Does Rap Music fuel gang violence and should it be facing such scrutiny?

Rap music has been surrounded by controversy since its very beginnings. Many critics and sceptics have attempted to bring the genre down for many different reasons such as it being ‘too aggressive or it ‘glorifying violence’. There are definitely 2 ends of the spectrum here, and while much of the constant criticism could be unfair, we also must understand their viewpoint here. Let’s look at the origins of rap.

Rap originated amongst the Black community in America all the way back in the 1970s. The people credited with kicking off the genre were Coke La Rock and DJ Kool Herc. They first started this innovative new genre of rhythmically talking over beats in 1973 in nightclubs, however it was really the Compton based group ‘NWA’ who were the first rappers to rap about street life, getting involved with gangs and how difficult life was for many African Americans in the 1980s and 90s. NWA included members like Dr Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy E, who would later all fall out and split up. However, songs like ‘Straight Outta Compton’, ‘Boyz N The Hood’ and ‘F*** Tha Police’ really depict and portray a life of crime that many gang members were living back then in Compton.

Dr Dre had left NWA in 1991 to join a music label called Death Row, one which would be very infamous in the near future. It was around this time that two rappers that the USA forever hold in their hearts were breaking into the scene. I am of course talking about the Notorious B.I.G and Tupac. These two were possibly the most influential rappers coming out of New York, rapping about drugs, money, guns and girls, and the way they put their lyrics together and painted pictures on their songs had the whole country bumping to songs like ‘Juicy’ by Biggie and ‘All Eyez on Me’ by Tupac. These two were quite friendly at first, even hitting the studio a couple times together to record songs like ‘Dying to Live’ and freestyles. However, this would all change in 1994 when Tupac was on his way to Quad Recording Studios in New York to record a song. When Tupac had called for a lift on the bottom floor, he was ambushed and shot five times, leaving him nearly dead. Tupac went to jail soon after for convicted assault, and during his time in jail he allegedly heard Biggie’s hit song ‘Who Shot Ya’. Many have speculated that Who Shot Ya is in fact a Tupac diss, however Biggie had denied all these rumours and had claimed to have recorded the song months before, having no involvement in the shooting even though he was in the same studio on that night. Tupac’s growing paranoia had resulted in him thinking that Biggie had definitely ordered the shooting, and tension was growing between the two. Soon after they both had joined rival gangs on the East and West coasts of New York, California etc. for extra protection, further fuelling this feud. Tupac was part of the Death Row label, and Biggie was part of the Bad Boy label, two music labels that turned on each other, just one part of the various deadly controversies Death Row has been surrounded with. Tupac was released from jail and dropped the iconic ‘Hit Em Up’, a clear Biggie diss and a message by Tupac showing that he was ready for any disputes or violence, at the same time representing ‘West Coast’ to the fullest. The two continued their successful careers in music amidst this burning clash releasing iconic songs like ‘My Ambitions as a Ridah’ and ‘Hypnotize’. However, the whole Hip Hop community were shocked at the sudden murder of Tupac Shakur on September 7th, 1996. A drive by shooting, possibly gang related. This stirred up the gang war in New York even more, and all eyes were on Biggie and his potential involvement in the murder. However, Biggie stood his ground, but he did release the song ‘Long Kiss Goodnight’ which many believed to have been a Tupac diss after his death. However, just months later on March 8, 1997, Biggie was shot and killed in another drive by shooting. Both of these icons in Hip Hop did make music and make a name for themselves, making money in the process, but they were also guilty of provoking and fuelling violence and feuds in their songs, which led to their unfortunate downfall.

There have been many ‘beefs’ like theirs in the rap industry, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s. Most notable were the ones with Snoop Dogg and Death Row, Dr Dre and Eazy E and Nas and Jay Z. Many of these feuds did pour fuel over the fire that was gang violence in the US, especially rap ‘diss’ songs provoking rival gangs and members, a point that critics have made time and time again. Many a time, rap is used by gang members to draw out or push the buttons of their rivals, something that could influence lots of violence between rival gangs. A prime example is the Tupac and Biggie feud, or if we look at more modern-day examples the various Black Disciple vs Gangster Disciple Chicago murders and murders in Jacksonville, Florida, or in Brooklyn as part of the Crip vs Gangster Disciple war. To an extent I do agree with this accusation, as many rap genres or artists have used their songs to provoke or draw out rival gangs or members in the past, resulting in violence.

However, US Hip Hop was becoming more mainstream by the year, and rappers like Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye West were making a name for themselves in the 2000s. Rap was getting more popular, and a new ‘mainstream’ rap sound was forming, one which stepped aside from the gritty reality of gang violence, and talked more about money, girls, and fame. This has continued for quite a while now. However, a new, more deadly genre in the US was on the rise.

In the early 2010s, the Black Disciple vs Gangster Disciple gang war in Chicago was intense. Hundreds of murders were committed on either side, and each gang grew more and more hate for each other. This was where ‘Drill’ music was formed: a genre of music originating in Chicago glorifying gang violence and provoking rival gangs. The most notable of these feuds happened in the Southside of Chicago, where a back-and-forth drill feud between GD member Lil JoJo and popular BD members Chief Keef, Lil Durk and Lil Reese ended in the unfortunate slaying of Lil JoJo in 2011. This kicked off a burning battle between both gangs, countless murders and disses lasting from 2011-present, even though the beef has died down a bit. Examples of clear provoking of rival gangs on Chicago drill songs include Chief Keef’s 3Hunna, where he mocks the fallen rival member Shondale ‘Tooka’ Gregory in the lyric ‘F*** a Tooka Gang, B**** we 3Hunna’ and Lil JoJo’s BDK, where he says, ‘These N***** claim 3Hunna, but we BDK’ BDK meaning Black Disciple Killers. This beef got so out of hand that people started calling Chicago ‘Chiraq’, comparing Chicago to the violent and deadly Iraq.

Although violent and indecent, Chicago drill was very popular and infectious. The genre spilt over into many different states in the US, and gradually, violent drill music glorifying guns and murder was the new wave across Hip Hop. We see modern day Chicago Drill in King Von and Lil Durk’s music, still dissing fallen rival members, but we also see New York drill from people like Pop Smoke and 22Gz, members of the New York gangs ‘Crip’ and GD. We also see possibly the most gritty and obscene version of drill in the deadly Jacksonville war, with songs like ‘Who I Smoke’ by Yungeen Ace and ‘When I See You’ by Foolio, dissing fallen rival members for fun. It seems horrible to diss dead rival members after their unfortunate murder just to provoke rival gangs, and it has caused blood to leak in the streets of America.

This aggressive form of rap, glorifying shootings and drawing out opposition has become the new ‘trend’ in the US, with states from all around the US hopping on rap beats to talk about their new guns and rival gangs. Personally, although many people like that kind of savage lyricism, I think that this becoming a trend is unhealthy. Gang rivalry shouldn’t be glorified in my eyes, as it will just push other youngsters to join gangs and purchase guns.

Now, onto the UK. UK ‘Drill’ first emerged a couple years after Chicago Drill, in 2013, when rival South London gangs 150 and 67 hopped on drill beats to diss each other and brag about their knives and guns. This influenced many other gang rivalries to provoke each other through music. Some of these rivalries were: 410 vs Harlem Spartans, Zone 2 vs Moscow17, OFB/Tottenham vs Edmonton/9, 7th/Northside Newham vs 6th/Southside Newham.

The scrutiny against UK drill first started when West London gang 1011 (modern day CGM) were sentenced for conspiracy to commit violent disorder, after they were caught in a car with machetes and baseball bats. Police also applied for a court order to stop the group making drill music. Jurors were shown seven drill music videos by 1011, of the gang wearing balaclavas and masks. Before this, 1011 were making a name for themselves in the drill industry, garnering millions of views from hits like ‘No Hook’, ‘Next Up’ and ‘Play for the Pagans’. These songs were filled with disses and threats to rival gangs in Sheperd’s Bush and Northolt. The investigation into this gang raised attention in the Met Office to drill as a whole, and Cressida Dick partnered with YouTube to take down over half of the drill videos thought of as ‘too violent’.

In 2019, prominent UK drill artists Skengdo and AM from gang 410 were sentenced for breaching an injunction preventing them from performing drill music. They performed AM’s hit ‘Attempted’ live, a song full of disses towards rival gang, Harlem Spartans. The pair just about managed to avoid jail but the injunction was kept on them until 2021. ‘We’re being criminalized for making music,’ they said. All these measures and injunctions are part of the Met Office’s long battle to stop knife crime in the UK.

However, Krept and Konan provide a different side of the story on ‘Ban Drill’. This song, coming from two massive mainstream names in the UK, argues that drill shouldn’t be banned, as it gives gang members a distraction from the streets and crime, another source of income rather than drug dealing and gangs. The story follows a young boy called Jaden who grew up in the streets of London, and started getting involved with gangs as a result of low income. He was then jailed for carrying a weapon and started rapping in jail. He was encouraged by everyone to focus on music once he got out of jail, and that’s what he did. Just when his songs were blowing up, Trident and YouTube were taking down his videos and banning his songs. When this ‘banning’ of drill was taking place, his income was drying up, and he was forced to start drug dealing again, getting involved with gangs. He was then brutally stabbed to death by a rival gang member, and the song blames the taking down of drill for making gang violence worse.

This song definitely gives a different perspective on the situation, and, as violent as drill songs may be, they give young gang members a chance to escape all the drama and make music, distancing themselves from crime and making money. Prime examples are Loski, Skengdo and AM, Digga D and Headie One. Perhaps it is in fact the government’s fault for not helping low income predominantly black communities enough. Perhaps it is harder than we think to grow up on a council estate and make money without getting involved with gangs or drugs. Perhaps rapping is one of the only ways out, and we just don’t see it, therefore it is unfair to try and ban the genre. Suppression of black music genres in the UK and US has been going on for years, even in Grime and Hip Hop, so maybe there is an element of systematic racism here.

However, countless drill groups do disprove this point, or at least don’t help themselves, as they actively still use their platforms to mock their rivals to extreme points, as seen in the Zone 2 track ‘No Censor’, where they diss 4 dead rival members and many other members who have been stabbed or shot on the song with no censored lyrics. The song was quickly taken down by YouTube, however it did do heavy numbers and make a huge impact on the scene as a whole. Zone 2 have continued that theme of naming dead members in their songs, influencing other groups in London to do it as well, such as SinSquad, 7th, 67 and others. This type of music cannot be seen as a way to escape the violence of the streets, as you are only fuelling it by constantly name dropping your rival gang members. This type of glorifying of killing and mocking is the wrong influence we should be leaving on the younger generation, as it will just result in more young people being killed.

Weighing up my arguments, I don’t believe rap or ‘drill’ music should be banned, as rap can really help young black communities escape violence and make money. However, I think our young generation should really have a long think about what all this violence is for. Why should you have such a murderous intent against people just because of their postcode? And why should you constantly fuel the fire in drill songs, mocking dead members and provoking gangs, causing more violence? It doesn’t end well for any of us, and perhaps our next generation should put an end to this trend and reduce the unnecessary murders happening as a result of gang violence and rap feuds.