incredible music being made these days. You just have to open your ears and listen to a variety of artists.
Big and Rich are a nice change of pace. They're pushing the boundaries of the idiom.
I find it amazing that so many of the whiners just want to hear everyone write and perform "Hank" types songs" or Johnny Cash type songs.
If that's your bag then go ahead and sweat to the oldies but let the new guys do there thing and see what they come up with.
In aviation we don't fly biplanes anymore so, in country music, why does everyone have to write and sound like J Cash?
I love Big and Rich, and Cowboy Troy adds a little flair to it all, but solo?? Country Rap, to me doesn't cut it. I love country, hate rap. I mean intensely hate it! I don't see this making any real impact, as most country fans I know feel the same way.
He has a nice voice, if he would just stick to country and ditch the rap, he could become really big!
This guy managed to combine two forms of music I loathe.
I gotta say though, the Save a Horse video by Big & Rich is a lot of fun.
BUMP
"Pop a Cop, Again"
The crap they play on so-called country stations is probably worse than what this guy does. At least he's doing something innovative.
The first song I heard by big&rich I knew that country was finally, completely dead. Some cheesy disco bit about Tonto riding up on someone's behind. Their next song was about riding cowboys!
Stick a fork in it,...
Meanwhile bluegrass is good and lively as ever.
BUMP
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