Rap Video Weaponised
Does drill rap encourage gang violence?
Last year nearly 20,000 Americans were shot; in cities including Chicago, murder rates are at an all-time high. In the search for answers, some Americans are blaming drill music - a rap genre featuring music videos with gang members provoking their rivals with brags about murders they have committed.
In one video, gang members urinate on a rival's grave. Seven year old Jaslyn Adams, the child of a rapper in the video, was killed in a retaliatory shoot-out targeting the rapper himself. '30 minutes after we got to the hospital they told us she had passed. She had gotten shot several times', explains Jaslyn's grandmother. Despite the violent lyrics, drill rap is popular, and a source of income for some. 'You’ll get a monthly check [from YouTube] ... This one got almost 60,000 views on YouTube', explains drill music video producer Dillon. But simply blaming the music videos ignores the other factors contributing to gun violence, argue some. 'Where you are there are no jobs. Where you are the per capita incomes are extremely low, right. Where you are the school system is broken', explains Richard Wallace, founder of Equity and Transformation Chicago.
FULL SYNOPSIS