- Max Kuehn
People have strong opinions on what they believe to be the most original form of music. Whether it is rock, hip-hop, classical, or country, everyone has their own opinion on what they believe to be the most “real” genre. “Drill music” is no exception.
The world has yet to come to a consensus on what is drill music, but there are plenty of educated guesses out there. In this article, Fidlar will cover all of this music genre that we know.
What is drill music?
Drill music is a subgenre in hip-hop originated in the South Side of Chicago in the early 2010s. This subgenre is heavily influenced by trap music.
Trap music was another subgenre that emerged out of Atlanta’s hip-hop scene. It shares the drill sound’s tendency for slow, dark atmospheres and a focus on criminal activity.
This genre is aggressive and dark. It’s also violent and involves shootings and guns. Drill music is also known as drill music. The term “drill”, which means killing, doing a hit, or retaliating, refers to it.
If someone says “We doin’ a drill”, it could mean that someone is about to get shot. These are the most aggressive themes in. Music videos .
Due to singles such as Chief Keef’s 2012 “I Don’t Like,” the drill scene went mainstream from underground mixtapes in the mid-2010s.
Major labels rappers Drake and Kanye West adopted the drill sound and promoted it. Chicago drill was quickly adopted by rappers in major American cities, including New York.
This led to the Brooklyn drill. Its most popular outlets outside the United States include Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Where did it come from?
Woodlawn, Dro City, was the origin of Dro City’s rapping style. It was created in Chicago’s crime-ridden South Side.
The UK counterpart of drill music originated in Brixton. It is a recreation of the Chicago drill scene, emphasizing violence and money as well as criminal lifestyles.
A Brief History of Drill Music
The history dates back to the 2010s when Chicago’s hip-hop began to incorporate Atlanta’s trap music.
Beginnings: Although trap artists such as Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Mane had a significant influence on the sound and flow, the drill sound was shaped by the culture in which it was created.
Drill music drew upon the chaotic nature and high occurrences of violence in some of Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods–especially an area in the Woodlawn community called “Dro City”–and their impact on young people for its narrative and core sound.
The drill is first used: Dro City rapper PacMan is credited with using the term “drill” to refer to a shooting. His 2010 single “It’s a Drill” was a reference to drill.
However, the song served as a model for future drill artists like Chief Keef, whose 2012 single, “I Don’t Like,” and Kanye West’s remix brought drill music to national attention.
Drill music was rising: Keef joined fellow drill music veteran, King Louie, to record West’s 2013 album Yeezus. The attention also benefited other drill rappers such as Lil Durk and Lil Reese, G Herbo, and the late Fredo Santina.
Although the Chicago drill scene’s fame was short-lived, Keef was eventually dropped by Interscope in 2014. However, he remained active, and drill music began to take root in other parts.
UK Drill has developed its own production style since 2012, incorporating elements from earlier British genres. These include grime, UK garage, and roadrap, which is a British form of gangsta-rap.
The UK drill is different from Chicago drill because it uses sliding bass and has a faster beat per minute, which is adapted from grime.
UK drill, heavily influenced by Chicago drill and electronic music genres such as grime and life in South London’s rough neighborhoods like Brixton, began to dominate British charts in 2015. This led to drill scenes in Australia and Ireland.
International drill: UK drill was also brought to Brooklyn, New York by Pop Smoke, Sheff G, and other prominent rappers. There were also frequent collaborations between American drill professionals and UK drill producers such as 808Melo, who produced Smoke’s 2019 hit “Welcome to the Party.”
In the past few years, drill scenes have been seen in Dublin and Athlone. This music genre exploded in Irish housing estates because young people wanted to see young artists discussing real life.
Three Characteristics of Drill music
It is defined by several characteristics, both in the United States as well as abroad.
Flow
Chicago drill musicians tend to use an almost deadpan monotone voice and almost monotone to deliver their lyrics. This style helps them feel the emotionally draining environment in which they live.
Auto-tune is often used to give drill artists’ rapping a cold, unfeeling quality. Both the UK drill and Brooklyn drill prefer expressive delivery and avoid auto-tune.
Lyrics
Chicago’s first wave of drill music was known for its violent lyrics and its bare-bones language. The artists abandoned metaphors and clever wordplay to favor a style that was more like unemotional reportage or recollection.
This emphasized the song’s often dark subject matter. The subgenre has seen a new generation of Chicago drill artists expand its lyrical focus. However, both the UK and Brooklyn drills have maintained a broader songwriting palette.
Production
Chicago drill producers, like Young Chop, who produced many of Chief Keef’s hits, used a similar template to trap music.
This included heavy use of the 808 drum machine beats (typically 60-70 beats per minute or BPM), stripped-down production, and an emphasis upon ear-catching melodies infused with brooding menace.
Headie One and other UK drill artists use faster drill beats and more emphasis on melody. Brooklyn drill, however, is known for its louder delivery and warmer production.
Four Popular Drill Music Artists
Several musicians have influenced drill music:
Chief Keef
Chief Keef was the first celebrity of Chicago drill music. His hit single “I Don’t Like” reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 2012. Keef’s simple delivery, often ad-libbed, and bitter lyrics set the tone for all subsequent drill music.
Although his music was sometimes overshadowed in legal disputes and other drill artists, Keef’s influence on 21st-century chicago hip-hop is still significant.
King Louie
Chicago rapper King Louie, after his friend Pac-Man, was one of the first to advocate drill music. He performed tracks such as 2011’s “Gumbo Mobsters,” which featured Bo$$ Woo before Chief Keef made the music scene a national phenomenon.
After being shot in the head that year, Louie was not signed to Epic Records. Since then, he has resumed a prolific recording schedule.
Lil Bibby
Chicago rapper Lil Bibby was cited as a performer you should watch almost immediately following the release of his 2013 mixtape. He was known for his raspy delivery and energetic flow.
However, he left RCA Records in 2017 to start Grade A Records. The Juice Wrld was their debut artist and topped the Billboard Albums Chart with 2019’s Death Race for Love.
Pop Smoke
New York rapper Pop Smoke was killed in an attack by gun violence. Pop Smoke was a prominent figure in Brooklyn’s drill scene. His rich voice and smooth delivery made “Welcome to the Party” a hit single off his debut mixtape, Welcome to the Woo.
Shoot for the Stars and Aim for the moon, his posthumous debut album, debuted at the Billboard 200’s top spot in 2019. All 19 tracks also landed on the singles charts.
FAQs
Who first created drill music?
Around 2011, drill rap was born in the southside of Chicago. King Louie, one of the earliest drill rappers and the founder of Drill Rap, is widely considered a pioneer of rap.
Chief Keef and Lil Reese were pioneers in drill rap, as were Lil Durk, Rondonumba9, and LA Capone (R.I.P).
How do you know drill songs?
Drill lyrics contrast strongly with the subject matter of Chicago rappers in the past and current mainstream media hip-hop, which at the time drill’s emergence celebrated and glorified a rise to wealth.
The lyrics are often a reflection of life on the streets and can be described as gritty, violent, and realistic.
Are Drill and trap the same?
Trap music is a subgenre of Rap that is predominantly southern. It’s lyrically focused on drug dealing and is characterized by fast hi-hats. T.I., an Atlanta rapper, popularized it. Trap Muzik is a compilation by. “Drill” is a subgenre of Trap that originated in Chicago and has been around recently.
Read the full article about trap in music: https://fidlarmusic.com/what-is-trap-music/
Why are UK drillers wearing masks?
The Paps – Just as with any other genre of music industry, success in Drill can be accompanied by a lot of media exposure. Rappers can hide their identities by wearing masks to keep their privacy and maintain a separation between home and work.
Conclusion
Drill music describes the sound of gunshots, the crime associated with its lyrics, and often, the Chicago area it came from (so-called “Chiraq”). What do you think of the term “drill music”? Let us know in the comments below.
