Like violent films or video games, can people distinguish fact from fantasy, or do they let it influence their behaviour? Born in Chicago, a city whose working-class black population, like London’s, has arguably been left to fend for itself and descended into violence, drill was initially a cold, bombastic style of gangsta rap. The drill MCs mentioned in recent news reports have had little crossover success, but more high-profile names, played regularly on BBC radio and with millions of streams, also fill their tracks with violent lyrics. “Beef has always been part of rap music,” he says. In a new report, Birmingham-based academics Craig Pinkney and Shona Robinson-Edwards state that drill music is potentially dangerous, since its “music videos are a platform which can provide the gang and/or gang members with a sense of power and authority.

Source: The Guardian April 09, 2018 17:10 UTC