With the rise in popularity of EDM trap music over the past several years, it seems the acceptance of the genre has greatly surpassed the understanding of the genre itself. EDM trap finds its roots in the trunk-bumping percussions found in Southern-Country Rap alongside the melodic uptempo aggression of older Drum n’ Bass and U.K. Garage acts. This is how Lunice Pierre and Hudson Mohawke approached their productions, which rose in popularity after their release of the TNGHT EP back in 2012. In their recent interview with Rolling Stone, the duo described this combination of two totally separate genres of music as, “electronic dance music with rap aesthetics and culture.”
When a trap set comes on at any festival or event, you are guaranteed so hear shouts of “Girl! Express yo-self”, “Get ya Freak On”, and “Twerk it.” But this reception of the genre is exactly what Pierre and Mohawke advocate against; saying, “Trap crowds in EDM seem to be emulating a culture they don’t understand. . .Trap music is about cutting bricks. . . It’s not about twerking, either!” Hip-Hop Trap music fundamentally comes as an expression of hood and drug culture that is not the message behind EDM trap, which is something that the genre as a whole should elaborate more on and think in order to move forward.