For over 50 years, Hip Hop has been an accessible force of musical expression amongst African American communities. Rap came from struggle. The voices that made those struggles real and their sound accessible to mass, diverse audiences, without having to compromise their beliefs is what separates Rap from most genres of music. But as much as rap has evolved throughout our modern media landscape, by tackling diverse subjects and presenting different sounds, it feels like the genre has more struggles with its first amendment freedoms now more than ever. 

Today, a new form of hip-hop has taken over the airwaves, containing a much grittier sound with more violent and explicit messages from young black artists. A genre that has been the spark of debate amongst its critics yet serves as a major catalyst for aggression and war between rappers and gang members. That genre is Drill Rap. 

Demetrius Greene explains in his book, Documenting Drill Music: Understanding Black Masculine Performances in Hip-Hop, Drill music came from an offshoot of the highly-commercialized trap sound of the 2010s, and “has been subject to many critiques by journalists and media outlets for its representation of extreme violence amongst African American men” (Greene, 2018, 1). The origins of Drill date back to the early 2010s in Chicago’s Southside, but since have spread to other urban areas including New York, south Florida, and parts of the UK. 

But Drill has become no stranger to public censorship and scrutiny. And while it may seem like the threat of violence shown within these lyrics and music videos is weakening its aim, the censorship of drill has been almost seen as “counterproductive” amongst drill’s more popular names. If hip hop’s foundation is reflection and authenticity, then the expression of these thoughts through rap music depicts the true nature of these artists. Drill’s subject material, both within their rap lyrics and music videos, focuses on the violence surrounding the tensions between urban black communities. While Drill’s sound and aesthetic are certainly more aggressive and vulgar compared to other rap subgenres, it’s still a form of art that imitates life. 

When young artists tackle gun violence, drug addictions, and gang life within their lyrics, it’s easy to see how the genre insinuates aggression between the different communities. The problem however is not in the music itself, but rather in the ones that insinuate violence, that allows this music to continue. Drill rappers musically glorify the sound of hood culture while talking about taking down their enemies to make a statement within their communities. The violence doesn’t exist because of the music, the music exists because of the violence. And if the drill sound is silenced by the “bullet,” this will only add fuel to the fire.

Mayor Adams meets with rappers over “Drill Concerns”

The struggle is far from finished. New York City Mayor Eric Adams says at a press meeting early last February, “I had no idea what drill rapping was, but I called my son and he sent me some videos…and it is alarming…We pulled Trump off Twitter because of what he was spewing, yet we are allowing music, displaying of guns, violence, we are allowing it to stay on the site.” A few weeks after the press meeting, the mayor met up with a group of Drill rappers with the help of Fivio Foreign and Maino to discuss the future of Drill in NYC, including programs to help contain inner-city violence and to help poorer neighborhoods that witness the violence coming from this music.

While Adams did make it clear that he wants to work directly with these artists in establishing a better system, his statement was misrepresented in the following headlines, implying that he was in favor of censoring the city’s Drill sound. And while that may have just started with monitoring Drill music and videos throughout social media, law enforcement has been complying with these concerns over the course of this year, further continuing the genre’s interpersonal struggle. Just last month, three New York drill artists were removed from the Rolling Loud Festival within the same day, at the request of the NYPD. “The rappers included Sha Ek, a 19-year-old from the Bronx; 22Gz, an influential figure in Brooklyn’s drill movement; and Ron Suno, a musician and comedian from the Bronx” (Coscarelli 2022). While this may have come as a surprise for festival attendees, what’s more surprising is the fact that two of the three artists, Sha-Ek and Suno, both have clean criminal records and zero signs of gang affiliation.

The war on Drill has lasted for over a decade now. Drillers use their musical platform to create and share the sound of the street, while also giving something back to their communities. Drill has since fallen under scrutiny from social media critics and has become subject to inner-city gang violence. But as much as violence prevails throughout both the real world and the sound of Drill Music, censoring the sound can only make the situation worse. If these messages aren’t heard, then the people scapegoating the genre don’t understand the full story.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Have you ever listened to Drill Rap before? What are your general opinions on it?
  2. What do you think is the best way for cities to handle violence caused by Drill? How much should law enforcement be aware of the possible repercussions that come from Drill Music?
  3. Should social media companies be doing anything different to handle the spread of violent lyrics and music videos that come from the genre?
  4. If the music is not to blame for the cycle of violence, then who’s at fault? Is there anyone at fault?

References

Campanile, C., & Rosner, E. (2022, February 12). Eric Adams urges social media to ban ‘Drill’ rap videos for promoting violence. New York Post. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://nypost.com/2022/02/11/eric-adams-urges-social-media-to-ban-drill-rap-videos-for-promoting-violence/ 

Coscarelli, J. (2022, September 22). New York drill rappers say they were removed from Rolling Loud Festival. The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/22/arts/music/rolling-loud-festival-drill-rappers-removed.html#:~:text=The%20rappers%20included%20Sha%20Ek,and%20comedian%20from%20the%20Bronx. 

Green, D. (1970, January 1). Documenting drill music: Understanding black masculine performances in hip-hop. KU ScholarWorks. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/handle/1808/28068 

Kaplan, M., & Hamilton, B. (2022, February 16). Inside drill rap, the ultra-violent genre NYC’s mayor wants to shut down. New York Post. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://nypost.com/2022/02/16/inside-drill-rap-the-genre-nycs-mayor-wants-to-shut-down/ 

Parascandola, R., & Greene, L. (2022, February 7). NYC drill rap music scene eyed by NYPD as fuel for spate of gun violence. New York Daily News. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-drill-rapper-music-gang-violence-20220207-nqnrqclmpncxzdhqr4s5mbto3u-story.html