07 May Has Drill Music Caused A Knife Crime Uproar In London?
Knife Crime has risen immensely over the past couple of months and it’s the highest it’s ever been. London has inevitably had a high crime rate due to how busy it is. Knife crime has been linked to the come up of UK music and rap, otherwise classified as ‘Drill music’.
Drill music stems from a slang word known for a gun, many news outlets like The Independent and The Guardian have touched on this sensitive topic. They’ve mentioned the link between between the rise in knife crime and music by Drill artists. In 2018 alone there have been over 50 fatal stabbings and over 300 members of police being deployed in across the UK. The rise of social media has allowed Drill artists in having a platform to promote violence, murder and stabbings. The hype caused has inspired teenagers in publicising their illegal acts. Amber Rudd has issued a statement in encouraging the banning of Drill music. Drill artist, Zion, spoke with JLDN and retaliated by saying ‘if you’re going to ban Drill, ban all genres of music.’ He also talked about how many individuals listen to Drill and ‘will not just go and kill someone.’
The influence on the listeners of Drill are also arguing back saying they lead a normal life and do not endorse in the meaning behind the lyrics of the music. Now that Drill music has gained more exposure from massive global brands like Puma and Nike. Puma held an event called #HouseOfHustle which introduced three drill artists as their headlining acts. Loski, M Huncho and Headie One are huge Drill rappers in the music scene. However Puma received countless backlash claiming that they’re endorsing in the funding of violence. People called out the brand for supporting these artists who have touched on murder in their lyrics. Many drill artists convicted actually have their violent lyrics displayed in court. The evidence is clear as they’re openly talking about murder and the hinting of it. Most members of Drill have an extremely vigilant past where they’ve seen over ten years in prison.
The Jermaine Goupall case was one that stroked a lot of controversy on Drill and the overlap of the stabbings. Jermaine Goupall was a teenager that tragically died due to a stabbing incident. The murderers of 15 year old Goupall where Drill artists themselves. The stabbing was clearly gang influenced as the defendants stated in their lyrics the foreboding of the murder. This was the main piece of evidence in the case, the intentions of the murderers were stated in their drill songs. This shows a clear-cut overlap and link between the recent spike of stabbings and Drill music.
The latest uproar of stabbings has influenced a modern spin on gang culture through social media and music. Drill artists are now being blamed for the rise of stabbings, do you agree?
