Form of hip hop characterized by beats with high-pitched synthesizers (often imitating brass or orchestral tones) and hard, frequently polyrhythmic 808 drum machine lines at moderate to slow tempos with fast hi-hats as counterpoints. The term 'trap music' was coined by T.I. with his 2003 album Trap Muzik; as he describes it, the 'trap' is "basically where drugs are sold." Accordingly, in 'trap music', images and descriptions of the drug-dealing lifestyle are invoked heavily. The style evolved in the southern United States–particularly in the Atlanta, Georgia area–in the mid 2000s as a less dance-oriented cousin of Crunk, with a looser and less sharply aggressive vocal delivery characteristic of Dirty South MCs.

Major trap rap artists include Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, and Waka Flocka Flame.