Kenneth Ray Trotter, better known as Trotter Water, is an American Rapper hailing from Columbia, Missouri. He began his journey in hip-hop in the 1990s, when Kris Kross debuted as a rap duo famous for wearing their clothes backward throughout the mall. Four years after discovering his passion for music, Trotter started freestyle rapping and penned amazing raps. As he grew older, his love for hip hop also bloomed, and the rap star wrote and performed raps as often as he could.
In November 1998, he made his debut stage performance at the Blue Note Columbia, MO, alongside fellow rappers. “Just being on the stage and seeing the crowd and their reactions, it felt so good,” he said. “It felt so good. There is no other feeling.”
However, there was turbulence ahead for the budding artist as his musical career was put on hold for over a decade when he was incarcerated. While in prison, he had time to self-reflect, and he concluded that his happiest moments were on stage performing.
With nothing but time on his hands in prison, he wrote over 400 rap lyrics. The content of his raps was about his perspective on his life experiences. “A lot of it was basically on how I viewed life because, at the time, I felt that a lot of people turned their back on me because I was locked up,” Trotter said. “A lot of my initial first drafts were angry and just hatred and just as a form of release.”
Despite his past experiences, Trotter Water is not one to give up on his dreams and goals. Once he finished his prison term, he immediately picked up from where he left off, brushing off his skills and launching into the musical scenes to narrate his story through captivating lyrics and tunes. He has recorded three hip-hop mixtapes under his production company (Target Takeover Productions). He also starred as an opening act for Bone Crusher, Hurricane Chris, Luni Coleone and a few other artists.
In 2019, Trotter Water signed a management contract with JPS Productions out of Columbia, MO. Jason Schrick, the owner of JPS Productions, would then arrange to record and produce Trotter’s EP “Switching Lanes,” at Universal Music Group–Nashville. The title track of that EP was released in September 2021 and made a significant splash on the airwaves. The soul-rending song was accompanied by a YouTube video, directed and produced by Jonathan Grajeda, and the entire “Switching Lanes” EP is on all nearly every music platform available for streaming.
For Trotter Water, his brand of music is inspired by real-life events, and he wants his raps to reflect his own experiences and not just what the industry wants.
“Hip-hop is telling a story. It’s about life experiences,” he said. I didn’t want to fall into the trend of saying what people wanted to hear; if I have never lived it or haven’t done it, I will not talk about it.”
Additionally, he has an interview segment with local businesses called “Water Wednesdays” on Facebook, where he spotlights businesses and local organizations. He also has a Facebook segment called “Is It Too Hot for Water,” where he tests hot food for how spicy/hot it is. One notable segment is Hattie B’s chicken in Nashville, TN.
To learn more about Trotter Water and his discography, visit his management company’s Facebook page.
