In a recent interview with HipHopDX, T.I. recounted how Cee-Lo Green had previously said how the term “trap music” was coined by him. It is said that Cee-Lo thinks T.I. was the one to “put it on.”
T.I. accepts the credit for the term and broke down how this came to be:
“When we speak on it, the thing is, of course, there were people [already] talking about dope. And the first time I ever heard the word trap probably [through] Kujo or maybe in the streets before then. But Kujo was probably the first rapper I heard say the term. But as far as putting the words trap and music together describe a sound…that’s what I’m talking about.”
During the interview, however, Tip did not mention him having invented it. But still managed to take credit for coining the term and making it popular.