In August 2017, a rapper known as M-Trap 0 was among three people who stabbed to death a 15-year-old boy in South London. All were later convicted, and M-Trap 0, also known as Junior Simpson, and the two others were subsequently sentenced to no less than 18 years in jail.
One curious aspect of the case was that Simpson performed a type of music known as U.K. drill rap, characterized by lyrics about violent and debauched criminal lifestyles. Before sentencing, the trial judge highlighted Simpson’s lyrics that described knife attacks and were written before the murder. The judge said he believed they showed Simpson was waiting for the right opportunity for such an attack. The link between drill rap and violence seemed clear.
In 2018, London’s police commissioner cited drill rap as a factor behind a rapid rise in knife crime in the capital and asked social media platforms to stop spreading it. In response, YouTube deleted more than 30 videos associated with drill rap, about half of those the police had asked for.
