Latin trap

Latin trap originated in Puerto Rico and gained popularity throughout Latin America. The exact date of origin is unknown and has been widely debated. Puerto Rican reggaeton and Latin trap singer Ozuna states that it originated in 2007 with the song "El Pistolón", performed by Arcángel & De La Ghetto, Yaga & Mackie, and Jowell & Randy (the former two were duo at the time). De La Ghetto on the other hand, states that he has been performing Latin trap since around 2005 or 2006, and that people thought "he was crazy". Reggaeton artists at this time wanted to introduce elements of American hip hop and R&B to a Spanish audience.[3]

Latin trap began to gain prominence around 2014 when artists such as Alvaro Diaz, Myke Towers and Fuete Billete, the very first Puerto Rican artists using early Latin trap beats to rap, began posting their songs through social media platforms. This new sound eventually gained popularity in Puerto Rico, and many Latin trap hits emerged, such as Bryant Myers's "Esclava Remix", Lary Over and Brytiago's "Tú Me Enamoraste Remix", Farruko's "Ella y Yo", and De La Ghetto's "La Ocasión", the latter to which Ozuna credits with expanding Latin trap internationally.[4]

In July 2017, The Fader wrote: "Rappers and reggaetoneros from Puerto Rico to Colombia have taken elements of trap – the lurching bass lines, jittering 808s and the eyes-half-closed vibe – and infused them into banger after banger."[5] In an August 2017 article for Billboard's series, "A Brief History Of", they enlisted some of the key artists of Latin trap, including Ozuna, De La Ghetto, Bad Bunny, Farruko and Messiah- to narrate a brief history on the genre.[6][7] Elias Leight of Rolling Stone noted: "[Jorge] Fonseca featured Puerto Rican artists like Anuel AA, Bryant Myers and Noriel on the compilation Trap Capos: Season 1, which became the first "Latin trap" LP to reach number one on Billboard's Latin Rhythm Albums chart."[8]

Many other reggaeton and Latin trap artists contributed to the popularity of Latin trap, such as Bad Bunny who led an explosion to the popularity of the genre.[9] Bad Bunny produced several songs that made it into Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and has multiple collaborations with popular American artists such as Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, and Cardi B.[10][11] He shortly became the face of Latin trap's sudden rise in popularity.[12] Through collaborations with other artists, such as his appearance in Becky G's "Mayores", Bad Bunny was among the first Latin trap artists to ever rap on the radio. His appearance on the radio has led to an increased recognition of Latin trap in the United States.[12] His debut album X 100pre was released in December 2018 and was awarded with a Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album.[13]

In April 2018, the song "Te Boté", a mix of Latin trap and reggaeton, was released by Nio Garcia, Casper Magico, Darell, Ozuna, Bad Bunny and Nicky Jam.[14] It became the first song with Latin trap elements in it to reach number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart. It currently has over 1.8 billion views on YouTube.[15]

In 2018, Cardi B's hit single "I Like It" featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin became the first Latin trap song to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.[16]