Latin trap is a subgenre of trap music that originated in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. A direct descendant of

southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memp ...

, and influenced by

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ), also known as reggaetón and reguetón (), is a music style that originated in Panama during the late 1980s. It was later popularized in Puerto Rico. It has evolved from dancehall and has been influenced by American hip hop, ...

, it gained popularity after 2007, and has since spread throughout Latin America. ''The trap'' is slang for a place where drugs are sold. Latin trap is similar to mainstream trap with lyrics about life on ''la calle'' (the street), drugs, sex and violence, without censorship.

Characteristics

Latin trap is a subgenre of Latin hip hop, taking influence from

Southern hip hop Southern hip hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, Memp ...

as well as Puerto Rican genres like

and dembow. Vocals include a bend of

rapping Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and singing using

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

and voice distorted

autotune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-T ...

, often in Spanish, while still maintaining the trap style sonic circuitry. The lyrics in Latin trap are often about street life, violence, sex, drugs, and people who live on the other side of the law and are proud of it.

History

2000s

Latin trap originated in Puerto Rico and gained popularity throughout Latin America. The exact date of origin is unknown and has been widely debated. Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap singer Ozuna states that it originated in 2007 with the song "El Pistolón", performed by Arcángel & De La Ghetto, Yaga & Mackie, and Jowell & Randy (the former two were duo at the time).

De La Ghetto Rafael Castillo Torres, known professionally as De La Ghetto, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter, originally part of the duo Arcángel & De La Ghetto. His name is a reference to a 1990 episode of ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air''. Ear ...

on the other hand, states that he has been performing Latin trap since around 2005 or 2006, and that people thought "he was crazy". Reggaeton artists at this time wanted to introduce elements of American hip hop and R&B to a Spanish audience.

2010s

Latin trap began to gain prominence around 2014 when artists such as Alvaro Diaz, Myke Towers and Fuete Billete, the first Puerto Rican artists using early Latin trap beats to rap, began posting their songs through social media platforms. This new sound eventually gained popularity in Puerto Rico, and many Latin trap hits emerged, such as Anuel AA’s “47 Remix” Bryant Myers' "Esclava Remix",

Farruko Carlos Efrén Reyes Rosado (born May 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Farruko, is a retired Puerto Rican singer and rapper. He rose to fame collaborating with Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Don Omar, and J Álvarez. He came to prominence in 2 ...

's "Ella y Yo", and De La Ghetto's "La Ocasión", the latter to which Ozuna and Anuel AA credits with expanding Latin trap internationally. A Spanish version of " Panda" was released by

Almighty The Almighty (or "God Almighty") is an Abrahamic term for God. Almighty may also refer to: People and organizations *Almighty (rapper), a Cuban/Puerto Rican raised Latin trap rapper and singer *Almighty Saints, a street gang active in Chicago * ...

on the Miami-based label Carbon Fiber Music. The single reached #36 on

Hot Latin Songs The ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs (formerly Hot Latin Tracks and Hot Latin 50) is a record chart in the United States for Latin songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Since October 2012, chart rankings are based on digital sales, ra ...

and #23 on Latin Rhythm Airplay. Borrowing the original version's beat, it features

, owner of said label, while a subsequent remix adds

Daddy Yankee Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, composer, and actor. Known as the " King of Reggaetón" by music critics and fans alike, he is the artist who coined ...

and Cosculluela. Additionally, Anuel AA released a scathing

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the t ...

towards Almighty, entitled "RIP Panda", after being taken down from the remix. In July 2017, ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...

'' wrote: "Rappers and

eros from

have taken elements of trap – the lurching bass lines, jittering 808s and the eyes-half-closed vibe – and infused them into banger after banger." In an August 2017 article for ''Billboard'''s series, "A Brief History Of", they enlisted some of the key artists of Latin trap, including Ozuna,

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (born March 10, 1994), known professionally as Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He rose to prominence in 2016 with his song "Diles", w ...

and

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

- to narrate a brief history on the genre. Elias Leight of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' noted: " orgeFonseca featured Puerto Rican artists like Anuel AA, Bryant Myers and Noriel on the compilation ''Trap Capos: Season 1'', which became the first "Latin trap" LP to reach number one on ''Billboard'''s Latin Rhythm Albums chart." Many other reggaeton and Latin trap artists contributed to the popularity of Latin trap, such as

who led an explosion to the popularity of the genre. Bad Bunny produced several songs that made it into ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

''s

chart and has multiple collaborations with popular American artists such as

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accents ...

, Travis Scott, and

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine (service), Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, ...

. He shortly became the face of Latin trap's sudden rise in popularity. Through collaborations with other artists, such as his appearance in

Becky G Rebbeca Marie Gomez (born March 2, 1997), known professionally as Becky G, is an American singer and actress. She first gained recognition in 2011 when she began posting videos of herself covering popular songs online. One of her videos caught t ...

's " Mayores", Bad Bunny was among the first Latin trap artists to ever rap on the radio. His appearance on the radio has led to an increased recognition of Latin trap in the United States. His debut album '' X 100pre'' was released in December 2018 and was awarded with a

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been ...

for Best Urban Music Album. In April 2018, the song " Te Boté", a mix of Latin trap and reggaeton, was released by Nio Garcia, Casper Magico, Darell, Ozuna,

and

Nicky Jam Nick Rivera Caminero (born March 17, 1981), known professionally as Nicky Jam, is an American singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as " X", "Travesuras", "En la Cama", "Te Busco", " El Perdón", " Hasta el Amanecer", and " El Amante ...

. It became the first song with Latin trap elements in it to reach number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Latin Songs chart. It currently has over 1.8 billion views on YouTube. In 2018,

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

" I Like It" featuring Bad Bunny and

J Balvin José Álvaro Osorio Balvín (born 7 May 1985), known professionally as J Balvin, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. He has been referred to as the " Prince of Reggaeton" (from Spanish: "Príncipe del Reggaetón"), and is one of the best-sell ...

became the first Latin trap song to reach number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Current

and

appear at the 2020

Super Bowl Halftime Show Halftime shows are a tradition during American football games at all levels of competition. Entertainment during the Super Bowl, the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), represents a fundamental link to pop culture, w ...

performing latin trap songs for the first time in history.

is the most influential latin trap artist being named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2021. Bad Bunny is currently at his peak being named spotifies most streamed artist of 2021 and 2022. On May 6, 2022 Bad Bunny released his album Un Verano Sin Ti reaching the milestone of most-streamed artist globally in one day, with 183 million streams.

Criticism

Latin trap's inability to be played on the radio stems from the profanity and lasciviousness of the lyrics. The song "

Cuatro Babys "Cuatro Babys" is a song by Colombian singer Maluma, featuring Puerto Rican recording artists Noriel, Bryant Myers, and Juhn. The song is taken from the album ''Trap Capos: Season 1'' (2016). It was released as the album's first single on 7 Octo ...

" by

Maluma Juan Luis Londoño Arias (born 28 January 1994), known professionally as Maluma, is a Colombian singer, songwriter, and actor. Born and raised in Medellín, he developed an interest in music at a young age, recording songs since age sixteen. ...

has received much controversy over its lyrics as they arguably appear to suggest direct violence towards women. A petition was posted on Change.org demanding for the removal of the song from digital platforms. Despite this controversy, the popularity of "Cuatro Babys" has only risen with the song having gone quadruple Platinum. Because of this, Latin trap has had a large, but primarily underground, following. On September 15, 2018, Anuel AA released a

aimed at fellow rapper Cosculluela. The track was widely criticized due to its foul language and offensive remarks about homosexuality and HIV patients. Due to the public backlash, Gazmey's concert at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico venue scheduled for October 12 of that year was canceled by his production staff and main producer Paco López. Gazmey later issued an apology for the song. On September 15, 2021, Colombian artist

released his track "Perra" along with music video featuring Dominican artist

Tokischa Tokischa Altagracia Peralta Juárez (born 17 March 1996) known mononymously as Tokischa, is a Dominican rapper, songwriter and sexual content creator. After working for the renowned photographer Raymi Paulus, she was offered to enter the musi ...

. On October 17, 2021 the music video was taken down from YouTube due to the controversy that followed it. Many called the video sexist and mysoginistc due to the visuals with showed J Balvin walking two Black women on leashes, a group of Black people made to look like dogs and Tokischa on all fours inside a doghouse being feed chicken and cereal in a dog bowl. On October 11, 2021 Colombia’s

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

, Marta Lucía Ramírez, called the visuals sexist, racist, and misogynistic in an open letter. On October 24, 2021 Balvin apologized to the black community and anyone who might have felt offended in a series of instagram posts.

References

{{Authority control Trap music 21st-century music genres 2010s in Latin music 2020s in Latin music Trap Fusion music genres Puerto Rican styles of music Dominican Republic music Hip hop genres