Youth Culture vs. Gang Anthems: Drill Music and its Role in Youth Representation

David Kingsley, an Associate at Criminology Services Limited, recently took the stage at our National Tackling Gang Crime, Violence and Weapon Crime Conference 2026, where he delivered an insightful keynote on Drill music.

“Today’s session is not about music appreciation. It is not about defending violence. It’s not about suggesting that music causes violence or crime. It’s about understanding how drill music  operates within certain environments, how it sometimes intersects with real world dynamics, and why it has become increasingly relevant to policing, safeguarding, and the courts.” – David Kingsley

David’s work sits at the intersection of youth safeguarding, serious violence, urban street gang affected environments and the interpretation of youth culture. He particularly looks at Drill music in professional and criminal justice contexts.

He believes that misunderstanding Drill music often has consequences. It can mean missing genuine risks, escalating situations unnecessarily or responding in ways that fail to reduce harm. To truly understand Drill music and how it relates to gang culture, it is important to explore the origins of the music genre.

The Origins Of Drill Music:

Drill music originated in Chicago, around 2010. It was adopted by UK artists around 2012. People liked the gritty sounds, heavy beats and blunt, street-focused lyrics of the genre. The lyricism in the genre is often raw, unfiltered and confrontational.

“It developed on top of pre-existing UK traditions, particularly grime and road rap. It’s urban street music, storytelling rooted in lived experiences.” – David Kingsley

Early UK Drill was shaped by back-and-forth ‘diss culture’ between rival street gangs. These exchanges were not abstract or fictional. They followed a series of street-based incidents of retaliations, including a highly divisive youth murder in 2010. Music became one of the ways these tensions were articulated, amplified, and responded to.

David explains how UK Drill is built on this foundation by incorporating darker, more minimal production, more explicit confrontation, and a sharper focus on territorial identity and grievances.

UK Drill should be understood as an evolution of pre-existing urban British music culture shaped by local social conditions, housing patterns, and longstanding rivalries. That distinction particularly matters because it challenges the idea that Drill introduced violence rather than reflecting and sometimes intensifying dynamics that already existed.

A benefit of Drill is how, like any music, it is an artform, Drill can provide a platform for artists to reach online audiences, with millions of views online and even potential record deals.

“In environments where lawful routes to status recognition and financial security are limited, this visibility can become highly inspirational.” – David Kingsley

And so for many young people, Drill functions as a narrative of lived experiences, the way of processing trauma, and a means of asserting identity, status, visibility where other roots are often constrained. So, a critical distinction must be made early, with Drill music and gang/urban street culture. Not all Drill artists are urban street gang affiliated, and not all violent lyrics reflect real actions. However, some Drill is conflict associated, meaning it is produced in close proximity to ongoing disputes and real world incidents.

This particular strand of Drill is often characterized by explicit or coded references to postcodes and territorial identity, direct or indirect references to rival, often framed through bravado and posturing, mockery or minimisation of real life victims as a means of asserting dominance allusions to specific incidents or events understood within the local context and status, seeking reputation, building and performances of hyper-masculinity. Within these environments, music functions as communication. For those outside these contexts, it may sound exaggerated or performative. However, for those inside them, it can be interpreted as provocation, threat and challenge.

David highlighted how social media has amplified this greatly. There is a lot of online discourse with Drill music. A dispute between two gangs through Drill music will be amplified, publicly archived and rapidly circulated. One line in a song can be blown up to be seen by millions, resulting in the diss cutting deeper, heightening the response from the victim of the song. David’s seen how public humiliation can become a significant trigger for serious violence. What the Criminology Services increasingly observes is an escalation cycle where there’s an initial insult or exposure, online circulation, pressure to respond publicly, mobilisation, and then retaliation.

And this acceleration reduces opportunities for mediation, de-escalation, or intervention. And so for professionals working in serious violence prevention, this is one of the most significant shifts of the last decade.

Next, David highlighted some real-world examples of how Drill music can directly involve and incite violence.

Case Studies On Drill Music

During his keynote, David played a portion of a UK drill song, highlighting the language used and to give the audience an understanding of the tonality of Drill music. It was a good opportunity to see how words and lyrics can reflect violence and actually accelerate real world action. Within the song, there were multiple mentions of ‘Chingings’, referring to stabbing and the word “bun” which refers to shootings.
These are direct provocations, explicitly taunting rivals by name, escalating tensions, and covering disputes across West, Northwest and Southwest London. There’s also a lack of censorship, naming people explicitly and directly.

This uncensored nature of a lot of drill music means that it has been used in court to help provide evidence for crimes. David uses the example of a Drill artist named Kamar Henry Richards.

Kamar Henry Richards was found guilty of the murder of Casey Booth in August 2022. This murder came about due to ongoing disputes between two Hackney gangs. After the murder, Richards released a song which boasted about the killing, which contained unknown details which aided the police investigations that resulted in his arrest. In January 2025, he was sentenced to 37 years in prison.
David then highlighted the lyrics that led to the discovery and arrest of Richards:

“Big Boothe and Little Boothe got hit, same SIG, that’s a sour family. Both got slapped at functions, neck and head, handguns come in handy”

Casey Boothe (Big Boothe) was shot at a birthday party (function)  for a 1 or 2 year old child. Richards even boasts about using a gun (SIG Sauer (sour)).

The police mentioned that this information was not known to them at the time, and when they did the investigation, they were able to find that out and piece it together. So this is a clear example of drill lyrics essentially incriminating an individual leading to prosecution and conviction.

It raises questions about the role of Drill music in our society. If it was only being used to boast about real-world crimes, like in Richards case, then there could be a fair argument for censoring this music, removing it from popular streaming sites like YouTube, Spotify, etc. However, there are plenty of Drill artists who have never committed the crimes they sing about, or that sing about other things. Like any genre of music, there is a lot of fictional storytelling in the lyrics used. Expressing yourself can come through singing about actions you would never actually perform yourself, and David believes this is the case for Drill music. To censor the entire genre would remove a lot of genuine artists who are passionate about expressing themselves and working hard to master their crafts.

Throughout this article you have seen the impacts of gang violence. It can lead to severe violence and even death. The impact that this has on communities cannot be understated, unknitting communities and spreading fear. Tackling anti-social behaviour is the first step to reducing gang presence and creating safer cities across the UK. We’re bringing together industry leaders and professionals on the 28th April to explore how local authorities can tackle anti-social behaviour across the UK.

What We Can Do:

David then told the audience about some of the positive initiatives surrounding Drill music. One organisation is IMM Music (Intergenerational Music Making) where they use intergenerational projects that bridge older and younger generations to understand and disseminate some of the lyrics and meanings behind Drill, getting older generations such as parents, grandparents, etc. to understand why young people kind of gravitate towards Drill music. What is it within the lyrics? What is it within watching the videos that is so appealing to them? It’s an opportunity for more understanding to develop around how Drill music can be a good form of expression.

Last year there was a campaign, from Calm, (Campaign against Living Miserably), called This Is Not a Drill Campaign, which used Drill music to tackle mental health issues among Gen Z. By using Drill music, a genre with close ties to a lot of young people, Calm was able to use music as a medium for dialogue and understanding with a generation that might not feel prepared to ask for help.

“This campaign is an example of trying to separate those that use Drill to glorify violence and threaten opposing gangs and those who enjoy the style of the music, the tempo, the lyricism in a way that doesn’t hurt or offend anyone.” – David Kingsley

Another initiative was also the Art Not Evidence campaign. They fight against the criminalisation of art. Where there is a growing resistance to how court proceedings draw lyrics as evidence against individuals. This again lies in that murky area where lyrics can signify real-world events, as artists brag about their gang affiliation and the things they have done, or do the lyrics represent fiction, which is certainly true for a lot of drill music – as David Kingsley has expressed, not all drill lyrics are representative of real world events.

“Art Not Evidence is a collaboration between academic experts, legal experts and artists who raise concerns about misinterpretation of creative expression, racialised and disproportionate policing, and the risk of treating identity and culture indicators of criminality.” – David Kingsley

Courts are increasingly arguing that contextualised and corroborated lyrics may be considered relevant evidence, but supported by additional information. Essentially, if someone sings about stabbing someone, some practitioners want to use that as proof of a crime committed, but this is not always the case. Artistic expression warrants this. All you have to do is look at different musical genres to know that lyrics aren’t fact – people sing about fictional acts all of the time.

Drill music can be about more than just gang affiliations and crime. Within the wider community and systems, it can navigate issues like poverty, housing, security fears, trauma, bereavements and feelings of being stuck in a system where young people can’t reach status or income.

A public health approach is needed to address these root forces, such as poverty and security, while also balancing public safety and accountability and censorship. Understanding Drill music doesn’t mean endorsing it, and it can be a good opportunity for people in health and wellbeing roles to use Drill to better understand the struggles of young people.

“Moving past drill music, what can we do to reduce gang involvement and culture, especially amongst young people. Can drill music move past gang culture and be a positive, artistic expression in the UK?” – David Kingsley

So What Does Drill Teach Us?

Drill reflects societal issues, but it’s not the root cause of them. It raises complex questions about art, freedom of expression, and public safety. Challenges that are difficult to reconcile. Gang related Drill often acts as an accelerant, intensifying tensions and fuelling cycles of violence.

People might think that Drill music should be stamped out, with all of the connections to gang culture, but within the wider community, Drill exists as an artistic medium to speak out about issues like poverty, housing, security, trauma and bereavement. It can be a tool for expression and a way for dealing with the situations faced by many people in the UK.

It is a difficult path to navigate, as there are two sides to this coin. The side that uses Drill to champion gangs, violence and drugs can be very negative, romanticising a lifestyle that is harmful, illegal and very dangerous. The other side of that coin highlights how the genre can be a tool for expression, a way for people to speak out about the struggles they are facing and the situations they are in, whether economically, socially or politically. The difficult question is how do we reduce one side of this coin whilst also letting the other flourish?

One way is to not diminish those Drill artists who are singing from a positive place. Supporting young people who have the talent and motivation for music is only a good thing – rewarding hard work and inspiring others. Another way is to use Drill music as a translator. How can we use the lyrics to understand the struggles of people living in these environments? For health and wellbeing practitioners, they might find that people are far more expressive in their lyrics than they are when asked directly.
David Kingsley leaves us with one final important reminder:

“Drill music is not the root cause of serious youth violence. This violence existed well before drill music, and it will exist after. We need to have a better understanding of context rather than content.” – David Kingsley

We’d like to thank David Kingsley for his exceptional keynote at the National Tackling Gang Crime, Violence and Weapon Crime Conference 2026. His passion for this subject rang out throughout the session. His exploration of Drill music at the conference was one of the most unique sessions of the day and highlights how understanding, more than anything else, is what leads to change.

Did you miss this event? The upcoming The Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour Conference 2026 will explore the Governments Anti-Social Behaviour Plan (2023) and how we can reknit our communities by reducing anti-social behaviour across the UK. It’s an online event on the 28th April. We’ve got a great selection of speakers, including the Deputy Chief Constable, Catherine Akehurst, who is the Lead for Anti-Social Behaviour, at the National Police Chiefs’​ Council (NPCC). We’d love to see you there.