FI Artists
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The Introduction
With a nickname like Trouble, you wouldn't exactly expect good things from Ronnie Baker. But the moniker, given to him by his grandmother before he was even born, is fitting?”is deceiving, except where lackadaisical rappers are concerned. For them, Trouble is exactly that.
A ferocious emcee with a knack for penning piercing lyrics, Trouble knew he was going to be rapper from the moment he turned his Easter Sunday speech into a rap as a kid. From there the Atlanta native formed the gospel group, God's Little Angels, and toured around the southeast, Chicago and South Carolina, eventually landing on BET's Francis Martin show twice.
"My great grandfather was a preacher, so I was raised in the church," he explains.
It would seem that with his gospel background doing secular music, Hip Hop no less, would be a stretch. But Trouble shrugs off the notion.
"I know that God is real, but life is real," he says. "I just write what I live."
His life course has led him from being a in a gospel group to the Marine core?”an experience that he says helps out now in his music career. Using the discipline he learned in the military to navigate his way through the music industry, Trouble's agility behind the pen has led him to work with everyone from Grand Hustle's Young Dro ("Blood Line" to Sammy Sam ("Father Save Me") and the Diablos under his old rap name, Col Baker.
"One thing the Marine Core taught me is with nothing you can make something," he says. "It taught me my drive. It keeps me mentally fit because I feel like I'm more disciplined. I know that life is bigger than the picture that most artists paint these days. I got a chance to learn and respect other people and learn how to live in other people shoes. It exposed me to a lot of different things and when you get exposed it can help you learn how your life is supposed to be lived."
That self-reflection and worldview is really what drives Trouble's sound. Lyrically, he easily outshines the rappers saturating the busy Hip Hop scene, driven by a desire to showcase his skill. Putting what he learned after years in the business to use, in April 2007, he released his upbeat single, "So Fi," positioning himself to build an audience not only in his native Atlanta, but throughout Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, St. Louis and Texas as well.
Currently working on his solo project, his lead single, the story-telling "Body Talk" is a creative take on being sidetracked in an argument with your girl because you can't hear anything but her body talking.
"I think my audience is the world," Trouble says reflectively. "I think everyone will be interested in my music because it's universal. I've almost mastered the art of writing without using any profane language. I try to make songs that people appreciate."
