Breakout Milwaukee rap star Certified Trapper gets ready for first hometown headlining concert

You could call Milwaukee rapper, songwriter and producer Certified Trapper prolific.

A more fitting description for his work ethic might be insane.

In 2021, Trapper released a whopping 20 mixtapes; last year, he released 14 more. Beyond the beats and the rhymes, Trapper also has posted 674 videos on his YouTube channel, many of which he filmed and edited himself; of those, a staggering 69 videos got between 50,000 and 734,000 views each.

"I kind of like sacrificed everything," Trapper told the Journal Sentinel. "I put all my energy into working and a lot of hours in the studio."

It's paying off.

Trapper is the first Milwaukee rapper since Lakeyah to score a major record deal. Unlike Lakeyah, he's still based in Milwaukee.

And on Friday, the same day Trapper releases his second major-label mixtape, the 19-track "Trapper of the Year," he'll headline his first hometown show at the Rave.

"Everybody was tripping that there wasn't a Milwaukee show. We definitely felt like we had to get one," Trapper said. "I am really excited. … This show is definitely going to be crazy."

Becoming 'addicted' to making music

Born Daishun Graham, Trapper, now 22, grew up on Milwaukee's East Side. He started making music on his computer when he was 9, inspired by pop and hip-hop stars like Justin Bieber, 50 Cent and Gucci Mane.

But the game-changer was when he started studying audio production at Milwaukee Area Technical College in 2019.

"I actually got good at doing beats, and the classes taught me new things," Trapper said. He became "addicted to hearing my voice on tracks and new music."

"The fans push me," Trapper said. "They will be waiting (for new songs) and when I don't do it, I let them down. … Like if I have 10 songs, I'll do all the videos at once and just drop them. I will probably make four or five songs like within like three hours or something.

"I can make 10 beats in an hour. That's how I've become better."

There weren't many fans when Trapper first started dropping tracks in 2020; some songs and videos posted then had only 200 to 400 views. But online comments, and encouragement from family and friends, kept him motivated.

By 2021, inspired by other artists in Milwaukee's lowend scene, Trapper started adding relentless snares and claps to his songs; they became a signature element. But what made Trapper an unlikely star of the scene was his personality, via smart punchlines, weird production choices (like the Nokia ringtone-like melodies around the standout "Ahh" sample, best known from Nelly's "Dilemma," on "All Night Flights"), and goofy no-budget music videos, frequently shot using Trapper's laptop, in which he often dances around in his room or in front of a green screen.

"I am trying to throw out ideas that no one has thought of before," Trapper said. "When I first did music videos, (people) made fun of me … but it was supposed to have some type of humor to it."

"I don't want to change the way I am."

BabyTron and former Capitol CEO in his corner

A growing number of people like Trapper just the way he was.

His first champion was popular Milwaukee YouTuber Tommy G, whose channel has 688,000 subscribers. On July 5, 2022, about a month after Tommy G garnered a new wave of followers with a short documentary about Milwaukee's Kia Boyz, G posted a short documentary starring Trapper, "Day in the Life of a Gangster Rapper." The clip has been viewed 2.1 million times.

From the high of a breakthrough viral moment, Trapper hit a low later in July when he ended up in jail for about 80 days on concealed-carry charges.

"I choose to not get into any trouble," he said. "I don't think anybody wants to be taken away for years. I feel if people really want to be big in music, they are going to have to sacrifice the bad things that they do."

While he was locked up, big moves were happening that would help Trapper's career. In the wake of the Tommy G video, Trapper said monthly streams for his content hit between 400,000 and 500,000. And Jeff Vaughn, the former chariman and CEO of Capitol Music Group, visited Trapper's family in Milwaukee, he said, and expressed interest in supporting Trapper.

Known for signing and supporting hip-hop and R&B stars like Youngboy Never Broke Again, Kehlani, NLE Choppa and Toosii, Vaughn signed Trapper as one of his first artists on Signal Records, the Columbia Records imprint that Vaughn launched last year.

"He always believed in me," Trapper said of Vaughn. "He always tells me I can do whatever I want to do if I put my mind to it. … Our relationship is about more than being signed. … It's more personal."

Trapper also struck up a personal relationship with rising Michigan rapper BabyTron, another funny hip-hop oddball with a growing fanbase. BabyTron reached out to Trapper on social media last October and proposed a collaboration.

"He did a song with the first beat I sent him, and he came to Milwaukee to shoot (the music video) with me," Trapper said. That song, "Zap Zone," is Trapper's most popular on Spotify, with more than 900,000 streams, and his most popular music video on YouTube, with 1.2 million views.

It was the first of many collaborations for the pair. BabyTron is a guest on Trapper's "Trapper of the Year" track "Orthodox"; he brought Trapper out as a special guest at his show at the Rave in February and at the Rolling Loud festival in California in March. Trapper is also opening for BabyTron on his summer tour, and BabyTron's manager, Lando Bando, is now his manager.

Even with the BabyTron partnerships, the major label deal, and glowing write-ups in Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, Trapper recognizes that his headlining show at the Rave Friday is "a big accomplishment," the type of showcase rarely achieved by local rappers.

But he has a bigger dream: to elevate the Milwaukee scene.

Trapper's already boosted the fan base for fellow local lowend rapper AyooLii by posting AyooLii's "Spenders" music video on his YouTube channel, and he plans to share the spotlight with some special guests at his Rave show.

And by year's end, Trapper's goal is to open up a studio to support Milwaukee rappers.

"This is going to be a big thing," Trapper said of headlining the Rave. "But I want to push myself to go harder."

If you go

Who: Certified Trapper

When: 8 p.m. Friday

Where: The Rave, 2401 W. Wisconsin Ave.

How much?: $26 at the box office and therave.com.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rap breakout Certified Trapper 'excited' for Milwaukee headlining show