Trap Hall is the newest genre making waves on the charts in Jamaica, a country that has created and inspired some of the world’s most influential musical genres. As Trap Hall gains momentum and debate grows over what it is, where it came from and who helped shape it—Trap Hall artiste AI Milly is making one thing clear: to understand the movement, you have to hear from the artistes who were there helping to build it.
During this WMV interview, the Oracabessa-raised artiste spoke candidly about the origins of Trap Hall, its connection to “choppa” music and why he considers himself part of the movement’s pioneering generation.
“Trap Hall would start from Rygin King days,” Milly said, pointing to the period around 2018 when King emerged as one of dancehall’s breakout stars with “Tuff.”
For Milly, that era marked an important shift in the sound coming from a younger generation of Jamaican artistes. Trap influences were becoming more pronounced, but rather than simply copying an overseas sound, Jamaican musicians were filtering those influences through dancehall, local culture and their own experiences.
What Exactly Is Trap Hall?
“Overseas influence mixed with Jamaican influence, and the whole sound combined together. It’s a lifestyle thing,” Milly explained.
That combination is central to his definition of the genre. While he points to NBA YoungBoy as an important overseas influence on his own music, Milly’s musical foundation extends across generations and genres.
“Beres Hammond, Sanchez, Alkaline, Vybz Kartel,” he said, listing some of his Jamaican influences. “The sound forward from a lot of sound.”
The sound pulls from contemporary American trap while remaining connected to Jamaican dancehall, reggae and the melodic traditions of artists who came before this generation.
For Milly, however, the new sound is not defined by production alone. His description of it as a “lifestyle thing” suggests that the movement encompasses the language, fashion, experiences and attitudes of the generation making the music.
“Why Are You Calling It Trap Hall?”
That evolution has also generated criticism. Some argue that what is being called Trap Hall is simply the latest incarnation of dancehall and does not need a separate name.
Milly sees little need to restrict the sound to one rigid label.
“Once a trap, we ago call it Trap Hall, trap dancehall, trap worldwide,” he stated.
Dancehall has reinvented itself repeatedly across generations, with new production styles, slang, flows and subject matter emerging without the culture abandoning its roots.
But the rise of Trap Hall presents another possibility: rather than replacing dancehall, a distinctive subgenre is developing within its wider ecosystem—one shaped by Jamaican culture but increasingly comfortable drawing from sounds beyond the island.
And for Milly, that cross-pollination is not something that weakens the music’s Jamaican identity.
