![]() Drill’s explosive, if interrupted, forward momentum has reflected and reinforced the tendency of boys and young men to wear balaclavas and masks. ![]() Since UK drill began to emerge around five years ago, following the explosion of drill music in Chicago, covering up with a balaclava – or in more recent years, a customised mask – has been an integral part of the UK scene’s visual aesthetic.Ī significant number of the biggest names in drill - from SL, 67’s LD and AM at the more commercial end of the spectrum to KO, C1 and members of the OFB crew at the more underground end - have always covered their faces. In recent years, UK drill music has evolved from being a hidden, guarded subculture amongst London’s social housing estates into one of the most exciting genres in contemporary music. I went on my Insta story and told people, ‘I got a surprise for you at 9pm.’ At ten to 9, I’m not gonna lie, we were shaking, bro! But then I posted the picture, and I got like 20K likes in ten minutes.” So we were like, ‘Fuck that!’ We can’t let people blackmail us like that. “They were threatening me and Sav saying they’ll expose our faces. S1 is 20, from Shepherd’s Bush, in West London, and until then he’d worn a balaclava in all of his music videos, alongside his 12 World rhyming partner Sav. “There were all these Instagram pages saying they were going to expose my face,” he tells me over the phone. For bars, “Already” and “Match Day.Last summer, UK drill rapper S1 decided he’d had enough. “Drill, trap, rap I’m doin’ it all.”įor his hit-making ability, “Know Better” and “Both,” the latter of which is a huge hit (and not a Drill song at all). Has a vision for himself and his people beyond Broadwater Farm, openly rejects “Drill rapper” as his main label due to its stigma in the UK.Įssential Songs: Challenging because of how diverse Headie’s sound is. Doesn’t shy away from his African heritage. Mad football references (probably the best rapper at this), many catchphrases including, “Shhh” (to censor names/crimes), “Bad b come to the Nizz” (North London, Tottenham), “They think I do juju,” “ONE,” “Tommy Turn,” and anything to do with “half a b.” His bars are thankful for the come-up but haunted by the struggle. Lyrical style: Cold, straightforward images of street life. Sometimes leans more into his Ghanaian accent (e.g. Voice: Deep with a calmness that makes his stories on road sound even more stark. Headie One Syncopated, laid back with sharp pronunciations plus woozy melodies infused in verses (e.g. If you aren’t into UK Drill yet, this list is a great starting point.ġ. The five artists below are not my exact choices for the five best UK Drill artists, but they all have skill sets and personas that make them great. ![]() I’m late to the party, but I’ve listened to enough artists to know who I really admire in the UK Drill scene. Forceful rappers like V9 and Burner exist, but most of the UK scene’s top rappers, Drillers included, place a heavy emphasis on sneaky wordplay and tightly-patterned flows. The UK Drill sound is also influenced by Grime and UK garage music. While UK Drill is still raw and violent, instrumentals are made to be chilling and sparse more than they are explosive. Chief Keef embodied this, and Drill rappers like the late Fredo Santana, King L, and Lil Bibby represented the sound well. While Chicago Drill has evolved to include more reflective and lyrical talent such as Polo G, King Von, and FBG Duck, its main appeal is raw, chaotic sounds and rappers who get their point across with aggression and raw melodies. ![]() ![]() White Brits) views these issues, UK Drill is essential in giving boxed-in Black youth (s/o Morrisson though) the platform to tell us what’s really going on. knife crimes, gang shit) and how the mainstream (i.e. In the midst of their own political chaos and dissonance between what goes on in the streets (i.e. But this should not take away from how innovative and special UK Drill is. Yes, the UK Drill scene is largely inspired by the original version of Drill in Chicago.
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