Is drill music to blame for youth violence? We ask those in the know...

Is drill music to blame for youth violence? We ask those in the know...

Can music really be to blame for young people dying on our streets? 

Open any newspaper right now and you're likely to see something about the recent rise in youth violence. So far this year there have been 35 fatal stabbings in London alone.

But what’s the cause of this recent spike in violence on our streets?

Launching a new £40million Serious Violence Strategy, the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, said she thinks the UK music scene – specifically drill (a sub-genre of hip-hop) – has had a part to play.

She explained: 'I think sometimes it's easy to underestimate how much of young people's lives are spent on social media and we need to make sure we influence some of the output in a way that doesn't have the devastating impacts that we've seen.

And she’s not alone. Bobby Martin, director of operations at Crying Sons - an organisation which helps boys and men caught up in gangs and serious violence - said: 'We have songs that promote guns, we have songs that promote violence that are on mainstream radio and mainstream television to the extent that we actually make these people role models.

'So there is a mixed message going out to young people. We should really be talking to the music industry and having a universal ban on these things.'


But is the UK music scene really to blame? We asked UK artists, music agents and youth workers for their take…  

 

 

Harri MCR - Editor/Designer/Photographer/

"Uk hip-hop/drill/trap isn't the cause of violent crime within the UK. It's more of an expression of what people go through in life. Violent crime has been around longer than any kind of hip-hop, drill, trap was in the mainstream, it's a by product of the violence that people already live with. This kind of music was made as a way out of violence for many people where they might not have many job opportunities so they find there own creative way they can provide for themselves. If anything it's our own government failures to address a long standing problem and then its the people using their voice to explain to the outside world what life is like for them. If anything it encourages creativity in the younger generations and gives them a different path apart from gang life to feel like they are part of something."

 

Rebecca Prochnik -  Agent at Earth Agency who represents artists including Boy Better Know, Ghetts, Abra Cadabra and AJ Tracey among others


"There is a danger in pointing fingers at surface representations of a far deeper issue , and as history has well made clear, the failure to look past the signifiers serves only those baying for a quick fix and offers no long term solution to a deeply embedded societal crisis. As per any art, music artists should have every right and freedom to convey their reality. Attempting to silence and push unwanted voices out of earshot does nothing other than perpetrate the real problem."

 

Khairee - Rapper 

 "Due to not having a understanding of what drill music is and what it represents, I believe the government are using it as a scapegoat for the increased crime rate as it a easy way out of the problems young people are facing today. Drill music does portray a message of violence and crime, however that is just the stories of what the artist’s have been through. Instead of looking from the outside and putting two and two together, the government need to understand crime comes from a lack of education and employment and it will not change until incentives are made to keep young people off the roads." 

 

Zak Greenwood - Music writer

"I feel like drill music is not a direct cause of the growing violence in the UK but arguably the nature of the content may have influenced some violent behaviour. But this could be due to the beef/dissing culture that drill music breeds"

 

 

The Poundland Bandit - Legendary Meme-Maker  

"She (Amber Rudd) can go fuck herself" 

 

Anonymous - Youth Offender Officer from London 

"When working with young people living in the inner cities they are normally from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds the only escapism is social media which includes music and videos. Grime is popular at present and can be seen as a moral fear such as rock an roll in the 60’s or Acid in the 80’s. I don’t think Grime glamorise’s crime but shows an alternative lifestyle where having ‘money’ can improve the life they have. The problem is when you have nothing no education, employment or training or support to get this big money crime maybe the only alternative."

 

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