Festival Trap
Located in 2 routes
Festival Trap is the EDM-stage version of trap: half-time drops, 808 pressure, pitched vocal chops, snare rolls, brass stabs, and rap-derived gestures scaled for dance festivals. It is not the same as Southern trap rap, though it borrows some rhythmic vocabulary; the EDM version favors instrumental drops, DJ-tool arrangements, and crowd-call moments. Its best records bridge hip-hop aggression and electronic sound design without losing the simple, physical release that a festival drop requires.
History
Around 2012, producers and DJs connected hip-hop trap rhythms with dubstep, electro house, and festival bass music. Flosstradamus's remix of "Original Don," Baauer's "Harlem Shake," TNGHT, RL Grime, Yellow Claw, and DJ Snake helped define the early wave. The sound's chart moment was brief but influential: it changed how drops used 808s and rap cadences, fed future bass and hybrid trap, and left a permanent place for trap sections in mixed-genre EDM sets.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Original Don (Flosstradamus Remix)(2012) — Major Lazer & The PartysquadSpotifyYouTube
- Harlem Shake(2012) — BaauerSpotifyYouTube
- Higher Ground(2012) — TNGHTSpotifyYouTube
- Turn Down for What(2013) — DJ Snake & Lil JonSpotifyYouTube
- Core(2014) — RL GrimeSpotifyYouTube
- Mosh Pit(2014) — Flosstradamus feat. CasinoSpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Red Bull track-by-track trap history https://www.redbull.com/int-en/a-track-by-track-history-of-trap-music
- Flosstradamus Bandcamp Original Don remix https://flosstradamus.bandcamp.com/track/original-don-flosstradamus-remix
- Apple Music Turn Down for What listing https://music.apple.com/us/album/turn-down-for-what-single/786489553
- Spotify RL Grime Core listing https://open.spotify.com/track/6gDXguyCx9NHVKt0aU40Xn