‘Drill music’ blamed for London’s street violence but industry figures claim they are being scapegoated
Drill originated in Chicago in the early 2010s, with lyrics documenting life in the city’s violent neighbourhoods, and was soon adopted in London’s housing estates
The sparse beats and raw lyrics of drill music have served as the soundtrack to an unprecedented surge in knife crime on the streets of London this year – and police are accusing the genre of fuelling the violence.
But defenders of drill, a form of hip hop, argue it is an expression of the nihilistic hopelessness of inner-city life, not a cause of the gang wars that have killed and maimed dozens of young black men this year.
The genre is hugely popular, with millions listening on social media to crews like Moscow17, which has lost two of its members just this year.
Sidique Kamara, better known as “Incognito”, 23, was stabbed to death last week on the same south London street where another crew member was shot dead a few months before.
The group had been trading insults and threats with rival crews through a series of music videos.