Drill music, a subgenre of Hip-Hop that originated in Chicago in the early 2010s, has grown to be a creative platform for rappers all over the world to discuss gang activity, drug use, and crime in their local communities.
However, some contend that drill musicians glorify, support, and profit from violence rather than just recording it.
At a recent talk organized by the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and moderated by Yale University assistant professor of History and African American studies Elizabeth Hinton, a panel of rappers, activists, and academics examined various points of view on the subject.
Lupe Fiasco, a Visiting Professor at MIT and Grammy-winning Hip-Hop artist, said about drill music: “People around the country are dancing. Dope. I’m thinking, ‘You all dancing on graves. People are dying.’”
Dee–1, activist and Fellow at Harvard’s Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute agreed. “In a way, we’ve become too numb and too desensitized to the literal words that are being spoken in this music.”
Drill Music: Chronicling Events Or Glorifying Violence? Panelists Debate
Brandon Terry, Social Sciences Associate Professor and co-director at the Hutchins Centers, expressed, “Elected officials like Mayor Eric Adams in New York have described drill music as a kind of devilish bargain, where music industry executives and social media companies accelerate and commodify gang violence for profit.”
Saida Grundy, a panelist, noted that one issue with addressing the drill music controversy is the potential to reinforce the notion that Black culture is more destructive than other cultures.
Professor of sociology at Stanford Forrest Stuart issued a warning about the dangers of giving the carceral system justification to target young, African American males by demonizing drill rap.
Moreover, Dee-1 touched on what Drill Music artists can do to positively add to the culture. “As a consumer, you have the choice to literally support whatever it is that you would like to see more of. If you truly want to see your conditions change, as an artist you have a choice to say, ‘I might have to sacrifice some popularity or some paper for the sake of putting out content that is actually progressive and conducive to a better world around us.’”
Do you feel Drill Music is destructive, constructive, or both? Comment below!
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