Not all heroes save people, sometimes they preserve culture – and Trap Beckham’s lasting impact in music will supersede mere twerk compilations.
Travis Cave, widely-known by his moniker Trap Beckham, is a pillar of influence in terms of the Floridian sway seen in music today. The Sunshine state has a number of tastemakers and industry giants that have had their fair share of stylized rhyme scheme gain global traction. Florida’s diverse soundscape is a byproduct of a movement championed by talents like Uncle Luke, Trick Daddy and the Rappa Ternt Sanga, T-Pain to name a few.
Musically, Beckham has managed to carve his own lane while cranking out a pair of twerk bops that have significant replay value. Records like ‘Lil Booties Matter’ and the now gold-certified ‘Birthday Chick’ have both demonstrated the Florida native’s prowess when it comes to an intrusive sound, something that gets the people to move – which shouldn’t be a problem for the self-proclaimed Twerk Whisperer.
Moreover, it’s one thing to raise awareness on the facts surrounding why lil booties matter, but when the Trap Beckham Effect takes control, appropriate actions follow and provocative cavorting takes precedence over everything else. “The Trap Beckham Effect is the reaction, the chemical reaction of the human body when it hears Trap Beckham”, explains the former Duval Diamond Award recipient.
As of late, Beckham hasn’t rested on his laurels in the slightest fashion, keeping momentum alive with new music and new challenges. His ever-so-popular birthday ballad received a complementary Kardashian assist, finding Kourtney celebrating her birthday in a socially distant-approved manner by way of motorcade, vibing to the tune of Beckham’s 2016 hit single. But wait, there’s more, from the booth to polished wooden courts, one constant variable has united both music and sports, the love of ‘Salsa’.
Potentially the furthest thing from your traditional tomato-based relish, depending on context, the fiery substance receives a fitting transformation into song, paired with an equally flavorful guest verse by NBA star Iman Shumpert. “That was major love that he even did that”, voiced Beckham as we discussed his mentioned collab.
With Make America Shake Again loading in the foreseeable future and Fuck It Up Friday’s peaking fan engagement via Instagram livestream, Trap Beckham has a clear understanding on the principle of content branding and catering to the intensifying hunger of a quarantined fanbase.
The Cinco de Mayo celebration has been diluted to an Americanized indulgence of Spanish-themed dishes and probably a few margaritas, or at least that’s what history has shown over the span of the last decade or so. More importantly, the essence of commemorative symbolic independence stemming from the Mexican Army’s triumph over the French Empire has been reduced to an occasional discounted dining purchase, which is insane.
I say to hell with this notion of being contempt with bare minimum, let’s spice things up a bit – and who better to pen this narrative of change than the twerk liberator and his new salsa-themed challenge.
In this over-the-phone interview, I had the opportunity to share a conversation with Beckham to unpack his new ‘Salsa’ release, the Trap Beckham Effect and how to find a work-life balance in the music industry.
Our conversation follows below.
Trap Beckham | Courtesy of Drea Nicole Photography
I hear that you’re a native Floridian, is that pretty accurate?
Yessir, Jacksonville, Florida…Duval County, 904 – all of that stuff.
While growing up in that environment, do you feel like the culture had a lasting impact or influence on your sound today?
For me, not really. Maybe some of the South Florida-type vibes inspired my music a little bit, but for me, my inspiration comes from more so like 69 Boyz, Ying Yang Twins – and I like Kanye West, T-Pain, so it’s a mixture of all those types of people.
With the rampant success you’ve received for tracks like ‘Birthday Chick’ and ‘Lil Booties Matter’, do you consider yourself pro-twerk, like a twerk enthusiast of some sort?
I consider myself the Twerk Whisperer. I make all types of music and I show that versatility every Sunday on ‘SoundCloud Sundays’.
It’s something that I do where I show my versatile side of rapping.
I know my bread and butter is the party music, that’s how I put the food on the table, so that’s what I do.
I think you gotta put that title in your bio now, the Twerk Whisperer – I’ve never heard of that one before.
Yeah, I was thinking about doing it last night (April 28, 2020), but I’ma go ahead and do it, make it official today.
Outside of SoundCloud Sundays, that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you’ve been doing lately. You got the Fuck It Up Friday Challenge, the Back It Up Challenge and more recently, the Salsa Challenge.
When I start a challenge, it’s like the start of a whole campaign.
It’s a good way to kick off a record.The Back It Up Challenge had great success.
Just yesterday (April 28, 2020), Lizzo just posted a video dancing to ‘Back It Up’.
Speaking of celebrities, other acclaimed names have been known to vibe out to your music. People like Halle Berry, Shakira, Yandi, all embracing their inner Birthday Chick. Kourtney Kardashian just had a motorcade blasting your now gold-certified hit single for her birthday. Lizzo drops a twerk compilation, you can’t miss at this point. With all of this in mind, did you know that the record would connect with listeners so effortlessly?
I just knew it would make the people move.
When I first made it, it wasn’t even for the world, it was for the city. It was just something I could get played in the local nightclubs, I wanted to make something that made the ladies move.
It took two years of me pushing that record in North Florida before it even blew up. When I made it, it was just a creative vibe.
I feel like anybody making music, if you have that in mind, trying to create a good vibe and get people to move, everybody will like it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_iaKGXHhzp/?igshid=12t6t4xrhsqnu
With your recent single ‘Salsa’ feat. NBA star Iman Shumpert, how did this record come together exactly?
I was at the studio in Miami and I was actually about to leave. My friend who was recording me was like, “yo I got Iman coming in at four”. I had already met Iman before back in LA, but I wasn’t sure if he remembered me, but I said you know what, I’ma hang out.
He pulled up and we just chopped it up. I don’t think he remembered me (haha) but it was still the same vibe, same type of person, he a good dude.
I was just playing records – a lot of my records, I leave ’em unfinished if I feel like somebody else needs to finish it. ‘Salsa’ is one of those records and I ended up playing it, he was like, ‘bro that’s not finished!?’ – he got right on it and laced it.
That was major love that he even did that.
What was it like working with Iman?
It was cool, bro can rap too. He got great music sense.
The vibe, the energy in the room – it was like ouuu weee. We had some Hennessy, know what I’m sayin, a lil smokey smoke – just vibin.
I mean, when you’re in Miami, it would be a disservice to not control the vibe like that
You already in the vibe when you wake up, especially when you’re visiting.
It also doesn’t hurt when you have the Trap Beckham Effect in play too.
It’s the effect, ya feel what I’m sayin.
Let’s get into it. For those that may not know, what is the Trap Beckham Effect?
The Trap Beckham Effect is the reaction, the chemical reaction of the human body when it hears Trap Beckham – when it comes across anything Trap Beckham.
The Trap Beckham effect usually has things like twerking, dancing, partying – it just makes people move. I’m actually taking the show on the road, it’s called the Trap Beckham Effect, that’s gone be my band name, f–k it.
I’m talking full-fledged DJ, dancers, pyrotechnics, I’m tryna do it all.
So, it’s not just an effect, it’s an actual experience – it’s a two-fer.
Exactly, you see what I’m sayin.
I can only imagine what the Trap Beckham experience entails. Unfortunately, there’s no telling how long me and the rest of the world will have to wait until this ongoing pandemic passes. Speaking of, musically – how have you been coping amid COVID-19?
I haven’t recorded a lot, but I have hundreds of unreleased songs.
It really just opened up me being on live more and connecting with the people.
How have you managed to stay true to your authentic sound and not switch up your style while concurrently staying relevant in the industry?
You gotta always add a lil’ twist to it. You always add a lil’ spla’ to it – make it new. I stay in my lane, I want it to be new to the ear.
Every so often, I’ma hit you with something, I call it the spectrum. When a song makes it in the spectrum, that’s it, it’s out there.
At any given moment, or any given scene, you might hear that song cause it’s in the spectrum. It’s no longer local, it’s no longer on the East Coast, it’s just out there.
I have a few records in the spectrum, but it’s hard for me to explain.
If you had to sit back and reflect on everything you’ve experienced throughout your run in music, what has been the most challenging aspect about your journey?
The most challenging aspect about music is dealing with real life and dealing with music life at the same time.
When you’re doing music, you have to have full focus. It’s a world, it’s a lifestyle, you have to engulf yourself into your character when you’re an artist – everything around you is that. It don’t matter who you’re talking to.
If you think of the greatest artist, you think about the people around them, they’re representing that artist.
In a regular life, everything is not about you. It could hold you back, being overly considerate. I’m not saying be selfish, but you have to look out for yourself. You gotta make sure you’re doing what you wanna do and execute how you wanna execute when it comes to the music.
It gets tough. You got bills, people have kids and stuff – the tedious work that takes time, you gotta make sacrifices. If you’re on the road for six months doing promo, there’s no way you can your kids, mom, none of that.
It sounds like it’s all about finding that inconvenienced balance, something has to give in a sense when it comes to being accountable for your professional career as an artist?
You gotta strike while it’s hot. Sometimes all the stars have to align in order for things to work out.
Timing gotta be right, the song gotta be right.
Definitely feel like we can leave it off here. We covered a good bit of information throughout this convo. Do you have any closing remarks?
Look out for my new album dropping this July.
‘Back It Up’ out right now, ‘Salsa’ out right now – follow me on Instagram @trapbeckham.
