Trap music, also known simply as trap, is a subgenre of hip-hop music that originated in the Southern United States. Lyrical references to trap started in 1991 but the modern sound of trap appeared in 1999. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta term "trap house", a drug house. Trap music features simple, rhythmic, minimalistic productions that use synthesized drums and is characterized by complex hi-hat drum beats, snare drums, and bass drums, some tuned with a long decay to emit a bass frequency (originally from the Roland TR-808 drum machine).
Pioneers of the genre include producers DJ Spanish Fly, DJ Paul & Juicy J, Kurtis Mantronik, Mannie Fresh, Shawty Redd, Fatboi, Zaytoven, DJ Screw, and DJ Toomp, along with rappers T.I., Jeezy, and Gucci Mane. The style was popularized by producer Lex Luger, who produced the influential Waka Flocka Flame album Flockaveli in 2010, and cofounded the prolific hip-hop production team 808 Mafia.
Trap became mainstream in the 2010s and has since become one of the most popular forms of American music. Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Playboi Carti, 21 Savage, Migos, Lil Uzi Vert, Post Malone, XXXTentacion, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, DaBaby, and Travis Scott have all reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with songs made in the trap genre.
