Every Real-Life Singer & Rapper In Trap

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Trap.

There are several real-life singers and rappers in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest horror thriller movie Trap. Josh Hartnett stars as a serial killer disguised as a supportive father in Trap, which also features the feature film debut of Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka as pop singer Lady Raven as a major part of the cast of Trap. Allison Pill plays the wife of Hartnett’s Cooper and the mother of Riley, who is portrayed by Australian actress Ariel Donoghue. Pill’s character Rachel doesn’t appear until later on in Trap after Cooper reveals himself as the serial killer known as The Butcher backstage after her concert.

Saleka’s Lady Raven sings and performs throughout Trap at a concert venue where Hartnett’s Cooper is being set up. Most of the original music in Trap was made specifically by Saleka under her fictional pop star name Lady Raven. Trap has received mixed reviews upon its August 2, 2024 release but met its opening weekend box office expectations by grossing $15.6 million worldwide. While Trap may not go down as one of Hartnett’s all-time best movies, debuting with a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 44%, it still has a great chance of being profitable at the box office with its relatively modest production budget.

Trap’s Rotten Tomatoes critic score has improved to 53% as of the time of writing with a positive audience score of 65% to go along with it. Despite having a history of up-and-down ratings from critics, Shyamalan movies almost always find a way to make money due to their low costs of production. 2016’s Split starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy was arguably Shyamalan’s most recent great movie, although 2023’s Knock at the Cabin was also mostly well-received. Hartnett’s star power is certainly a main draw for Trap, but Saleka Night Shyamalan ends up taking most of the spotlight in her father’s latest film.

5 Saleka

Plays Lady Raven

Saleka Night Shyamalan plays Lady Raven in the film but actually has a real-life stage name as the pop singer Saleka. Saleka Shyamalan is one of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughters. Born in 1996, she made her feature film debut in Trap. Her character, Lady Raven, is essentially a fictionalized version of her real-life stage name, Saleka, as a singer and recording artist. Saleka released an entire debut album to accompany the release of Trap titled LADY RAVEN which features rappers Russ and Kid Cudi, both of whom have roles in the film as sort-of fictionalized versions of themselves.

Saleka also made some of the original music in her father’s Apple series Servant. Both albums and all of Saleka’s music can be found on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music. Saleka sings and performs all of the songs on her real-life LADY RAVEN album in Trap, ending with the heartfelt piano ballad “Where Did She Go” that she performed just moments before Cooper was exposed to his family as The Butcher. Saleka has much more than just a background singing role in Trap and has the most screen time in the movie after Hartnett, which is impressive for her first-ever acting role.

4 Kid Cudi

Plays The Thinker

Scott Mescudi, better known as Kid Cudi, is one of the most successful rappers in the world. His shot to stardom following the release of his 2009 debut album Man On the Moon: The End of Day with hit singles such as “Day ‘n’ Nite”, “Soundtrack 2 My Life”, and “Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)”. Kid Cudi began acting in 2010 when he appeared as himself in One Tree Hill. He made his recurring television debut in HBO’s How to Make It in America (2010-2011) and has since starred in numerous films and series such as Need for Speed (2014), Westworld (2020), We Are Who We Are (2020), Don’t Look Up (2021), and X (2022).

Kid Cudi also created and starred in the animated Netflix series Entergalactic which won an Emmy for Best Character Design. He sings and performs as a fictional singer called “The Thinker” in Trap on a song with Saleka/Lady Raven called “Divine”, which features plenty of Cudi’s signature humming. Cudi’s character “The Thinker” is nothing like the real-life Scott Mescudi, who is celebrated for his chill vibe and eccentric personality. The Thinker is a full-blown diva in Trap, yelling at PAs for getting the wrong flavor of kombucha and making suggestive gestures at Hartnett’s Cooper as he stands backstage with Riley.

Cudi is also a successful film and television producer, having executive producer credits on Mia Goth and Ti West’s celebrated horror series that includes MaXXXine, Pearl, and X. He released two full-length albums, INSANO and INSANO (NITRO MEGA), in early 2024 and recently released the single “DREAMS I SEE” as the first track off his MOON MAN soundtrack for his newly released comic book. Cudi is undoubtedly a Renaissance Man with a wide array and artistic talents. He is set to star in Ursa Major, an upcoming sci-fi thriller alongside Jessica Beal.

3 Russ

Plays Parker Wayne

Russell Vitale, best known by his stage name Russ, is another real-life rapper who appears in Trap. He plays a character named Parker Wayne, a fictional pop singer, in his first-ever professional acting role. Russ performs the song “Hiding” with Lady Raven/Saleka in the film, appearing from a hidden platform in the audience which makes the fictional crowd go wild. “Hiding” is currently one of the most popular songs from Saleka’s LADY RAVEN album on Apple Music. The lyrics of “Hiding” center on a back-and-forth between the two singers and their concealed true selves under their larger-than-life personas.

Russ rose to prominence in 2017 with his completely self-produced album There’s Really a Wolf, which he wrote, rapped, sang, and composed in its entirety. Many of Russ’ most popular tracks came off that album even though he had released three albums before it in 2014. Songs such as “What They Want”, “Losin Control”, “Ride Slow”, and “Cherry Hill” made Russ a global sensation. Since There’s Really a Wolf, Russ has released four more albums, with his most recent being 2023’s SANTIAGO. He also just released a single on July 17, 2024, with Jaden titled “WORK OF ART”. Russ is seen backstage in Trap waving hello to Riley as she waits for Lady Raven.

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2 ¿Téo?

Plays Papa’s Boots

As Cooper and Riley enter the concert venue, an opening act named Papa’s Boots plays shortly after at the Lady Raven concert. While Papa’s Boots is a fictional pop group made specifically for Trap, Mateo “¿Téo?” Arias is a real-life pop singer and actor based out of Los Angeles. Arias has been acting for years, getting his start on the Disney XD series Kickin’ It as one of the main characters Jerry Martinez. Kickin’ It ran for 84 episodes across four seasons from 2011 to 2015. His other acting credits include 2016’s First Girl I Loved, 2016’s Good Kids which also stars Nicholas Braun, and 2018’s The Samuel Project.

Arias also starred in the 2020 American coming-of-age story Blast Beat as Carly Andres before making his appearance in Trap. On the music front, Arias released his debut album ¿Téo? in 2018 which has received over 50 million streams on Spotify. ¿Téo?, also referred to as Téo, has worked with massive singers such as Jaden Smith, Post Malone, Lido, Willow Smith, and Kali Uchis. Since 2018, ¿Téo? has released two more albums, Sol in 2021 and Luna in 2023, the latter of which features his most popular track titled “Magic Hour.” Arias does not have a large role in Trap and only appears in a brief scene performing as Lady Raven’s opening act.

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1 Amaarae

Appears on soundtrack

Amaarae does not appear onscreen in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap but she is featured on the final track of Lady Raven/Saleka’s soundtrack album titled “Pieces”, which plays over the title credits. Amaarae is a Ghanaian-American singer whose first album THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW released in 2020. Her song SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY was her first breakout hit and helped her rise to prominence in the pop music space. Since then she has released two full-length albums, 2023’s Fountain Baby and 2024’s roses are red, tears are blue – A Fountain Baby Extended Play. The 30-year-old singer is known for fusing together pop, R&B, and afrobeat music genres.

Amaarae is also featured on two songs on Childish Gambino’s latest and final albumBando Stone and The New World. Donald Glover, who began his musical alter-ego Childish Gambino back in 2011 with his debut album Camp, announced that he plans to officially retire his Childish Gambino persona. Amaarae appears on “Talk My Sh*t” and “In The Night”, two of the most popular tracks on the album. Amaarae is not an actress and has never made an onscreen appearance before in film or television. Her contribution to Trap’s LADY RAVEN soundtrack, however, is a standout and definitely gives her some well-deserved attention.

Trap

3.0

Trap is a film by writer-director M. Night Shyamalan under his Blinding Edge Pictures label. The film is part of a deal struck with Warner Bros for him to direct and produce several films under their banner. 

Release Date

August 2, 2024

Studio(s)

Blinding Edge Pictures , New Line Cinema

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures , New Line Cinema

Cast

Josh Hartnett , Hayley Mills , Marnie McPhail , Vanessa Smythe , Saleka Shyamalan , Malik Jubal , Jonathan Langdon , Peter D’Souza , Ty Pravong , Kaitlyn Dallan

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