Trap (music)
| Trap music | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1990s – 2000s (decade), Southern United States, particularly in Port Arthur, Houston, Atlanta, and Memphis |
| Typical instruments | |
| Subgenres | |
| Drill | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Atlanta, Georgia | |
Trap music is a subgenre that originated during the 1990s from Southern hip hop in the Southern United States. It is typified by its ominous lyrics and sound that incorporate heavy kick drums from a Roland TR-808 synthesizer, double-time division hi-hats, layered synthesizers, and "cinematic" strings.
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 in urban inner city surroundings.
Trap music employs a heavy use of multi-layered 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 creating an overall dark, harsh, grim and bleak atmosphere for the listener. These primary characteristics would go on to be the signature sound of trap music originating from producer Shawty Redd. The tempo of a typical trap beat is around 140 BPM.
The term "trap" is used to refer to the place where drug deals are made and how it is difficult to escape the lifestyle. The term originated in Atlanta, Georgia where rappers Cool Breeze, Dungeon Family, Outkast, Goodie Mob, and Ghetto Mafia were some of the first to use the term in their music. In the early 1990s, rappers UGK, 8Ball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, Cool Breeze, Master P, and Ghetto Mafia were among the first rappers to introduce the "trap" or drug dealing lifestyle into their music. In 1992, UGK's "Pocket Full of Stones" was one of the earliest records to be released 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" off 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". David Drake of Complex wrote that "the trap in the early 2000's wasn't a genre, it was a real place", and the term was later adopted to describe the "music made about that place."
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