Trap music. It does not belong in a modern dance club filled with dubstep tunes and strobe lights. Trap music. It does not involve Waka Flocka lyrics strung throughout a dance remix. Trap music. It is not, “EDM.”

What is, “EDM”? Well, EDM is the new “craze,” if you can call it that, that incorporates well known rap artists voices and rap tunes remixed into a dubstep, repetitive song. Why EDM is correlated at all with actual trap music? I don’t know, but one thing is not to get confused. EDM is not trap music. And trap music is CERTAINLY not EDM.

Now, what is trap music?  Well, there is no solidified definition, but if one thing’s for sure, it’s not dubstep, nor anything like dubstep. Trap music birthed around the early 2000’s, its parent figures being people the likes of Lil Jon, Trillville, Crime Mob, etc. The title “Trap Music” was given its name because it is music of the “trap.”  The trap = the hood = the ghetto, all the same thing. Trap music is music of struggle, of hustle, of drug dealing, drug abusing, gun toting madness spawning from the trap and trap-houses (drug houses, not in any way affiliated with dubstep). The dirty south created trap, not an urban dubstep DJ. Trap is defined by not only its highly explicit lyrical content, but as well its distinct 808’s and heavy, trunk-rattling bass. Trap isn’t even solely defined by music. Trap is a culture. It is a culture of XXXL shirts, 22’s, Cadillac’s, gold grills, heavy chains, etc.

Rappers like Waka Flocka, Gucci Mane, OJ Da Juiceman and others have revolutionized and kept trap music alive and fertile since its origin, and variations of trap music can still be seen today via rappers like the ones mentioned and even newcomers the likes of Fredo Santana. Trappin ain’t dead. YET, at least.

So next time someone says, “let me show you this trap music” and they pop in some dubstep, throw that out the window and pop in some “Crunk Juice”, and play some, “Real Trap Sh*t.”

 

Zach Davis

 

@ZadricDavis