Cristina Luis Madrid
Madrid
Updated Monday, March 25, 2024-21:38
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Seedy sex, drugs and nihilism
. A decade ago, a group of kids with tattooed faces revolutionized the Spanish music scene. They were children of the crisis of 2008. In their neighborhoods they saw no hope in the future and, with a wild capacity, they managed to reflect their lives explicitly in songs.
The trap had arrived
.
"Punk was not going through its best moment and we had to fill that gap of destruction, chaos and perversion.
We felt a lot of emotions inside and we needed to express them
in some way. With trap you were able to let off steam," La Zowi explains to EL MUNDO about the beginnings of the movement.
She is one of the greatest exponents of this musical subgenre that then grabbed hundreds of headlines. Young people from all social classes connected with her lyrics while adults and the media questioned a scene that ended up changing everything.
But where is the trap now?
What remains of that brutalism and independence? How have its protagonists experienced these more than ten years of changes in the industry?
To know more
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"I think it has never been fully understood here," says Pedro LaDroga, another of the big names in Spanish trap. "There are
people who think that this is a world of geeks and others believe that we are thugs
who cannot be talked to. Each person is different, but it is the same thing as always in society with prejudices," he adds. .
The Sevillian fondly remembers how an entire generation of young people was at one with that criminal rap that came from the south of the United States. "
We did what we liked without prejudice, without cutting a corner
and giving all possible room to madness. Society did not understand it and revolted a little, but it was nice to see how it united people from all over Spain by doing the same move and without having the means to do it. Everything was
do it yourself
," he details.
That 'do it yourself' was one of the
great breaks in the industry that has remained to this day
. But it is not his only legacy. The communicator
Daniel Madjody
was one of the co-presenters of El Block, a space for musical trends that was broadcast in those years on YouTube and that also represented a revolution. They were the first to recognize and interview Yung Beef, Kaidy Cain, Bad Gyal and all those stars who were then rearing their heads.
"Obviously today it is not in the spotlight, it is not the predominant genre that it was six or seven years ago, although
I am very clear that trap has had a huge impact on music at all levels
," says Madjody.
And he details it even further: "That is to say, not only did it change what were then the 'standards' and 'laws' of how music was made. It also called into question hip-hop and the continuing question of what This was it or it wasn't. We journalists
had to start talking about 'urban genre'. The way in which music was published
and how it was produced also changed. I remember perfectly well that until 2013, super careful work and making records were highly valued. With the arrival of trap, it became common to release a lot of material more often, which is now something very normal. They could publish up to three songs on YouTube in the same week without anything happening. It
changed music in Spain forever. It was a total turning point
.”
"It marked a before and after. And it not only did so musically, but also in society"
Pedro LaDroga
Pedro LaDroga moves along the same line - "he literally marked a before and after.
And he did it not only musically, but also in society
. We showed that things could be done differently - and the now singer
Enry K
, who He worked as a producer for Cecilio G or Kidd Keo.
"What we did has 100% laid the foundations for everything, very heavies things have been achieved," he comments. However, he does not forget to emphasize that transcendence has not always gone hand in hand with prestige or recognition. "I think that when you are in the underground, the effort, the art and the work are not rewarded as they deserve.
I see, for example, that Cecilio does not have a chalet and it bothers me, because for artists like him everything that exists exists. there are now
. They also don't throw all the flowers they should. Should we wait until it's gone?" asks Enry K.
"Because of artists like Cecilio G, everything that exists now exists"
Enry-K
With its impact clear, it seems logical to ask
why trap has gone out of fashion
and has given way to sounds like reggaeton and Latin.
"Since the pandemic, all music has evolved a lot, it has started to mix a lot and, as is normal, trap has also progressed
. It has been diluted into different genres and the scene has remained in a niche
. There are not many artists doing trap as such in Spain, but we do find many of its elements. What happens is that we have already assimilated its codes so much that we do not identify them," says
Eva F. Cortes
, founder of the musical communication agency FFFea.
Kaydy Cain, in a promotional imageE. M.
"The borders in music are becoming more blurred every day," says
Adrián. D. Bóveda 'Jarri'
, member of the defunct group Novedades Carminha and co-director of the Cara B festival, which for some time has positioned itself as a showcase for alternative trends. "
I think there are few artists who can say 'I am a trapper'
. In fact, it is not heard too much because every day they are more open to playing different genres.
There are more and more communicating vessels and I think that is a positive thing
," he adds.
From within, Pedro LaDroga does consider himself a ragpicker.
"It's not that he feels it, it's that I am
," he says. But he acknowledges that in some environments he doesn't use it as a label to define himself. "Depending on my job, it's silly to say that I do trap because at the end of the day what I am is a musician," he explains, "but if you ask me directly I can't say no. Where do I come from, how have I grown and what that I have experienced is that."
Thus, lifestyle, one of the fundamental elements in this genre, flourishes in the conversation. According to La Zowi it is something absolutely essential.
"I am the queen of trap and trap is an attitude. If you don't have it, if you don't have a street and you don't have certain codes, better do something else
," she points out. "Thanks to the street, new talents are being born. Young people who are inspired by those of us who came first and who are there today," she says.
"Trap is attitude. If you don't have it, better do something else"
Zowi
We have to talk about the neighborhood, about poverty in the first person. From violence or complications to get ahead. Although the crisis of 15 years ago is far away, the situation of young people today is not much better. However,
on the charts the most sung songs talk about love and romanticism
. Perhaps dragged by the social changes of recent times.
"Trap has two fundamental concepts," explains Pedro LaDroga. "On the one hand there is the sound, which here has always been very open and has merged a lot. But, on the other, there is the lifestyle, which is another story.
People grow and change their lives. There are also those who really don't They were that
and they have ended up making other sounds," he details.
"If you are no longer on the street dedicating yourself to trafficking, in quotes, or thugs, it makes little sense for you to continue singing about it," says Madjody. "But if you make explicit music, it doesn't matter if you do trap or if you do the dirtiest reggaeton in the world. It doesn't matter if you talk about drugs or sex. In the end that restricts you from having investment from sponsors.
Brands are very scared of explicit music. in Spain
," he continues.
The Zowi, in a promotional imageE. M.
The communicator recognizes that in the industry there is more budget and that money accommodates. That's why people who have been in their career for longer years often become more conservative. In any case, he does believe that the explicitness of trap is still at the forefront.
"There is JC Reyes, who risks a lot because he doesn't have such a long career and maintains that more punk attitude.
Also the kids who do
drill
, who, although they have millions of views, continue to risk a lot
. Some are even in jail," he details .
Drill is precisely one of the
genres
that have been called direct heirs of trap.
"At the level of attitude, yes; but at the level of influence and depth it doesn't even reach the soles of his shoes
," says Madjody. "The trap came out at the right time in the right place."
"In Argentina they have been able to make it profitable much better"
Daniel Madjody
He gives as an example the
influence that Spanish trap had on the current Argentine urban scene
, which today is internationally recognized. "The greats of Argentina always name as references those who were blowing it up here in 2013. What happened is that they realized long before that what was selling was a softer message and collaborations between great artists. They have been able to make it
very profitable better at the level of numbers
. Here the movement was much more purist. There was a lot of ego and some problems between some of them that continue to this day and have prevented great artists from getting together," he explains.
And what about those great Spanish references? It seems they are far from finished.
"They are still
headliners
at many festivals. They have already made their careers. They are incorporating new sounds, but they are already there.
Although the rest of us no longer listen to such purist trap, we continue going to their concerts
," says Eva F. Cortés.
"They attract a lot of people and more every day
," says Jarri, and points out that in the previous edition of Cara B, Yung Beef was the headliner. "He has been consolidating over the years and his audience has continued to grow. This is a reality," he says.
"Trap is not dead as long as there are still people who do it, no matter how few
," defends Pedro LaDroga. "Also, many who have been in the sound can come back to it at any time," he adds. And so,
La Zowi
releases a scoop: "
I'm going to release a trap EP shortly
. It's a genre strong enough not to disappear."