trap music
A hip-hop subgenre characterised by booming 808 bass, rapid hi-hat patterns, and dark atmospheric production.
In Depth
Trap emerged from the Atlanta hip-hop scene in the early 2000s, named after the trap houses where drugs were sold. Producers like Lex Luger, Metro Boomin, and Zaytoven defined the sound: deep Roland TR-808 bass drops, skittering triplet hi-hats, orchestral hits, and sparse, menacing arrangements. Trap production techniques have since infiltrated mainstream pop, EDM, and even country music, making it arguably the most commercially influential hip-hop production style of the 21st century.
The triplet hi-hat pattern that defines trap music has become so ubiquitous that it appears in everything from Taylor Swift songs to TV commercial jingles.