The War and Treaty’s Michael Trotter Jr. is opening up about the rough journey that led him to where he is today. The duo is the latest guest on Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast, where Trotter shared his experience with gangs and family trauma.

“Cleveland is not something I talk about often,” Trotter explained. “Growing up in Cleveland, I grew up in a strict Christian household, it was very cultish to me. Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown. It’s nothing but God. You can’t do anything. You can’t watch TV, I couldn’t go play with friends, none of that stuff. It was just church, church. It really altered my life for a minute there.”

He continued, “It was a big contrast to what real life was. Friday to Sunday it was like, ‘Hallelujah, Jesus, Jesus’ and the rest of the week, we were living like s—.”

The singer noted that in his faith, everyone was “putting on this faith and saying that they’re happy,” but divorce and drugs were prominent throughout the community. He started “rebelling” early in life, after dealing with abuse at the hands of his father, who was struggling with addiction. “I turned to the streets in Cleveland, had a strong gang life. The gang association is called Folks, and I had a cousin who was very high up in gang life in Cleveland. I had my little initiation and I started selling.”

Trotter shared that his gang activity started at age 11. “I got stabbed when I was 12, and I think that was the turning point,” he recalled. “I was laying in the streets of Cleveland, and my cousin had been killed, so my mom then was like, ‘We need to get out of Cleveland and get to D.C.’”

Over time, and through processing his PTSD, Trotter has grown through his trauma, forming The War and Treaty in 2014 with his wife, Tanya. Since then, thankfully, the husband-and-wife duo have grown into musical success. The War and Treaty were one of two country acts nominated in the Grammys’ best new artist category in 2024; the other was Jelly Roll, Bunnie XO’s husband. “The space we occupied was really important,” Michael previously told Billboard. “The two artists representing the genre were not representative of that genre at all, if we’re being completely transparent. You got Jelly Roll, a tatted-face rapper who can sing a little bit, and Mike and Tanya, these Black, overweight, gospel-trained singers. Country music is actively trying to attack the narrative it has created, and I’m proud to be part of that change.”