Trap

Trap music is a form of Hip Hop originating in Atlanta in the early 2000s, characterized by a distinctive fast hi-hat sound and heavy 808s set around 140 bpm. Trap has its roots in Dirty South and other Southern Hip Hop styles going back to the 1990s. Trap is Atlanta slang for a place where drugs are sold; T.I.'s 2003 album Trap Muzik first coined trap music as a term for the style. T.I. and other trap pioneers like Jeezy and Gucci Mane rapped over 808-driven beats and fast hi-hats, with lyrics about drug dealing, gang activity, and other Gangsta Rap topics. Around 2010, rappers like Waka Flocka Flame introduced a more aggressive style; this new wave led to the development of Drill by the Chicago Drill scene. A more melodic form of trap also developed that featured catchy synthesizer riffs, more melancholic and subdued atmospheres, and less noisy percussion and sub-basses, coupled with more melodic, sing-song rapping (often with auto-tune); Future was an early progenitor of this sound.