drill

In music and pop culture, drill is a style of hip-hop known for grim, violent lyrics and gritty, intense beats. Drawing on Southern rap, drill originated in Chicago in the 2010s and influenced, among others, a UK style of hip-hop known as UK drill.

What are some other words related to drill?

grime
mumble rap
trap music

Drill is a type of trap music—a popular and influential Southern hip-hop genre characterized by dark, raw electronic beats and aggressive, provocative lyrics involving drugs and crime—that originated in Chicago, Illinois, in the 2010s.

Some key early rappers of the drill scene are Pacman, King Louie, and Chief Keef. Big artists from other hip-hop genres, including Kanye West and Drake, helped popularize drill, notably when Kanye West remixed Chief Keef’s 2012 “I Don’t Like” in 2013.

Like the tool and action the word originally defines, drill is intended to evoke violent and sexual aspects of a hard-hitting lifestyle or circumstances.

While some may find the application of the word drill to hip-hop alarming or challenging, drill has been used as sexual slang since the early 1600s and as slang for shooting someone since the late 1700s. Drill metaphors also have yielded such expressions as drilling someone (yelling at them), drilling information into something (so they learn it), or military drill.

Around 2012, Chicago drill music began influencing what’s called UK drill, originating in the South London neighborhood of Britxon. It also draws from such UK-based genres as grime, garage, and road rap. Like Chicago drill, UK drill deals with experiences of poverty, public housing, drug-dealing, and street violence.

The graphic, almost nihilistic content of drill music has drawn condemnation, with some critics concerned that the music glorified, and therefore, encouraged violence. In summer 2018, London’s Metropolitan Police, for instance, took down a number of YouTube drill music videos over concerns about a spike in knife-related crimes.

Many drill artists and fans, however, think the music exposes the harsh realities of Black poverty—its stylistic characteristics are a form of social critique and commentary.

Drill can refer to the genre itself—also called drill music, drill rap, or drill hip-hop.

No hip-hop scene has been as impactful as drill

Here are 11 songs that tell its story https://t.co/d6HJ02gcsX

— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) October 15, 2019

Drill is often used attributively, too, as in drill artist or drill scene.

For @DJmag, I enjoyed writing about @YukkiVisuals, @ProdByWalkz, @rashidkasirye of @linkuptv + Kingsley Okyere of @MixtapeMadness, who are some of the most exciting creatives taking the UK drill scene to newer heights.https://t.co/YKNZv6ewqr

— ethan (@ethanherlock) April 29, 2020

In addition to Chicago drill and UK drill, there is a noted drill scene in New York City, commonly referred to as New York drill or Brooklyn (BK) drill.

Drake using his U.K. accent on a BK drill beat. pic.twitter.com/x6wzyJ94is

— Chris Prothro (@chrisprothro) May 1, 2020

More examples of drill:

“In recent years, the highly aggressive lyrics in drill music have been the cause of great debate over whether or not they’re influencing the violence plaguing Chicago.”
—Tony Delerme, HuffPost, December 2014

“The similarities between life in Chicago and Brooklyn inspired Sheff to channel the spirit and passion of drill into his own music … Sheff made clear that his take on drill was a showcase for lyricism, and for Brooklyn’s trademark unbothered attitude.”
—Pitchfork, Alphonse Pierre, May 2019