Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music that originated in the Southern United States. Lyrical references to trap began appearing in 1991, while the modern sound of trap emerged in 1999. The genre takes its name from the Atlanta term "trap house", a drug house. Trap music features simple, rhythmic, and minimalistic production that uses synthesized drums. It is characterized by drum beats with complex hi-hats, snare drums, and bass drums, some of which are tuned with a long decay to emit a bass frequency, originally from the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
Pioneers of the genre include producers DJ Spanish Fly, DJ Paul & Juicy J, Kurtis Mantronik, Mannie Fresh, Shawty Redd, Fatboi, Zaytoven, DJ Screw, and DJ Toomp, along with rappers T.I., 2 Chainz, Jeezy, and Gucci Mane. The style was popularized by producer Lex Luger, who produced the influential Waka Flocka Flame album Flockaveli in 2010 and co-founded the prolific hip-hop production team 808 Mafia.
Trap became mainstream in the 2010s and has since become one of the most popular forms of American music. Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Playboi Carti, 21 Savage, Migos, Lil Uzi Vert, Post Malone, XXXTentacion, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, DaBaby, and Travis Scott have all reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with songs made in the trap genre. Trap has influenced pop and contemporary R&B artists, including Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, the Weeknd, and Sabrina Carpenter. It has also influenced reggaetón and K-pop. In 2018, hip-hop became the most popular form of music for the first time ever, according to Nielsen Data, coinciding with the rise in popularity of trap. In 2019, trap-influenced hits such as Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the country trap song "Old Town Road" by Lil Nas X (featuring Billy Ray Cyrus) broke the record for the most weeks spent at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the fastest song to receive a Diamond certification.
Since the late 2010s and early 2020s, the rage subgenre of trap has emerged, spearheaded by Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert, Trippie Redd, and Yeat.
Characteristics Trap music employs multilayered, thin- or thick-textured monophonic drones, sometimes with melodic accompaniment expressed through synthesizers; crisp, grimy, and rhythmic snares; deep 808 kick drums; double-time, triple-time, and similarly divided hi-hats; and a cinematic and symphonic use of synthesized string, brass, woodwind, and keyboard instruments to create an energetic, hard-hitting, deep, and varied atmosphere. These primary characteristics, which became the signature sound of trap music, were pioneered by Shawty Redd's minimalist, horror-inspired style and DJ Toomp's melodic, sample-driven approach, drawing inspiration from jazz, soul, R&B, gospel, and funk. Trap may use a range of tempos, often programmed in half-time to achieve finer hi-hat subdivisions, from 50 (100) BPM to 88 (176) BPM, though the tempo of a typical trap beat is around 70 (140) BPM.
History 1990s–2003: origins As hip-hop grew, it created many forms such as gangsta rap, which shone more of a light on the dangerous lifestyle of those in impoverished American neighborhoods, and on political issues. As hip-hop mutated into gangsta rap, gangsta rap would then transform to trap, a new form of music, that followed a different thought process and different tones. Early producers creating trap music included Lil Jon from Atlanta, Georgia, where the term originated as a reference to places where drug deals are made.
Lil Jon, along with Mannie Fresh from New Orleans and DJ Paul & Juicy J from Memphis, Tennessee worked with local acts in Atlanta including Dungeon Family, Outkast, Goodie Mob, and Ghetto Mafia. In 1992, one of the earliest records to release was UGK's "Cocaine In The Back of the Ride" from their debut EP, The Southern Way. Later in 1992, they released the popular "Pocket Full of Stones" from their major-label debut album Too Hard to Swallow. It was also featured in the 1993 film Menace II Society. In 1996, Master P released his single "Mr. Ice Cream Man" from his fifth studio album Ice Cream Man. Fans and critics started to refer to rappers whose primary lyrical topic was drug dealing as "trap rappers". T.I.'s 2001 song "Dope Boyz", from his debut album I'm Serious, includes the lyrics "the dope boyz in the trap nigga / the thug nigga, drug dealer where you at". David Drake of Complex wrote that "the trap in the early 2000s wasn't a genre, it was a real place", and the term was later adopted to describe the "music made about that place".
2003–2015: rise in mainstream popularity During the early- to mid-2000s, trap music began to emerge as a recognized genre after the mainstream success of a number of albums and singles with lyrics that covered life in "the trap", drug dealing and the struggle for success. Several Southern rappers with drug dealer personas such as T.I., Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Boosie Badazz, Young Dolph, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross produced crossover hits and helped expand the popularity of the genre, with trap records beginning to appear more heavily on mixtapes and radio stations outside of the South. Though trap artists were somewhat diverse in their production styles, the signature and quintessential trap sound (typically based around synth, orchestra, and string swells with tight, bass-heavy 808 kick drums) that would come to be associated with the genre developed in Atlanta during trap's mid-2000s breakthrough. Some of the notable trap producers during the mid to late 2000s include DJ Toomp, Fatboi, Drumma Boy, Shawty Redd, D. Rich, and Zaytoven. The first wave of the trap sound was influenced by earlier Southern producers such as Lil Jon, Mannie Fresh, and DJ Paul.
By the end of the decade, a second wave of trap artists gained momentum and frequently topped the Billboard hip-hop charts. Trap producer Lex Luger gained huge popularity, and produced more than 200 songs in 2010 and 2011, including a number of singles for mainstream rap artists such as Rick Ross' "B.M.F. (Blowin' Money Fast)". Since Luger's rise, his signature trap sound has been the heavy use of 808s, crisp snares, fast hihats, synth keys, and orchestration of brass, strings, woodwind, and keyboards. Many of his sounds have been adopted by other hip-hop producers trying to replicate his success. As such, Luger is often credited with popularizing the modern trap sound. Since the 2010s, an array of modern trap producers have gained industry popularity, most notably 808 Mafia's Southside and TM88, Sonny Digital, Young Chop, DJ Spinz, Tay Keith and Metro Boomin. Some producers expanded their range to other genres, such as contemporary R&B (Mike WiLL Made It) and electronic music (AraabMuzik).
Throughout 2011 and 2012, trap music maintained a strong presence on the mainstream Billboard music charts with a number of records released by rappers such as Young Jeezy, Chief Keef and Future. Jeezy's single "Ballin" reached number 57 on the Billboard charts and was considered one of Jeezy's best tracks in some time. Future's single, "Turn On the Lights", was certified gold and entered at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Keef's "I Don't Like" and "Love Sosa" generated over 30 million views on YouTube, spawning a new subgenre within trap called drill, or later called Chicago drill following the rise of the less-trap oriented, grime-influenced UK drill. Music critics called drill production style the "sonic cousin to skittish footwork, southern-fried hip-hop and the 808 trigger-finger of trap". Young Chop is frequently identified by critics as the genre's most characteristic producer. The sound of trap producer Lex Luger's music is a major influence on drill, and Young Chop identified Shawty Redd, Drumma Boy and Zaytoven as important precursors to the drill movement. "I Don't Like" inspired fellow Chicago native, notable hip-hop producer and rapper Kanye West to create a remix of the song, which was included on his label GOOD Music's compilation album Cruel Summer. Stelios Phili of GQ called trap music "the sound of hip hop in 2012".
Since maintaining a strong presence on the mainstream music charts, trap music has been influential to non-hip-hop artists. R&B singer Beyoncé's songs "Drunk in Love", "Flawless" and "7/11", all from her 2013 album Beyoncé, also contained trap influences. American dance-pop singer Lady Gaga recorded a trap-inspired song titled "Jewels 'n Drugs" for her 2013 album Artpop, featuring rappers T.I., Too Short and Twista. The combination of pop and trap music was met with mixed responses from critics. In September 2013, American pop singer Katy Perry released a song titled "Dark Horse" featuring rapper Juicy J, from her 2013 album Prism; the song is credited with cementing trap music's place on the Billboard charts. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 by the end of January 2014.
2015–present: mainstream popularity
In May 2015, trap music once again surfaced to the top of mainstream music charts as New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap's hit single "Trap Queen" peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Fetty Wap's subsequent singles, "My Way" and "679", also reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Brooklyn-based rapper Desiigner gained major recognition in 2016 upon the release of "Panda" as his debut single which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The commercial success of trap songs also began to be assisted by Internet memes, as was the case with Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane's 2016 song "Black Beatles", which reached number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after exposure through the Mannequin Challenge Internet phenomenon. Similarly, in 2017 the collaboration between Migos and Lil Uzi Vert "Bad and Boujee", with the now popularly spread lyrics "Raindrop (drip), Drop top (drop top)" reached number-one after internet meme exposure. 2 Chainz released his fourth studio album Pretty Girls Like Trap Music in June 2017. Rapper Cardi B became extremely popular with her song "Bodak Yellow", which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2017.
In 2013, trap-influenced EDM came into the mainstream, popularized by producer DJ Snake.