Drill Music: Here to stay

While some are still trying to assimilate that trap is here to stay, subgenres and different avenues of experimentation from this trap are already beginning to be known. Drill was born in 2010 in Chicago as a subgenre of trap and hip hop, but it developed in the United Kingdom. Characterized by his violent and nihilistic lyrics, in 2019 he finally managed to have a foothold in America thanks to Pop Smoke: his murder in February 2020 has made this genre reach the general public. his posthumous album “Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon” (produced by 50 Cent), quickly reached #1 on the Billboard 200 and internationally reached #1 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Holland, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

In London it has had a special influence thanks to rappers like 150, 67 or K-Trap, who use music and specifically this genre as a way of escaping the marginality of their neighborhoods of origin. Drug use and gang violence are very explicitly addressed in their songs and clips, which led to the UK police asking YouTube in 2019 to remove all related videos for viewing the genre as a precursor to crime. increase in crime that was taking place.

The most recognized Spanish-speaking artist in this genre is Puerto Rican Jon Z, along with other Latin artists such as Brytiago and Omy De Oro. Spain is not far behind, with Patrón 970 or Skinny Flex (Madrid and Barcelona respectively). The drill differs from the trap especially in the bases: as for the bass, instead of being an 808 sub bass sound distorted to the extreme, it is much more "smooth" and is usually based on waves with simple shapes alternating short intervals. and long, always with glide. As for the lyrics, they are equally aggressive and deal with money, drugs and gangs.. 

In Spain this genre is booming and it is the first cultural boom in the country's history that is not predominantly white: Most are children of Dominicans, Moroccans, sub-Saharans. the hashtag #spanishdrill on Youtube contains more than 6.400 videos and 3.100 channels, in which streamings are counted by millions. 

This genre stands out in Spain because we are facing the first genre in which the vast majority of voices are racialized (without forgetting Frank T -one of the first rappers in Spain, he was born in Zaire- or Putochinomaricón -son of Asian migrants-).

As happened in its day with the trap, until Rosalía and C.Tangana brought it to the general public in Spain, today the drill is already massive in numbers but rather unknown by the general public and the general media. Time after time, what is clear is that this new genre is coming strong and above all to stay. As Tierno Galván would say, chaos is welcome because it is a symptom of freedom.