The History of Drill Music

Since its inception, hip-hop has given voice to marginalized communities and revealed the social, economic, and political realities of life to its listeners. Taking cues from ’90s gangsta rap and southern trap, drill music emerged from the South Side of Chicago in the early 2010s against a backdrop of widespread crime, escalating gang violence, and a homicide crisis. Naturally, the new generation of artists made music that reflected their environment — but they also created a new hip-hop subgenre that would become an international phenomenon.

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Finally Rich

Chief Keef

2022

Hip Hop, Gangsta, Thug Rap, Trap, Drill

2 x Vinyl, Album, Reissue, Silver and Black Galaxy

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Drill is sonically similar to trap — which utilizes synthesized drums, complex hi-hat patterns, and few other instruments to create its distinct sound — but clocks in at a slower tempo, usually around 60 to 70 bpm. What makes drill unique, though, is its explicit, aggressive, and adversarial lyrics. In direct contrast to the braggadocious displays of wealth that permeated mainstream hip-hop, as well as the conscious flows of an earlier generation of Chicago artists, drill rappers offered listeners gritty, violent bars about the realities of life on the streets. Instead of concerning themselves with gripping metaphors and clever wordplay, early drill artists like Chief Keef, Lil Reese, Fredo Santana, and Lil Durk opted for a straightforward, deadpan approach to their writing and delivery.

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Welcome To Fazoland

G Herbo aka Lil Herb

2014

Hip Hop, Trap, Gangsta, Thug Rap, Drill

FIle, Album

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Drill spread throughout Chicago during the height of hip-hop’s blog era and artists, many of them teens, grew local fan bases through free mixtape releases and YouTube videos. At age 16, while on house arrest for a gun incident, Chief Keef released the music video for “I Don’t Like” — a drill anthem that went viral, caught the attention of Kanye West, and earned Keef a three-album record deal with Interscope. But as drill music and the profile of its artists grew, so did criticisms of the emerging genre. Local governments, news media, and even the old guard of Chicago rappers publicly denounced drill music, with Lupe Fiasco saying “Chief Keef scares me. Not him specifically, but just the culture he represents,” in a 2012 radio interview.

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Remember My Name

Lil Durk

2015

Hip Hop, Trap, Drill

2 x Vinyl, Album

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When Keef’s debut studio album, Finally Rich, was released in December 2012, it was a commercial failure. Believing that drill was just a passing fad, Interscope dropped the rapper from their roster. However, across the pond, a new drill scene was growing in south London and had gained widespread popularity by the late 2010s.

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Let’s Lurk

67

2016

Hip Hop, Grime, Trap, Drill

FIle, Album

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UK drill, an offshoot of drill and a subgenre of road rap (or British gangsta rap), borrows heavily from its Chicago counterpart with artists writing provocative lyrics centered around violent, hedonistic, and criminal lifestyles. The sonic similarities end there, however, as producers like Carns Hill and Quietpvck evolved the genre’s style to include influences from grime and UK garage music. UK drill beats are often built around a triplet hi-hat pattern and feature hard kicks and a sliding bass. These songs are also much faster than Chicago drill, usually hovering between 138 to 151 bpm.

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Double Tap Diaries

Digga D

2019

Hip Hop, Drill

CD, Album

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UK drill was mainly distributed via music videos as its uncensored nature kept it locked out of the mainstream music industry. Like its predecessor, the music and its artists became a subject of debate and were targeted by local law enforcement. In an effort to avoid the use of their lyrics in prosecution, UK drill rappers have taken to using vocal cuts, mutes, and a “shh” adlib to replace the names of people, weapons, and criminal acts in their songs. The style spread beyond London and acts from Birmingham and Nottingham entered the UK’s drill scene. The music has even moved beyond the UK, directly influencing burgeoning scenes in Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, Australia, and more.

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Shmurda She Wrote

Bobby Shmurda

2014

CD, EP

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In 2019, drill music’s popularity surged again in the States — this time with Brooklyn-based New Yorkers like Pop Smoke and Fivio Foreign leading the way. The New York drill sound is directly influenced by Jersey club and UK drill styles and adds 808 percussion to the latter’s fast tempos and sliding notes. Crossover between New York and UK artists led to some of the subgenre’s biggest songs — Pop Smoke’s Grammy-nominated “Dior” was produced by 808Melo, while Fivio Foregin’s breakthrough hit “Big Drip” was produced by AXL Beats.

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Meet The Woo

Pop Smoke

2020

Hip Hop, Gangsta, Thug Rap, Drill

CD, Deluxe, Mixtape

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Today, drill is finally mainstream. Bronx rapper Ice Spice’s viral hit “Munch (Feelin’ U)” introduced the sound to a new audience while evolving the style beyond its dark, violent beginnings through collaborations with pop singers Taylor Swift and PinkPantheress. She even brought drill to the Barbie soundtrack with the fun and irresistibly catchy “Barbie World,” showing that drill, much like the rest of hip-hop, can also reinvent itself.