K-Trap, the ‘Trap Boy’ that arguably helped pioneer and shape the current U.K. Drill Sound. The South London rapper came up in the game back in 2017 and made quite the name for himself early on. Whether it was his decision to hide his identity with a balaclava, his raw and ruthless lyrics, or his unique tone and flow; something caught people’s attention. On his first mixtape, The Last Whip which dropped in 2017, tracks like ‘Paper Plans’ saw a whole new style for U.K. Drill Music and the noticeably patterned flow and ad-libs are very much still a common trait amongst other tracks to come out of the genre. Despite saying, “I don’t really like drill beats anymore because, when I hear drill beats, I can only spit a certain way and that’s not the way I wanna spit” in an interview with Trench. K-Trap has definitely influenced the entire scene from early on.
Since his breakthrough, he has been on a steady climb to the top. His second mixtape entitled The Re-Up grew his success further with his iconic sound becoming more developed and recognisable. Tracks such as ‘Watching’ show off his signature flow in the best way possible, with ad-libs that hit as hard as the actual verses, and punchline flows coming at you from all angles. ‘The Re-Up’ also saw featured artists where his debut mixtape did not and with some of those features including the likes of Loski and Yxng Bane, who were also both reaching new heights at the time, it was clear to see the man with a mask had stepped up another level.
Despite not having the largest discography, narrowing some of K-Trap’s songs down to just three iconic tracks was one of the toughest to do yet…but here they are.
Edgware Road
What a tune this is. Every element of this track is at the peak of its potential. The beat is well crafted with the sub driving the track and the trap style hi-hats syncopating the rhythm, which allows both LD and K-Trap’s flows to seamlessly skate across. The back and forth chorus is enough to have you hooked from the get go and after a first listen, I guarantee you’ll listen again. LD dominates the first verse with his deep rumbling tone and K-Trap’s complex rhyme structures seem effortless in the second, ending it with his classic ‘ugh’ Ad-Lib. This track is too hard.
How
‘How’ features some of K-Trap’s most raw lyrics yet. The bar “How can it fit in a man bag when it’s got all this length?” refers to the realism of his Drill Lifestyle and it’s the same storytelling that continues throughout the song that really hits home with the listener. Once again, K-Trap’s Ad-Libs make up a huge part of the song and make each bar hit harder. Fun Fact: Loski said this was his favourite U.K. Drill Song. If that isn’t enough to get you to listen then what is?
Big Mood
WATCH THIS VIDEO. The song feels fresh coming from K-Trap with very clean production all round & his tone of voice sits differently on this type of flow. We’re more used to hearing the likes of Loski on a beat like this, but less so the man with a mask. ALTHOUGH NOW HE ISN’T. The way this has been filmed does what we’ve all been waiting for in the most brilliant way possible. I won’t give anymore away but you really must see this if you want to get to know this fantastic artist.
K-Trap dropped his debut album No Magic on the 27th June just after his music video for ‘Big Mood’ came out. The album is a solid piece of work and it’s great to see how far K-Trap’s journey has taken him. You’ll see his name pop up everywhere if you’re a fan of any type of U.K. rap music already, so what’s next? Well he’s set to go on tour in September and with a feature on Krept and Konan’s new album with ‘I Spy,’ it’s fair to say K-Trap just keeps on taking it up a notch.
