Trap rap is a dominant force on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which showcases the most popular songs in the United States. Chart-toppers like Childish Gambino’s This is America, Drake’s Nice for What and Post Malone’s Psycho share sonic characteristics that come from Trap.
If you know what trap sounds like, the music needs no introduction or explanation. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll explain myself. You have probably already heard the trap sound I’m referring to, but haven’t identified those sounds as a coherent musical idea.
I’ve enlisted my omnipotent friend Wikipedia to provide a definition of Trap for us to use.
Trap music is defined by its ominous, bleak and gritty lyrical content, which varies widely according to the artist. Typical lyrical themes portrayed include observations of hardship in the "trap", street life, poverty, violence and harsh experiences that artists have faced in their urban surroundings.
Trap music employs a heavy use of multilayered, hard-lined, and melodic synthesizers, crisp, grimy, and rhythmic snares, deep 808 kick drums, double-time, triple-time, and similarly divided hi-hats, and a cinematic and symphonic utilization of string, brass, woodwind, and keyboard instruments to create an energetic, hard-hitting, deep, and variant atmosphere.
Listen for the lyrical nihilism, rapid hi-hats and deep bass in Post Malone’s Rockstar.
We also need to define what the word “Trap” means. “Trap” refers to anything related to dealing narcotics. It can be a noun or a verb. One can sell drugs out of a trap house or simply “Trap.” One can also “Trap” or “be trapping” referring to the act of dealing drugs.
But where did this bleak, heavy style of music come from and why is it so popular?
A logical guess for the genesis of trap would be Atlanta rapper, T.I.’s landmark 2003 album Trap Musik. The name and the city check out, but we immediately run into numerous objections. Gucci Mane, known to some as the godfather of trap, would likely disagree. Gucci, also from Atlanta, has been cutting records about trapping since 2000. His numerous stints in prison hint there might be a bit of truth to his music.
I think looking for a rapper is the wrong way of conducting our search. Trap did not begin with a man. Trap began with a machine. Specifically, the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
The story of the 808 is ironic. The drum machine was a commercial failure, yet it became the most successful rhythm machine in hip-hop, the most commercially successful musical genre in history.
When it was released, drum machines were still finding their footing in popular music. The 808 machines were criticized for sounding artificial compared to competitors with more realistic sounds. It failed to capture a market share in the dominant genre of rock. This failure relegated it to dusty pawnshops and secondhand stores.
Early hip-hop producers, who lacked professional studios or funding from record labels, found the 808 drum machine at these pawn shops for highly cut rates. The machines signature deep kick bass sound and tinny hi-hats became staple sounds in early hip-hop music.
Now established as the predominant drum machine for Hip-Hop, the 808 spread across the country along with hip-hop music. It quickly migrated south, where southern rappers created their own unique sound.
By the early 2000’s Atlanta had established itself as the capital of southern hip-hop. As I mentioned before, early 2000’s Atlanta was where the sounds of southern rap mixed with hardcore gangster lyrics, culminating in the creation of proper trap rap, typified with 2003’s Trap Musik. Grimy synthesizers, machine-gun hi-hats and of course, rap about the drug dealing lifestyle are present in the album. T.I. certainly did not invent trap music, but Trap Musik represents all elements of the Trap sound in one cohesive musical package. By 2009, Atlanta hip-hop had become so culturally ubiquitous that the New York Times referred to the city as “hip-hop’s center of Gravity.”
Here’s where my experience with trap begins. It’s 2010 and Wocka Flocka Flame releases the hit album Flockaveli. Lex Luger’s ice-cold beats and Wocka Flocka’s manic energy propel the album to the top of the charts and into my earbuds. The album included classics like Hard in Da Paint and No Hands. Hard in Da Paint makes the listener feel like he or she has the ability to run through a brick wall, which put it on every workout playlist from 2010 to today. No Hands was the catalyst for entire gymnasiums of high school students to start shamelessly grinding on each other during school dances.
The Album’s success made Luger the most in-demand producer in the rap game. Like a bee, Luger traveled across the country with his signature sounds and spread his production methods to the nation's most popular artists. Rappers like Rick Ross and Kayne West began releasing trap songs. Mellow stoner rapper Wiz Kalifa released the hard-hitting and violent track We Dem Boys while pop star Miley Cyrus released the distinctly trap track 23. These gross genre examples of trap show just how far the genre spread its influence.
Trap’s star has not ceased rising even to this day. Trap producers are still in high demand. Metro Boomin’ and Mike Will Made It consistently are behind hip hops smash hits.
Some of hip-hops biggest stars, like 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert and Future continue to rap over Trap beats. Most noticeably, rap’s new generation of rising stars, termed Soundcloud Rappers have distinct trap influences in their music. This new generation of rappers is taking the raw abrasive sound and lyricism of Trap rap and cranking the sonic and emotional distortion up to eleven. Trap has been a part of Hip-Hop’s DNA since the beginning of the genre, yet its distinct sonic palette and lyrical nihilism set it apart from the mainstream crowd. Even though the Trap ethos has been part of rap since the beginning, the new generation of rap stars ensures it is not going away anytime soon.
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