Guns, gangs and drugs.
While drill music highlights violence and crime, it is rapidly gaining nation-wide popularity, putting a spotlight on Chicago.
“It gives people insight into a life they may not have been exposed to,” explains junior Kweku Collins.
Drill music is a genre of rap that arose from the crime-riddled and corrupt neighborhoods of the South and West Sides of Chicago. Profile artists like Chief Keef and Lil Reese are just a few names that have transformed the genre.
Despite its popularity, drill music is controversial. Artists such as Chief Keef and Lil Reese are using music to convey their radical gang ideals, but the content of the music usually goes unnoticed.
Born Keith Cozart, Chief Keef, along with many other drill artists, grew up in Englewood, a neighborhood on the South Side. Englewood is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city, and the poverty rate is more than double the Chicago rate.
“The South and West Side are totally neglected,” expresses Alex Brown, history and economics teacher. “There is mass gentrification, which is breeding large numbers of violence,” he says.
For those who have never heard drill music first hand, it is somewhat intimidating. In his hit “3Hunna,” Chief Keef sings, “click clack, pow, now he running.” He also raps the line, “kill y’all then forget y’all.” Centered on guns, killings and drugs, the music would seemingly only appeal to a select audience, but it has reached a vast range.
The impact of the new era of drill music has been prevalent throughout ETHS.