How real it is: Too real. Chicago has seen a worrying uptick in youth violence recently, and while drill isn't to blame for it—whatever Pat Robertson says, music never directly convinces people to become killers—the music certainly reflects the mayhem. The connection between drill's biggest star Chief Keef and the murder of rival rapper Lil JoJo earlier this year remains unclear.

Trap

What it sounds like: Old Guard music writers are still enthralled with this newfangled dubstep noise, but Beatport lurkers have already moved on to a more brash, hyperactive sound called trap. Nominally inspired by Atlanta's gangsta rap scene (a "trap" is the house where drug dealers guard their stash), trap marries EDM frequencies with hip hop sensibilities. Because no nascent genre ever arrives without controversy, many of the rap producers who outlined the original contours of trap have accused this new breed of jacking their swag. Who's stealing from who aside, if you ever hear a dance track that features rattlesnake hi-hats and rapidfire snares skittering over a wub-wub bassline—all tied together with pitched-down rap samples—chances are you're listening to trap.

Supposed practioners: Flosstradamus, Baauer, TNGHT

How real it is: Real enough. The standards of "realness" aren't very high in EDM anyway. As long as DJs keep labeling their mixes trap, promoters keep putting together trap nights, and neo-ravers keep eating it up, trap will qualify as an actual thing.

Hipster House

What it sounds like: Message board denizens started grumbling about art school dropouts co-opting club music late last year, but it wasn't until 2012 that you started seeing the "hipster house" think pieces trickle out. Hipster house is usually defined as an artisanal approach to dance music, blending deep house, Italo disco, and vintage synth pop, stripping away any 21st century signifiers, and sandwiching it all between irony "quotes." Labels like 100% Silk and RVNG Intl. often get tarred as purveyors of the genre.

Supposed practitioners: Ital, The Miracles Club, Blondes, Teengirl Fantasy

How real it is: Sort of real, but not as a cohesive movement—and that genre tag needs work. The last few years have definitely seen club fare take a turn for the weird. And with groups looking like this, people were bound to scream "hipster." But each of these artists pursue very different styles, working independently from one another. And at this point, calling anything "hipster" only dismisses it. That's not quite fair to many of these adventurous producers, who deserve open ears.

Ratchet

What it sounds like: The kind of party rap that high schoolers listen to on their way to Homecoming. Lots of melodic synth lines, skeletal drum patterns, and obtrusive choruses that you can't get out of your head (once one enters Rack City, one can never leave). The term "ratchet" has been used to describe getting dumb/ignorant/silly for a while—Lil Boosie was doing the ratchet way back in 2007 before he landed in jail—but this year artists started using it to refer to their music itself. But no matter how hard they try to make ratchet a thing, it's hard to shake the suspicion that we've heard this all before. What separates ratchet from other party-down styles that emerged in recent hip hop history, like hyphy or jerkin? Not much, really.