Chill Trap
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Chill Trap slows trap's 808 drums into a hazy, melodic, late-night form with soft pads, vocal chops, sparse snares, and floating sub-bass. It keeps trap's hi-hat rolls and half-time spacing but trades aggression for atmosphere, melancholy, and sensual negative space. The sound works equally well as instrumental beat music, future-bass prelude, and downtempo club comedown.
History
Chill Trap developed as SoundCloud-era producers blended Southern rap drum programming with post-dubstep, cloud rap, LA beat music, and indie-R&B sampling. ODESZA, Flume, Cashmere Cat, Mr FijiWiji, TroyBoi, Sango, Ta-ku, XXYYXX, Lido, and Hippie Sabotage all helped make soft-focus trap drums a streaming and blog-era staple. Its influence later spread into lo-fi electronic playlists, pop remixes, future bass, and the moodier side of festival trap.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Run The Trap archives
- Discogs release listings
- SoundCloud-era electronic coverage
- AllMusic artist guides