Drill music is a subgenre of rap born in Chicago in the 2010s. Since then, it’s taken off around the world, and earned national headlines due to explicit, violent lyrics and high-profile trials associated with drill artists, including the racketeering trial of Young Thug in Atlanta and the murder trial of six defendants accused of killing FBG Duck in Chicago.

It has a bad reputation for the wrong reasons sometimes, according to Reginold Royston, an assistant professor who studies digital innovation at University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Nile Lansana, an artist and youth educator who grew up on Chicago’s South Side.

“We’re hearing stories of violence. We’re hearing stories of trauma. We’re hearing stories of alleged crimes,” Lansana said. “And I think that for somebody who's a general consumer of drill, I would really push them to look past the aesthetics and really look into the substance.”

In this episode, Lansana and Royston look at the history of the genre, where it exists in the wider culture today, and point out what many people miss.

Some of the music heard in this episode:

“Barbie World” - Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice
“Love Sosa” - Chief Keef
“I Don't Like” - Chief Keef featuring Lil Reese
“Hate Bein' Sober” - Chief Keef
“Killa” - Young Pappy
“Play For Keeps” - L'A Capone
“Flashbacks” - G Herbo
“Street Guide (Part 01)” - ONEFOUR
“Kwaku the Traveller” - Black Sherif

Drill music is explicit, confrontational and often misunderstood 20:34 Share

The Rundown | Chicago News

Shownotes Transcript

Drill music is explicit, confrontational and often misunderstood