‘Drill’ rap fuels the violence

A DISTURBING new form of British rap music called Drill has been blamed for the surge in gang killings.

The slick videos feature masked gang members displaying weapons, rapping about recent stabbings, taking drugs and making threats to their rivals.

One of the scene’s most popular rappers is Headie One, from Tottenham, who has been jailed twice and has 246,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

His lyrics include: ‘Score these points [getting points for killings] still get round there, sawn-off joints [sawn off guns]

‘Hold it steady, got both elbows locked I’m poised. Splash [shoot] man’s face, I ain’t lying too.’

YouTube videos about some of the most notorious rappers include titles such as ‘5 UK Drill rappers that got stabbed/shot’, ‘Top 5 UK Drill rappers who are doing life in prison’ and ‘UK Drill rappers getting released from prison next year’.

A report by criminologist Craig Pinkney, called Gangs, Drill Music and the Mediatisation of Crime, said: ‘With Drill music, viewers are making judgments based on whether the artist is projecting true content, and whether this can be verified. If an artist professes to be a gang member who has committed a series of stabbings and shootings, the talent of such an individual will be tainted if the claim cannot be supported.’

‘Score these points, still get round there, sawn-off joints. Hold it steady, got both elbows locked, I’m poised. Splash man’s face. I ain’t lying too’ RAPPER HEADIE ONE ON YOUTUBE