What’s the Drill?
The recent death of Brooklynborn rapper Pop Smoke led to one of two reactions: for those who had an ear trained on the comings and goings on the pop culture street, the news of the up-and-coming drill sensation’s murder was sad. Others who heard the news couldn’t help but say, “What the hell is drill music?” For those who find themselves in the latter group, congratulations, you’ve been accepted into Drill 101.
The aim of this course is to get you up to speed on a genre of music whose popularity is growing faster than new coronavirus infections, so you don’t look bemused when you hear your kids talking about Harlem Spartans or whatever a Loski is.
First thing’s first, though: RIP Pop Smoke. Last week the rapper, born Bashar Jackson, was killed in a home invasion in Hollywood. Just days before he’d released his second mixtape, Meet The Woo 2, and was fast making a name for himself thanks to the success of songs like
Welcome to the Party, Dior and
Shake the Room. At the time of his death, Jackson was one of the US poster kids of a sound younger than your teenager but with more spinoffs than the show Black-ish.
Commonly accepted drill lore has the genre starting in the early 2010s in Chicago when teenage rappers like Chief Keef gained internet popularity shooting lyrically aggressive videos while on house arrest. The videos would pop up on YouTube and go huge. Content-wise, drill is a call back to a much rawer, angrier time in hip-hop. There was a time when cops regularly shut rap concerts down and the idea of rappers on shows like
Ellen was laughable. Drill music is a youthful, often sadistic reminder that the streets urban music was born on are deeply unpleasant places.
Technically, drill has few musical rules. It follows a feeling. It’s almost always dark, angry and more interested in the violence its creators see every day than in making love songs. Lyrically, it’s a return to an era when urban music, like the areas that spawned it, was neglected and that neglect spawned NWA-level anger.
That said, there are some things you can pick up if you listen. Being influenced by trap music, there is a heavy bassline. UK drill, which is influenced by grime and is fast becoming one of the biggest up-andcoming sounds in music, tends to favour a faster BPM (á la grime) and a sliding 808 drum.
Australia and Ireland also boast emerging drill scenes, though one can’t help but chuckle at the idea of violent crime being rampant enough in Australia to warrant an authentic drill scene.
In a nutshell, then, drill is the new style of music that everyone over 30 is going to be complaining about, saying that it all sounds the same. It doesn’t, but old ears don’t enjoy trying to differentiate sounds.
If you’re keen on a taste of the drill, open your music streaming service and search for Chief Keef, Loski, Harlem Spartans, Headie One, Lil Durk, Pop Smoke, 67 and LD. Alternatively, get onto YouTube. It’s got all types of drill play lists.