So along with all the crime and other nastiness that's been on the rise in London over the last couple of years, a large chunk of which is related to gang culture and turf wars, has risen a new(ish) genre of 'music' called Drill Rap.
From what I can tell, essentially it's music written mostly by gangs which is used primarily to intimidate and threaten. The word "drill" or "drilling" is a Chicago term for shooting and Chicago was where the genre originally was born, prior to it's export to London.
In the last year or so there's been a huge rise in the amount of extremely violent and threatening drill rap being produced, mostly propagated via the usual channels, [youtube, instagram, facebook, etc]
The authorities have now taken notice and are making attempts to censor and regulate it, in some cases imposing court orders preventing "artists" from producing it, pushing it further underground. Attempts by media companies such Youtube crack down on it, resulting in artists simply uploading it to the well known online porn sites instead.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-from-making-music-due-to-threat-of-violence
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44982560
Examples of Drill Rap;
The question is this;
Should we be trying to stop it? Watching it makes me feel very uncomfortable - yet I'm a huge fan of violence, I watched all the violent movies, play all the violent video games, I also used to listen to very violent music - including more recently old gunfighter ballads, by people like Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins (most of whom sing about casually shooting people in the head all day long) I also used to be a big fan of Cypress Hill - who use very naughty words all of the time, but were never banned by anybody.
Interestingly, as far as I can tell - the UK is the first country which has made efforts to actively ban and control the production of such 'music'. As someone who is firmly opposed to government intervention and authority in general - that does bother me, because I don't like the precedence and obvious slippery slopes which are created, regarding freedom of speech and freedom of expression - even if the speech or expression might be offensive or unsavoury.
However, on the flip side - we have a real problem with gang violence, where these people are producing music that fits into and attempts to glorify gang culture and violence, there is a portion of me which thinks this is very bad - maybe banning and controlling it will help, not because I'm a fan of government legislation, but because these gangs are clearly using it to provoke and intimidate. However I'm not totally convinced that bans or controls are the answer.
Naturally, in the golden age of government incompetence and stupidity that we're living in, there doesn't appear to be any other ideas on the table, and I don't expect any to appear.
Should the government attempt to ban or control it? or should it be allowed unrestricted?
From what I can tell, essentially it's music written mostly by gangs which is used primarily to intimidate and threaten. The word "drill" or "drilling" is a Chicago term for shooting and Chicago was where the genre originally was born, prior to it's export to London.
In the last year or so there's been a huge rise in the amount of extremely violent and threatening drill rap being produced, mostly propagated via the usual channels, [youtube, instagram, facebook, etc]
The authorities have now taken notice and are making attempts to censor and regulate it, in some cases imposing court orders preventing "artists" from producing it, pushing it further underground. Attempts by media companies such Youtube crack down on it, resulting in artists simply uploading it to the well known online porn sites instead.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-from-making-music-due-to-threat-of-violence
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-44982560
Examples of Drill Rap;
The question is this;
Should we be trying to stop it? Watching it makes me feel very uncomfortable - yet I'm a huge fan of violence, I watched all the violent movies, play all the violent video games, I also used to listen to very violent music - including more recently old gunfighter ballads, by people like Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins (most of whom sing about casually shooting people in the head all day long) I also used to be a big fan of Cypress Hill - who use very naughty words all of the time, but were never banned by anybody.
Interestingly, as far as I can tell - the UK is the first country which has made efforts to actively ban and control the production of such 'music'. As someone who is firmly opposed to government intervention and authority in general - that does bother me, because I don't like the precedence and obvious slippery slopes which are created, regarding freedom of speech and freedom of expression - even if the speech or expression might be offensive or unsavoury.
However, on the flip side - we have a real problem with gang violence, where these people are producing music that fits into and attempts to glorify gang culture and violence, there is a portion of me which thinks this is very bad - maybe banning and controlling it will help, not because I'm a fan of government legislation, but because these gangs are clearly using it to provoke and intimidate. However I'm not totally convinced that bans or controls are the answer.
Naturally, in the golden age of government incompetence and stupidity that we're living in, there doesn't appear to be any other ideas on the table, and I don't expect any to appear.
Should the government attempt to ban or control it? or should it be allowed unrestricted?
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