- In the last few years, drill rap has gone viral.
(Hip-Hop Music) It made headlines in 2022, when the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, said he wanted to ban drill music videos.
And the rocketing success of artists like Lil Durk and the late Pop Smoke has pushed the drill style to the top of the charts.
- But what makes drill so interesting is not just the music itself, but the culture and lifestyle that surrounds it.
With its gritty depictions of street life and its uncompromising attitude, drill has become a voice for people in urban areas.
♪ But this what happen ♪ ♪ I got to the door ♪ ♪ I thought I was cappin' ♪ ♪ I was lackin' 'cause there go the opps ♪ ♪ Yellin' out, "What's crackin'?"
♪ ♪ I'm like, "What?"
♪ - This story is about how a genre from the streets of Chicago ended up influencing the music of major cities all around the globe.
(upbeat hip-hop music) Originating in Chicago over a decade ago, the sound of drill music has taken over other major cities, like London, New York, and Sydney.
Chicago has a long history as a musical city and has produced legendary rappers like Common, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Da Brat, and more.
But during the 2010s, the city became known for a new style of hip-hop that was heavier and darker, and sounded closer to the trap music being made in Atlanta.
The word drill itself is slang and has a wide range of meanings, but it's often associated with shooting, violence, and robbing.
- I sat down with Mark Braboy.
A music journalist from Chicago that covers drill music.
How would you describe the word drill as Chicago slang?
- Drill, by the most part, usually carries a double meaning of like it's a big party, it's a big function, it's a big event, let's go to this big thing that's happening, or a euphemism for let's do a hit, let's do a drive by shooting.
- [Arthur] In 2010, it became associated with music when the late rapper Pacman released, "It's A Drill."
♪ Shorty ain't used to this ♪ ♪ 'Cause dude kinda new to this ♪ ♪ Call my line, hit me up on Facebook ♪ ♪ See the whole drill team drillin' with his face ♪ - One of Pacman's friends, King Louie, made his come up by handing out mixtapes at bus stops and parties.
King Louie described drill as a term for anything saying, "It's a way of life, it's a verb."
- Drill rap wasn't born out of any specific production styles or sounds, but was an entire culture that reflected the lifestyle of the people in Chicago's South Side.
What do you think our people commonly misunderstand about drill?
- One of the biggest ones is that it's entirely about violence.
These rappers are now processing the trauma of the grief that they've experienced throughout their lives.
As a Chicago rapper, Noname once said, "It's real-life therapy sessions."
- Starting in 2011, Chicago drill rappers began promoting their music with music videos on YouTube, and that's when the music caught the attention of those outside of Chicago.
YouTube helped jumpstart the careers of Chicago rappers Lil Durk, G Herbo, and more as they uploaded songs that depicted the truth of gang life and the issues that plagued their environment.
But there was one rapper who would serve as a spark and help introduce drill to the world.
- In 2011, a 16 year old by the name of Chief Keef began uploading music videos filmed at his grandma's house while under house arrest.
♪ A snitch, that's that I don't like ♪ ♪ Don't like ♪ - His song, "I Don't Like", became an anthem and even caught the attention of Kanye West, who remixed the song with Jadakiss, Pusha T, and Big Sean.
Chief Keef catapulted into popularity and would go on to drop, "Love Sosa", which has pulled in over 270 million views.
But it was Young Chop's production that will form the influential sound of Chicago drill music.
Sharing a lot of similarities with Atlanta's trap music, Young Chop combined dark piano melodies with heavy 808s, busy hi-hats, and half-time drums with a snare on the three.
♪ Love Sosa, O end or no end ♪ ♪ With them O boys, you gon' get over ♪ - You can hear similar elements in Lex Luger's production on "Hard in da Paint", especially with the busy hi-hats and the snare on the three.
♪ What I stand fo' ♪ ♪ Flocka ♪ ♪ Brick Squad ♪ ♪ I'ma die for this, shawty, man, I swear to God ♪ - But Young Chop said drill music is darker, adding, "We brought darker keys, deeper, scarier, hit harder."
- Following the viral success of Chief Keef, UK rappers took notice and began creating their own music inspired by Chicago drill.
Before drill, grime music was popular in the UK during the early 2000s.
Grime is a style of dance music, similar to hip hop, that pulls more from Jamaican dancehall and UK garage.
♪ Looks like the one in the holiday brochure ♪ ♪ I want power but it can't be solar ♪ ♪ I've always wanted to be a high roller ♪ ♪ When I was young I had to get Nike ♪ - But, by the 2010s, grime's popularity began to get stagnant, making way for UK drill.
UK drill formed in South London around 2013 and combined Chicago's drill style with elements from grime and road rap, another UK style of rap.
You can hear production similar to Young Chop's in UK rap songs like, "Let's Get It", by Stickz.
♪ We're makin' step steps robbing Gas for Pets.
♪ ♪ Yeah, if you wanna get it, get it.
♪ ♪ We keeping straps ♪ - But many Point to Kennington where it started from 2017 as a song that put the unique UK sound on the map.
♪ Over there, my girl just lock it ♪ ♪ And how they gon' chat 'bout us, when we see them man ♪ - The song discusses gang violence with a UK type flow similar to road rap and grime before it.
The beat itself is faster than a Chicago drill beat.
It infuses drill with elements of grime using more slices and dropouts to make the hits harder.
♪ Section section, question question.
♪ ♪ If gang pull up, are you gonna bat your brethren ♪ - UK drill gained attention worldwide when comedian Michael Dappa released the viral song "Man's Not Hot".
The track jokes around with the UK drill style and today has over 400 million views on YouTube.
UK Drill continues to grow in popularity and in 2021 Russ Millions and Tion Wayne dropped "Body" which became the first drill song to reach number one on the UK charts.
♪ English English girl named Fiona ♪ - As drill has continued to make waves in the UK The sound has made its way across the pond and influenced the drill music of New York City.
But long before the UK drill sound made its way to New York, A rapper named Bobby Shmurda put Brooklyn on the drill map with his song from 2014.
♪ That's what got my daddy locked up in the dog pound ♪ ♪ Free Phantom, though, let all of my dogs out ♪ - In the track, Shmurda raps about street crime and his life growing up in Brooklyn.
But the beat is distinctly unique from Chicago Drill rap.
More sparse and less dark.
Producer Jahlil Beats, says he was inspired by Bronx producer Swizz Beatz.
Specifically, his drum patterns and his double snare.
♪ 16's, we gon' put some on 'em ♪ ♪ I send a lil' thot to send the drop on him ♪ ♪ She gon' call me up and imma stick the hots on him ♪ ♪ Afraid of ♪ ♪ We both know you, what, but I ain't gonna say nuttin' ♪ ♪ Just hit a, uh off, and you can stay frontin' ♪ - But it was 22Gz and Sheff G that helped expand Brooklyn drill and they incorporated the UK sound by working with UK producers like Axl Beats and 808 Melo.
You can hear the UK Beats in 22Gz, 2016 single, "Suburban" produced by Axl Beats.
♪ Pull up in all black, we purgin' ♪ ♪ Pull up in all black Suburbans ♪ ♪ If he at that river ♪ - The drill sound spread to other boroughs of New York too, like the Bronx where Cardi B made her come up with the song "Red Barz".
♪ Sunshine.
I'm a Bronx birth of the hip-hop ♪ ♪ From the block to the tick-tock in the Patek watch ♪ ♪ Quick drop with the cash ♪ - I talked to D Munna 1Hunna, an up and coming rapper from the Bronx to learn more about New York drill.
So how did you get introduced to drill music?
- To be honest, when I, when I was young I first start got introduced to drill music by listening like Chicago artists, like Chief Keef, Lil Durk and G Herbo when they first started coming up, so like those went one of the first artists I was listening to off the drill music and stuff and then started switching to New York once I got older and stuff.
- So what sets New York drill apart from drill in other cities?
- I love what we do on the Bronx.
We just, we got a different, it got a different energy like we just brought a whole different energy.
Like Brooklyn drill probably came before us but like Bronx drill really woke a lot of people up.
Like made it made everybody want to be a drill rapper like It was like another, it was like another Chicago thing again like we brought it back again like that different energy.
(Drill beat plays) - In 2019, everything changed when Pop Smoke released his debut mixtape "Meet the Woo".
Pop Smoke collaborated with London producer 808 Melo and infused his music with elements from Brooklyn, UK drill and Grime.
♪ Mike Amiri, Mike Amiri ♪ ♪ Billie Jean, Billie Jean uh ♪ ♪ Christian Dior ♪ - The two lead singles, "Dior" and "Welcome to the Party" went platinum in the US and made Pop smoke a rising star in the international drill scene.
- In February, 2020, Pop Smoke was shot and killed during a home invasion at a house he was renting in LA.
The rising star died before releasing his first studio album and his upcoming tour was canceled.
Pop Smoke is one of many rappers killed in recent years due to gun violence.
The true threat of violence that some face is shown to us with each new headline of another rapper killed.
- The violence depicted within the music and the violence surrounding the music have given drill a negative connotation to some.
Drill artists have been pulled from festival lineups and have had their music removed from Instagram.
In 2019, YouTube took down 102 UK drill music videos after a request from the British police.
In 2018, members of the UK rap group CGM were given a court order that banned them from making music without police permission.
And though Chief Keef is one of the most influential drill figures, he can't return to his hometown of Chicago reportedly for outstanding warrants and because the former mayor has effectively banned him.
- All of this has left us with the age old question.
Does music reflect your environment, or shape it?
For drill music, it is a reflection of the realities that young people in low income areas face.
- When you talk about places like New York and things of that nature, and Chicago, to say that it's solely or heavily responsible for a lot of that violence is a wild over exaggeration.
The reality of where this music comes from this music comes from extreme poverty.
The music comes from violence that's gone out of control that the young teenagers were born into.
- What do people commonly misunderstand about drill?
- I feel like they feel like everything's all negative and stuff like that, so it's like some stuff could be negative.
Maybe it's just some stuff that we seen, been through and maybe people that's they past they trying to talk about what they've been through.
Sometimes it's stuff where it's not even negative.
You got songs where it's just party songs but it just got a drill beat to it.
- Because of drill's heavy online presence, it's influence is continuing to grow and spread to cities around the world.
Today you can find drill scenes in Australia, Finland, and South Korea.
Drill has even fused with Latin genres like Reggaeton to create Latin drill.
(Latin Music Plays) - And drills influence continues to evolve with newcomers on the scene putting their own spin on the genre.
Bronx rapper, Ice Spice has blown up with her calm, attitude driven style.
Known for its harsh, dark sounds Ice Spice expands the sound of drill by using pop elements to make her music more uptempo while also bringing feminine energy to the genre.
♪ No friends, I don't with the fakes ♪ ♪ Saying they love me but wanting my place ♪ ♪ Step in the party I'm looking the baddest ♪ - With all of the evolution that drill music has seen in it's history, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly is drill.
Is it based on a region, a sound, lyrical content?
Or maybe King Louie was right.
It's none of that.
It's a way of life.
It's a verb.
- Before you go, I wanna let you know about "Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop changed the world."
A new PBS series hosted by hip-hop legend Chuck D. It's about how hip-hop became a global movement that spoke truths to power.
Check out the link in the description below and let them know Sound Field sent you.
