Drill progressed into the American mainstream in mid-2012 following the success of rappers and producers like Chief Keef, Lil Durk, Lil Reese, Fredo Santana, Young Chop, G Herbo, Lil Bibby, and King Louie who had many local fans and a significant Internet presence. Media attention and the signing of drill musicians to major labels followed. Artists within the genre have been noted for their style of lyricism and association with crime in Chicago.
A regional subgenre UK drill emerged in London particularly in the district of Brixton beginning in 2012. UK drill rose to prominence by the mid-2010s and has influenced other regional scenes such as Australian, Spanish, Irish, Dutch and Brooklyn drill (re-introduced to Brooklyn in the late 2010s)
The lyrics of drill tend to be violent and very gritty. The Guardian's Lucy Stehlik said "nihilistic drill reflects real life where its squeaky-clean hip-hop counterparts have failed."Drill lyrics strongly contrast with the subject matter of earlier Chicago rappers and contemporary mainstream hip hop which at the time of drill's emergence tended to glorify and celebrate a rise to wealth.
Drill lyrics typically reflect life on the streets, and tend to be gritty, violent, realistic and nihilistic. Drill rappers use a grim, deadpan delivery,often filtered through Auto-Tune, influenced by the "stoned, aimless warbling of Soulja Boy (one of the earliest non-local Keef collaborators) and Lil Wayne before him."Atlanta-based rappers Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame were important influences on the drill scene.Though it bears many similarities to trap music the speed of a drill beat is generally slower with a moderate tempo having about 60 to 70 beats per minute.Some producers work at double tempo such as 120 to 140 beats per minute.
Drillers tend to be young; many prominent musicians in the scene started getting attention while still in their teens.One of the genre's most prominent musicians, Chief Keef, was 16 when he signed a multi-million dollar record contract withand in an extreme example, Lil Wayne co-signed the 13-year-old driller Lil Mouse. Critics have noted drill rappers' lack of concern with metaphor or wordplay. Chief Keef said that his simplistic flow is a conscious stylistic choice: "I know what I'm doing. I mastered it. And I don't even really use metaphors or punchlines. 'Cause I don't have to. But I could. ... I think that's doing too much. I'd rather just say what's going on right now. ... I don't really like metaphors or punchlines like that." What Moser wrote that Keef's songs are "lyrically, rhythmically, and emotionally diminished, which is why they sound so airless and claustrophobic ... It's not even fatalistic, because that would imply a self-consciousness, a moral consideration, that isn't there in the lyrics. It just is, over and over again."
David Drake of Complex said drill is not defined by any particular production style, but "is about the entirety of the culture: the lingo, the dances, the mentality, and the music, much of which originated in 'Dro City', a gang-defined territory of city blocks in the Woodlawn neighborhood. In street slang, "drill" means to fight or retaliate, and "can be used for anything from females getting dolled up to all out war in the streets."[25] Dro City rapper Pacman, considered the stylistic originator of the genre, is credited as the first to apply the term to the local hip hop music.Drake described the drill scene as a major vehicle of the early 2010s rise of Chicago hip hop, and described the scene as a grassroots movement that had incubated in a closed, interlocking system: on the streets and through social media in a network of clubs and parties and amongst high schools.Drill developed on the South Side of Chicago, in the midst of escalating violence and a homicide crisis. Mark Guarino wrote for Salon that the music grew during "a shift from historic feuding between monolithic crime organizations controlling thousands of members each to intrapersonal squabbling and retaliatory conflicts among smaller hybrid groups whose control extends just a few blocks... The toughened reality of living in these neighborhoods is what shaped Drill music."In the drill scene, rap conflict and gang conflict overlap, and many of the young rappers come from backgrounds with experience of violence.
In 2022, some connected the pro-gun content of the genre to real world gun violence on the streets of New York and other major cities, given the violence surrounding a number of drill artists like the late Tdott Woo,he late Pop Smoke, the late Chii Wvttz,and gun violence survivor Nas Blixky.A shooting by alleged attempted murderer C Blu, who is signed to Interscope Records, also gave rise to concerns, echoing the 1990s era gangsta rap controversy.
In response to the epidemic of death arising out of the diss elements in the scene, in early 2022 a number of prominent New York DJs and music influencers, including DJ Drewski at Hot 97, Joe Budden, Ebro Darden of "Ebro in the Morning" on Hot 97, D Teck, and Power 101.5's DJ Gabe P either vowed to stop playing gang/diss records or re-iterated their refusal to play such content.
UK drill is a subgenre of drill music and road rap that originated in the South London district of Brixton from 2012 onwards. Borrowing heavily from the style of Chicago drill music, UK drill artists often rap about violent and hedonistic criminal lifestyles. Typically, those who create this style of music are affiliated with gangs or come from socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods where crime is a way of life for many. UK drill music is closely related to road rap, a British style of gangsta rap that became popular in the years prior to the existence of drill.Musically, UK drill often exhibits violent language and provocative lyrics.
