Hip-hop have come a long way since Tupac and Biggie entered the scene and brought this genre into the spotlight. Thanks to the invention of Roland TR-808, hip hop found its new sound. Roland TR-808 came out in 1980 but it is discontinued in 1983 because it is a failed product commercially. However, nearly 40 years after its release, hip hop still relies heavily on the machine for its perfect low-frequency 808 sound and even Kanye West dedicates an entire album to the sound, with every song using 808 called “808s & Heartbreak”.
The so called new wave of hip hop, trap, is identic to the sound of brass, triangle, triplet hi hats, loud kicks, snappy snares, and low end 808 bass samples that are used when composing tracks. It is a style of hip hop that started moving up in the 1990s and the samples used makes it very recognizable that you will know a trap song by listening to it. Trap music was first introduced in Atlanta, by the likes of T.I, Gucci Mane, and Jeezy - all black men in America, and the holy trinity of trap music. These artists are the pioneer of trap music and it can be said that they are the ones who bring this hip hop sub-genre into the spotlight. The term “trap” typically refers to a drug house, which is why most trap music are about drugs and slinging dope. However, the content of trap music is not defined by just narcotics - some of the music may be about the struggles of life in the streets.
T.I claimed he invented the trap music during an interview with the Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM, in which he stated that there is “no such thing as trap music prior to [T.I], it didn’t exist”. It is true to a certain extent because on 2003, he released an album called “Trap Muzik” which includes singles such as “24’s”, “Be Easy”, and “Rubber Band Man”.
Jeezy also helped bringing trap music to the center stage when he dropped his debut album in 2005 called “Thug Motivation 101”. Another name that is influential in trap music is Gucci Mane. Together, him and producer Zaytoven emerged from Atlanta underground and have been blessing ours ears with some of the greatest bangers of all time and he also contributes by giving out big names to the culture such as Young Thug and Future who grew under the guidance of Gucci Mane.
Back in the day we have N.W.A as the first ever rap supergroup, now we have Migos. Back in the day we have Dr. Dre, the hottest producer in the hip-hop game, now we have Metro Boomin who won the Best Producer in 2016 and 2017. There has been a hefty amount of arguments between the old school hip hop and the new wave hip hop but without a doubt, trap music bangs so hard in clubs.
by Sahisnu Amarendra