TRAP MUSIC MADE ME: TRAP MUSIC MUSEUM
Trap/
noun
- informal-structures, zones or capacities where narcotic supplier prepare, operate, and distribute their product.
2. infomal-a place where one hustles and grinds for financial gain to change one's circumstances.
As a hip hop enthusiast, I was excited to visit the Trap Music Museum in Atlanta, the origin of trap music. Rap music raised me and trap music made me. Trap music made me feel invincible, trap music made me feel like a G and trap music made me graduate college.
Trap music is considered the "hood music" of the south and it declares a space in hip hop culture. Hood music tells the story of every dope boy, trapstar and trap queens. It also tells the story of the urban black American plight. The Trap Music Museum does not glorify the lifestyle instead it gives us a glimpse of the inspiration of many of our favorite trap songs. It also gives us an understanding of why they call it the trap.
Entering the Trap Music Museum, I am introduced to the Corner Store. Immediately childhood memories flood my mind. Living in the hood as a child, the corner store was essential for my before school snacks, after school snacks and other essentials my parents wanted me to grab.
The Corner store. It's some Boyz n da hood, sell anything for profit, five in the morning on the corner clockin'- Boyz N Da Hood
The Corner store (a bodega is New York variation of corner store) is a convenience store that was alternative to driving to the grocery store. "In Trap Culture, it's common for distributors to operate on corners that are often adjacent to stores, thus creating home base and central point for local suppliers. When you consider how many blunt wraps, bottles of malt liquor, boxes of baking soda, cheap snacks and ziplock bags were purchased in these places, you realize that the corner store is just as much a part of the culture as anything else."
The Trap House Living Room. "In the trap house, choppa on the floor, pistol on the couch, hood rich so I never had a bank account.-Gucci Mane
The living room of a trap house is usually centered around drugs, alcohol, guns, ashtrays and a plastic covered sofa. I have never been in a trap house before but the plastic covered sofa is a hood black American staple. I have sat on many plastic covered sofas and seen many brown paper bags of colt 45.
The Trap House Kitchen. "All I need is one mic, All I need is one stove, Homie got a nice flow, But Gucci got that white coke" -Gucci Mane
The kitchen is where the magic takes place with a stove, pot, measuring cup, baking soda and coke. The kitchen is normally closed during cooking time. The kitchen includes some other essentials such as ashtray, weed, money and snacks. In hip hop culture, coke is called different names such as white girl, snow, rocks and blow.
The Cell. "You know I can't sleep, we living in hell, first they give us the work then they throw us in jail. Road trip, yeah im trafficking the white, please, Lord, don't let me go to jail tonight.- Jeezy
The jail cell is the location that most trap stars and dope boys find themselves at a certain point in their life. The jail cell is where most black men in America will find themselves at a point of their life. This moment in the museum felt surreal to me. Because I have never been in a jail cell but I have witnessed so many of my students, friends and family reach a jail cell. Some incarceration truths: 1 in every 15 black men are incarcerated. 1 in 3 black men can expect to go to jail in their lifetime. Black youth have higher rates of juvenile incarceration and are more likely to be sentenced to adult prison. Those statistics. As I sit on the small bed that has a bible on the pillow case, I wonder how much of the choices we make are our own and how much of it is environment.
The museum displayed other exhibits that were intriguing including the infamous trap pink car. The Trap Music Museum highlighted the greats of trap music and was an amazing experience.
I enjoy trap music and although I do not condone the dope boy and trap star lifestyle, I understand some life choices are not for me to judge but for me to sympathize. I appreciate the music that has been created because of trap culture. I do not choose the lifestyle that represents the first definition however, I do choose the latter definition. Trap music gave me the mental capacity to be fearless and hustle with my education, professional and personal goals.