Last blog post I discussed the modern genre of Reggeaton. This has been the sensation that has swept Latin America and has been played in several thousand parties. However, even though that can be considered the new generation of Latin music, there is one other genre that is even more recent that is really on the rise. Latin trap is becoming the new things and younger generations are listening to this over reggeaton.

 

This genre is heavily influenced by American culture because it is based on the trap genre that had already existed here from the African American culture. Additionally, Latin trap also tries to fuse Reggeaton into the songs, which preserves some of the Latin sound mixed in with the trap. The lyrics tend to discuss sex, drugs, and street life. The lyrics also tend to be very vulgar.

Courtesy of Billboard

 

The trap genre did not seem like it was going to become very popular in the Latin community. It was trying to compete with reggeaton which at the time was completely dominant. In fact, an article on the Washington Post discussed how record labels believed that there was no future for Latin trap.

 

The first trap song is said to have come out in the mid-2000s. In 2007, a remix was made to the song “El Pistolon”. Arcangel and De La Ghetto were the pioneers that made stepped out of the reggaeton scene to make the trap remix. Both these artists are Puerto Rican. Puerto Rico actually dominates the Latin trap world followed by Colombia. It is no surprise that Puerto Rico pioneered such a genre because Puerto Rico has strong ties to the United States. Many of the artists even lived in New York. Therefore, the artists grew up with the hip hop culture of America but rapped in Spanish.

Courtesy of Hulkshare

 

Around 10 years after the first Latin trap song came out, the trap genre is now very popular in Latin America. Many reggeaton artists have come out with their own Latin trap songs because the genres are both related and very popular. Many collaborations have also been made between artists to keep the genre on the rise and expanding the audience. This is one of the genres that is also gaining popularity in the United States.

 

Some of the big names in the genre include Bad Bunny, Arcangel, Anual AA, De La Ghetto, Bryant Myers, Ozuna, J Balvin, Maluma. Some of these artists also have a focus on Reggeaton, but they have made collaborations and songs that are Latin trap. Bad Bunny is one of the artists on the list that truly has a focus on the trap.

 

An article on 34th Street discusses that Latin trap was overlooked in 2017. The genre was overlooked because Reggeaton was more popular and because Despacito took the spotlight. However, Latin trap has been on the rise and continues to be on the rise. The article gives credit to Bad Bunny for putting the genre at the level it is at today.

 

Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican artist famous for trap. He is very popular in Puerto Rico and Latin America. His song “Soy Peor” is an iconic song in the genre that caused the genre to spread at the magnitude that it has.  

Courtesy of Discogs

 

Looking at the near future, Latin trap may start to take over the stage. However, reggeaton still remains more popular and influential. As of now, both are widely heard and both are partied to at high school parties, college parties, and night clubs as well.