Social media gangs
Private pages with tens of thousands of followers spread messages of humiliation and retaliation
A VIOLENT new music genre and the trend of filming gang fights in fried chicken shops are contributing to a wave of maiming and murder among teenagers, fuelled by rumour, gossip and threats on social media.
On the Instagram pages which keep gangland-culture youths up to date with all the latest gossip, photographs of notorious local “celebrities” brandishing their weapons and money are juxtaposed with jokes about teachers at school.
These private pages have tens of thousands of followers, and warn “no soft guys”, promising explicit content. Social media, including Instagram, the photograph sharing website, as well as videos on Youtube and messages on Snapchat, the mobile phone app, appears to fan the flames of the violent gang culture, involving children who are barely in their teens.
After the death of 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne in Tottenham, north London, on Easter Monday, locals pointed to a much-shared video of a man being “jumped” in a Tinseltown milkshake bar by a group of youths, and speculated that this social media humiliation had provoked retaliation.
Members of the notorious Northumberland Park Gang took credit for Tanesha’s death in an Instagram post, suggesting she was caught in gang crossfire, writing: “If your chillin with my ops I ain’t gonna adjust my aim for you.” The post continued: “We got him down in Tinseltown & his girl down by Chalgrove.”
This bragging is not uncommon. Secret Snapchat pages which people can only view if they are accepted as a friend show violent pictures, news and views from inside London’s gangs. Some posts from the site are then saved and shared on Instagram pages, where many are desperate to show off to their peers what they know.
The local authorities in Tottenham, where Tanesha was killed, made it clear that Snapchat and videos are hugely significant in stoking up turf wars, in singling out victims and in turning small squabbles into large, violent incidents.
Last year, the killer of Quamari Serunkuma-barnes became enraged after being repeatedly called a “wasteman” – waste of space – online. He described being driven into a frenzy by the insults, which caused him to pack a knife. Mocking language on social media is common between rival gangs, and from the engrossed young audience watching the violence play out.
“Drill” music, a hugely popular genre for which its stars accrue millions of views on Youtube, is another way teenagers try to become influential on social media. The genre was born in gangland Chicago, but has been exported to housing estates in London.
The lyrics are dark, nihilistic and violent, and include threats to rival gangs. Listening to the music can keep young people in the know about who has threatened who, and the words of the rap songs are mired in local gossip.
Violence is easy to find in the words. The popular 1011 group raps about stabbing rivals. One lyric goes: “Blood on my shank [knife], man keep it, clean it, use hot water and bleach it.”
Sometimes, the message is hidden. Mizormac, from the Harlem Spartans of Kennington, south London, raps:
‘If your chillin with my ops I ain’t gonna adjust my aim for you … We got him down in Tinseltown & his girl down by Chalgrove’
“From caterpillars to butterflies, our drillers, still out swimming, out here fishing, surviving the rivers, you drown you ain’t with it.”
To “fish” is to look for rivals to stab, while the other lyrics are an allusion to victims drowning in rivers of blood. Mizormac, real-name Mucktar Khan, was sentenced to six years in prison earlier this year after being caught in possession of a loaded gun and a sword.
Videos show the music stars invading their rivals’ favoured chicken shops and urinating on their street signs.
The gang gossip social media pages are inextricably linked with the “drill” scene. They allow followers to submit short videos of themselves performing drill music, and post it online, for thousands of people to see.
The instant nature of the uploads and the intense lyrics breed fierce rivalries between groups from different London postcodes.
These rivalries can sometimes lead to deaths. One drill rapper “Showkey”, real-name Leoandro Osemeke, was 16 when he was stabbed to death at a house party in Peckham which spiralled out of control after “going viral” on social media.
Some linked his death to the fact he was due to be a witness in the trial of three other teenagers who were later convicted of stabbing his friend, Myron Yarde, aka Mdot, another aspiring rapper, four months before.
A Snapchat post, which friends say was from the young rapper shortly before he was killed, read: “If I die, I’m going to be a f------ legend.”
Those who want to realise their dream of becoming a drill rap star appear to feel they have to become involved with these tight-knit and often violent groups, and be in the know about local tensions, to stand a chance in the harsh world of social media.
To achieve online fame, young people post pictures of their weapons on Instagram, where “banter” about messy bedrooms in the background of the shot is mixed with dark threats.
The private and self-destructing nature of Snapchat posts means the more worrying messages can be easily hidden from the prying eyes of adults.