California Loved

Sandwiched between the funk era of Parliament/Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins and the pioneering Left Coast hip hop acts like Mixmaster Spade, Ice-T, and Uncle Jam's Army, Zapp and Roger (or Roger and Zapp, or simply Zapp, depending on which album cover you're looking at) laid a musical foundation for Pacific Coast ridahs. Known for their thundering handclaps, guttural electric guitars, and trademark talkbox, an instrument that ran Roger's vocals through a keyboard (he once called it an "African robot, a ghetto robot"), Roger, Larry, Terry, and Lester rose to national prominence with their computer pop 22 years ago. Taking nods from the funk, soul, disco, and R&B music of the 1970s, and deeply influenced by the funk bubbling up in their native Ohio (from acts like Slave, the Ohio Players, and Sugafoot), Zapp and Roger altered the sonic landscape and unknowingly created an endless supply of samples to be raided later by hip hoppers from Oakland, Long Beach, Watts, Compton, Fresno, and San Diego. In short, Roger Troutman and his brothers became the forefathers of West Coast hip hop without ever intending to, influencing producers from Dr. Dre to DJ Quik, from Bosko to DaMizza, and others.

Today, you can't ride 10 blocks on a sunny day in any predominantly African-American or Latino neighborhood in urban California without hearing the trademark West Coast funk that Troutman spearheaded. Whether it's the heavy bass and thick synthesizers of a Zapp original or a hip hop track propped up by a sample from one of the group's records, Troutman's music is played daily on black and pop radio. As rapper and actor Ice-T puts it, "Roger's music is a part of the backbone of hip hop, along with James Brown and George Clinton."

That Zapp and Roger's bass-heavy sound would have a special impact on the West Coast is no coincidence. Unlike on the East Coast -- particularly hip hop's New York City birthplace, where subway riders routinely hide their ears under tiny headphones -- in California, Nevada, Washington, and other spots, tricked-out Cadillacs and Chevys were (and remain) the major means of cruising through the 'hood.

Zapp's sound was practically custom-made for those cars, rattling their speakers as ridahs slumped deeper and deeper into the driver's seat, announcing their arrival before they hit the corner. Heads turned, and gangstas in cutoff khakis and house shoes glared as they rolled up. But a scowl could quickly turn into a nod of love if those speakers were bumping "Computer Love"; one's musical selection confirmed one's credentials. And along with the proper oldies, no self-respecting lowrider left the garage without a Zapp tape.

"Roger Troutman and the funk really struck a chord with the people here on the West Coast," says Davey D. "It probably goes back to how laid-back things are in California. It's a driving culture."

"The West Coast has always embraced funk," agrees Rhino Records funk expert Barry Benson, who's produced two Zapp and Roger anthologies. "I think it's because dance music never really meant the same to the West as the East. We've always been on some low, downtempo, 80-beats-per-minute dance music. That was the R&B out here. Even in the disco days, you still had Cameo, the Barkays, and Lakeside doing their thing, all those real laid-back kind of rider groups."

Zapp and Roger first blew up in 1980, with the eponymous debut Zapp, buoyed by the success of "More Bounce," which reached as high as No. 2 on the R&B charts. The song hit the streets when many of the West Coast's hip hop legends were teenagers or younger, still tying their Pumas with the fattest laces available and still absorbing the music they would shuffle and reinvent years later on the mike. One of those kids was Pacoima native James Robinson, aka J-Ro of L.A.'s infamous lush-hop trio Tha Alkaholiks. An avid Zapp fan, he and partner Harlan "Wolf" Morgan spent two years after Troutman's death putting together the tribute album Still More Bounce. Now out on WolfPac Records, the disc was a shoestring operation; when J-Ro started the project, he figured his paltry budget would keep top-notch artists away. But word of the tribute spread, and talent like Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, singer Chico DeBarge, Cypress Hill's B-Real, Xzibit, Ras Kass, and many others all ultimately jumped on board. For free.

"The man defined West Coast hip hop with his sound, with his instruments, and his talkbox," says Dr. Dre protégé Xzibit in a recorded tribute on the album. "Countless numbers of records have been made off this man's art. ... If it wasn't for you, Big Dog, we wouldn't be here."