It’s grimy, wild, and dirty. If you listen to hip-hop, you’ve heard of it before. Toronto has taken note, and hip-hop culture has embraced it. Trap along with its partner, atmospheric sound, are taking over the industry, and all we can do is bounce slowly to the beat like Pusha T does in his new music video, “King Push.” Let’s first get an understanding of what “trap” and “atmospheric sound” are so we don’t get left behind.
It was a trap, once you found yourself in the Southern states, namely cities like Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, and Memphis; there was no getting out of their culture and hardships. Difficulties growing up, drug dealing, and all sorts of illegal activities to simply survive, this was the trap. Pioneers of the sound and message of trap include Young Jeezy, Three Six Mafia, TI, UGK, Bun B, Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame, and Rick Ross.
Of late, the South’s musical signature has spread like wildfire and the exclusivity attached to the term trap is gone. It is everywhere, and you can tell it’s trap when you hear the deep 808 bass punch, crisp hi-hats fluttering in the foreground, and layers of either grand cinematic sounds or spooky synthesizers weaving in between.
Atmosphere or atmospheric sound is Toronto’s contribution to this massive wave of trap. Atmospheric music owes its roots to ambient music — music that was created to induce a sense of calm or peace. Atmosphere is airy, light, liquid, melodic at times, and weird at others. With that in mind, producers like Noah “40” Shebib, and Zodiac have taken its niche allure and combined it with hip-hop beats to make a Toronto sound that people around the world know about.
Atmosphere can, and often does, set the tone for an entire song. Take for example the track “Tuscan Leather” off Drake’s latest lp Nothing Was the Same — widely considered the best beat on the album. It is typified by a light string atmosphere with chipmunk voice samples flowing in and out of reverse play, hard bass kicks, a sharp and quick hi-hat sequence, and a baseline that has been heavily synthesized to add to a sound that is distinctive of the artist, 40, and the city, Toronto. He puts a lot of effort into making the piece sound as atmospheric as possible, while retaining the classic trap hi-hats and bass drum.
“PBR&B” artist The Weeknd and fellow Torontonian producer Zodiac released a couple of tracks that fell into atmospheric sound, stamped with Toronto’s seal of approval; however since their relationship went sour, Zodiac never received credit for the tracks he produced. Songs to check out include, “Loft Music,” “The Morning,” “What You Need,” and the first half of “The Party & the After Party.”
WondaGurl is the producer to look out for, though. Her production takes what Drake, 40, The Weeknd, and Zodiac have made into the “Toronto Sound” to another level. She’s a timid 16-year-old and has already made a beat with Houston rapper Travis Scott on his song “Uptown” with A$AP Ferg, the self-proclaimed “Trap Lord.” A feature beat on Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail is what the young WondaGurl would call her greatest achievement. The song “Crown” begins with a very liquid and atmospheric reggae distortion sample, follows with a dark synthesized baseline, and invites Jay Z’s lyrics with some of the hardest hitting 808 bass drum you will ever hear. It is trappy, heavy, and brings out primal bloodlust in its listener, and we can be proud to say, that it is the “Toronto Sound.”
This love for trap and atmospheric sound is shared by many Toronto-based producers and musicians alike. It would be worth checking out “TFHOUSE,” Adrian Hogan’s “The First Suite,” “Boi-1da,” and “Illangelo.” While many critics will argue that trap is mindless, monotonous, and often full of misogynistic, violent, and materialistic messages, it is important to recognize the raw sound and to celeberate the roots of beat production in the trap music genre.
