Is Trap-Country a New Genre in the Making?

Seems like it.

I heard my neighbor playing Old Town Road here in Brasilia last week. So that's definitely a 'thing'. There's always been 'Urban-Country' crossovers. From Alabama 3 to Bubba Sparxxx, to Snoop Dogg duetting with Willie Nelson - and the list goes on. And deep down within Country music, there's a connection with earlier blues and jazz and black music.

The Dynamic of Genre Evolution

However, I feel these urban-country fusions are always going to be more of a pidgin than a creole. There's a dynamic at play: new musical ideas are forged in population-dense urban centers where many musicians come together and spark ideas off of each other. These ideas then percolate out through less densely populated areas until they arrive in places dominated by country music.

Today, country has almost totally absorbed most rock idioms and is increasingly starting to absorb hip-hop idioms too. This could be anything from a particular drum sound to rapping. But this dynamic always depends on there being a distance between the country and the city and a time-lag for the ideas to move outwards.

The Quest for New Sounds

The people in the city want to be making sounds that are new and excitingly different from those the people in the country are listening to. Even if there are some avant-gardists in country, they won't find a large enough audience to support unorthodox ideas in lower density populations.

Will Trap-Country Be a New Genre?

Will 'Trap-Country' be a new genre? It may very well be a fashion, a short-term novelty. But it won't become a living genre. Eventually, 'trap' sounds will have migrated into country and become a normal part of the country vocabulary. But by then, they won't mean 'trap' - the cool kids will have moved on. They'll just be more sounds that make up country.

So, while 'Trap-Country' may be trendy for a while, it won't stand the test of time as a distinct genre. It's more likely to be a phase, a moment in time, where country music absorbs this new sound and moves forward.

In conclusion, the evolution of music genres is a fluid and complex process that depends on the interaction of different musical styles over time. It's an ongoing journey of creation, absorption, and change. As long as cities continue to inspire and influence country music, we can expect to see more crossovers and innovative sounds.