Can Drill Rap Change the World?
“For me, growing up in Mounty, that’s home, you know? All the bullshit aside, all the violence and that, it’s still home I won’t let no one talk down on Mounty That’s where I’m from, that’s where my heart’s at”. — ONEFOUR
There is a special quality of home that makes the place in which you live much more than just the place in which you live. I’m sure that there are memories from your home that will stay with you for the rest of your life and shape the way that you will live in the future. See, home is not a place that you live; it is a place where you are alive. This statement is no less true for those who come from impoverished communities where home may not be more than a low-income housing block in a drug-infested neighborhood. Unfortunately, this scenario is a reality for hundreds of millions worldwide, and for many in this situation, self-expression is key and often played out in the flashy and explicit form of music known as Hip hop. In particular, I am very interested in the specific subset of hip-hop known as UK drill. While this art form is very specific to one area of the world, I believe that its relationship with America has shown that experiences and emotions are the only way to connect with others across geographical boundaries. Being able to take stories from your home and tell them with conviction to others worldwide is the key to global empathy and inclusion.
So what is “Drill rap”? to some, rap is no more than hypersexualized African American men who make music about drugs and alcohol. As a kid who grew up in Brooklyn, rap was a part of everyday culture and stood for way more than what is often seen at first glance. It was a way to bring the community together and relate to one commonality. I remember waiting with my friends for artists to drop their music and being extremely excited when they finally did. This experience isn’t only shared by me, but by millions of kids across the country and the world. Drill rap specifically started in Chicago in early 2010. While many of the lyrics were similar to earlier hip hop, drill was categorized by a very intense bass and deep melodic emotion. Even though this subset of hip hop originated in America, it quickly spread to other countries around the world, and by the end of 2010, it was among the most popular types of rap. One of the countries that adopted this form of rap was the United Kingdom. There, a new style of music was born — UK drill. While the musicality was very similar to American Drill, there was more sense of pride in your home. No matter how hard it was growing up, you were able to make it to new heights and succeed.
At the time of drill’s arrival in England and even up to now, many critics don’t see this form of art as success. In fact, many have denounced this type of music for its association with gangs and violence throughout England. The independent, an English online publication, writes, “Senior police officers, politicians and judges have suggested that threats made in videos posted on social media and comment threads have spilled over into real-life violent crime.” While many people feel that this type of music leads to violence, for the rappers making the music in England, it is a way to express their hardship and subsequent success. In the case of the United Kingdom, rap is fairly new compared to the United States, leading people to be more apprehensive when it comes to accepting it. In the United States, there has been a culture of rap and hip-hop that has made the broader society more accepting of this art. In England, this support has been lacking, however, the introduction of this music has found a way to give a voice to those who have been silenced. UK drill serves as an outlet for rappers to share stories and experiences that have been forgotten over the years.
Considering the popularity of UK drill among those who value it for its storytelling capabilities, it is no wonder why it has spread across the planet and has even made an impact on the United States. Look at the UK drill rapper Headie One — birth name Irving Ampofo Adjei. Adjei came from very humble beginnings in London, England, and had multiple run-ins with the law from an early age. Among many others, his work was criticized for being too explicit and being possibly responsible for violence throughout communities where this music is popular. Despite these struggles, he was able to express his emotions and feelings through rapping. His experiences were so rich, and the emotion that he gave to every song was so powerful that he garnered a large following in both England and in the United States, where popular rap artist Drake started to take notice. After hearing Adjei’s music, Drake made it his mission to collaborate with him, at which point they made the hit single “Only You Freestyle.” Adjei’s story and the larger cultural gem of drill rap can show just how much emotion can be translated over any geographical, language, or cultural barrier imaginable. There are many lessons to be learned from how well things can be translated from culture to culture that will inevitably teach us how to become better global citizens.
Drill has let people be their true selves across the globe, and a major example of this comes from the Australian rap group ONEFOUR — quoted at the beginning of this essay. They are known for telling the stories of their home town and giving their audience every emotion that was felt in their experience.
Shown above is a song cover from ONEFOUR depicting two different pictures. One is of a man running with a knife, and the other is of a man running with a microphone. Above the pictures, it states, “Spot the Difference.” There are many different interpretations of this image, however, I believe that it is trying to infer that people do what they can to be successful in their hometown. There is no difference between those who get their money and wealth through crime and toes who get their success through music or more accepted means. There is such a strong sense of capitalism for many places around the world, and for many drill artists who had to struggle at the lowest rung of society, making it to the top was almost impossible. This image clearly depicts an issue in the state of the world and possibly a strong message that is delivered by drill music in general.
When we take the time to analyze drill rap’s impact on the world, the successful translation of UK drill to America seems inevitable. There is a sense of struggle in everyone’s story. It doesn’t matter if your struggle were the same as the ones expressed in the songs, but the quality of drill rap that distinguishes it from any other type of music is the emotion carried with it. Over geographical boundaries, the stories themselves may change but what can never change is the emotion associated with it. This is the reason why UK drill has translated so well when coming back to the United States. We in America may not have experiences of struggling in south London, but we all know what it feels like to struggle with something at some point in our lives. Creating commonalities, although our home may not be the same, is essentially what globalization is.
Home. Although it may not always be the most luxurious, it comes with memories and experiences that act as freeze frames in time that can be translated across any border, not only through language but by emotion. The larger point here isn’t necessarily drill rap, but it is the implication that “struggle” and emotion can have on the world. If we learn how to take these concepts and relate them to each other, there is no telling how globally we can think.
Work Cited
What is drill music and why is it being blamed for violent crime? — Independent.ie
The Curious Case of Drill Rap and its Link to Violent Crime | Discover Magazine
