Trap music (hip hop)
| Trap | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1990s – early 2000s, Southern United States |
| Typical instruments |
|
| Subgenres | |
| Drill | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Local scenes | |
| Atlanta hip hop | |
Trap is a hip hop music subgenre that developed in the late 1990s to early 2000s from Southern hip hop in the United States. It is typified by double or triple-time sub-divided hi-hats, heavy kick drums from the Roland TR-808 drum machine, layered synthesizers, and an overall dark, ominous, or bleak atmosphere. The term "trap" referred to places where drug deals take place. In the 2010s, artists crossbred trap with dubstep and effectively created a new and distinct form of the genre.
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 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 energetic, hard hitting, deep, and variant atmosphere for the listener. These primary characteristics would go on to be the signature sound of trap music originating from producer Shawty Redd. Trap comes at many different tempos, varying from 100 BPM up to 176 BPM, but 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. 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 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" 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". 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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