In other words, when a rapper makes a threat on a track or in a video, they can very easily be taken at their word, and then has prove those claims or make good on their threats, thus catalysing actual harm. Individuals can essentially say and do what they want.” This is coupled with: “the constant narrative of ‘will you do what you say in your raps?’ puts the victim in a position where their credibility and livelihood are at stake.” In a new report, Birmingham-based academics Craig Pinkney and Shona Robinson-Edwards state that drill music is potentially dangerous, since its “music videos are a platform which can provide the gang and/or gang members with a sense of power and authority.
Less prominent MCs, however, don’t have that luxury. I think anyone listening to my music understands this.”īut even Giggs, one of the most successful British MCs whose last two albums have reached the UK Top 3, refers to drive-by shootings when guesting on Let’s Lurk by drill crew 67: “Man just rolled up, pepper then doughnut / Two 45s then severed man’s plates.” His success means it’s unlikely he would be dragged into such a violent scenario, but his long career and widely beloved hits means he can get away with this inauthenticity. “Whether it’s a Tupac song or a Giggs song, challenging the competition comes with the territory. “Beef has always been part of rap music,” he says. Fast-rising MC Abra Cadabra, 20, talks of machetes and a “rambizzy” – slang for Rambo, itself slang for a large blade – on his biggest track, Robbery, but he dismisses the accusation that he glorifies actual violence. The drill MCs mentioned in recent news reports have had little crossover success, but more high-profile names, played regularly on BBC radio and with millions of streams, also fill their tracks with violent lyrics. While other corners of black British music have explored African pop and dancehall, resulting in the lascivious and relatively carefree “afro-swing” and “afro-trap” styles, drill has looked to the US, and the tales of violence that have been a feature of rap there since the 90s.
The style filtered over to the UK, and was picked up by a young generation MCs keen to define themselves away from the grime of an older generation. Its biggest breakout star was arguably Chief Keef, famous for his 2012 track I Don’t Like. Nonetheless, because of the way that UK drill is networked via social media, leading some listeners to believe that they are the subjects of the taunting lyrics, there are valid worries that drill is not just reflecting criminality, but driving it.īorn in Chicago, a city whose working-class black population, like London’s, has arguably been left to fend for itself and descended into violence, drill was initially a cold, bombastic style of gangsta rap. Chief Keef, who helped pioneer the US drill sound.