I
n January – for the first time ever –
Skengdo & AM (pictured bottom of the
page), two rising UK drill rappers, were
handed a nine-month suspended jail term
for performing the song Attempted 1.0 at
their headline show at KOKO in November.
Across the music industry, It’s raised some
heated debate.
Should music be censored? Is this
censorship racially driven? Is drill music
like punk back in the day? Raw, angry,
dissatisfied. Could it be a force for positive
change? Where do we as a society draw
the line between songs that incite violence
and songs that document violence? And
importantly – who decides?
Out of the myriad talking points at play,
there are two key ideas to consider: first, the
concern that drill music is being censored
by the very system that has fundamentally
failed black British youths in urban areas.
Is the system trying to sweep these
realities under the proverbial British carpet?
Documentaries, photography, film
and music have always been powerful
agents for change. They allow a platform
for the disadvantaged to articulate their
experiences, sometimes uncomfortably
in the face of the system that created that
disadvantage.
The fact that drill – despite being
relatively subcultural – is being referenced
in mainstream press outlets nationwide,
goes to show music’s power to provoke
discussion and raise awareness.
The second key question in the debate is
much more important than censorship: why
are young, aspiring musicians rapping about
gang violence, knife crime and drug dealing?
Against a backdrop of 30% less spending
on youth clubs, unaffordable university
fees, and 35% of young black Londoners
being classed as underpaid, we start to see
a complex web of social issues contributing
to a feeling that the world is ‘neither made
by them or for them’ (Protein Youth Report,
2017).
This tough stance on censorship feels like
a misplaced Band-Aid on a wider wound.
I say ‘misplaced’ because it’s actually
preventing positive dialogue between
cultural leaders like Skengdo & AM, and the
MET, which is where the work needs to be
Drill censorship: a
misplaced Band-Aid
Theo Gentilli, founder of Warm
Street – a culture marketing
agency that helps brands achieve
cultural relevance (pictured below,
top) – says ignoring platforms
for the disadvantaged is counter-
productive
MARCH | OPINION
done.
Really, labels, press, brands and the
government need to work together to
provide support in places they are lacking. It
seems that there is a multi-pronged strategy
needed: better community initiatives to
tackle the problems at source, improved
discourse between the MET and the cultural
leaders who deserve the right to vocalise
their struggle, and sensitive and enriching
involvement from brands too.
This is a fertile space for brands with a
purpose to play a positive role in society.
Brands that have a permission to play in this
space, from those that kit the artists out in
their garms for their videos, to those that
give out black cards for their restaurants.
They could help build infrastructure
projects to improve community outreach,
invest into arts and culture locally to
empower a new wave of musicians, use
resource to help rappers document, but not
glorify their struggle.
Exhibitions, content, workshops,
empowerment days, these are all spaces for
the right brand to help shape the movement
into a positive force, and build powerful
‘Cultural Capital’.
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