A “Christ-Haunted” Music: Spectral Timbres and Spirituality in Trap Music

Abstract

This interdisciplinary rumination explores the confluence of spectral timbres and spiritual expression in Trap music. As an heir to the Blues with its intrinsic Gothic traits, Trap music employs hauntological elements to create ritualistic spaces that juxtapose the sacred and the uncanny. The multifaceted analysis of four songs, utilizing the concept of metaphysical musical space, unveils a picture of Trap spirituality that is diverse, dynamic, and unorthodox. The songs are read as texts loaded with traces: timbre reveals material spatial cues that create fantastical ritual spaces, while lyrics contain overt or sublimated theological commentaries. In contrast to the ideology of Christian respectability politics that stifles heretical expression, Trap demonstrates the potential to liberate repressed spiritualities and further the work of mourning the South's many ghosts, particularly the revenant presence of religious and racial violence.