Does drill music glamourise crime? Big Narstie questions why the conversation isn’t the same for rock and roll
From source of moral panic, to source material for a multi-million pound drama – while drill music has moved more into mainstream culture, rapper Big Narstie has hit out at how it has been demonised in the press.
The musician and presenter is the star of new series Jungle, which he says presents the controversial genre as art for the first time on the small screen.
In an interview with Sky News, he questioned why some sectors of the music industry seem to generate more negative headlines than others.
“If we was to say that rock and roll music is the cause of all the alcohol and cocaine abuse in the country, I doubt Mick Jagger would be very happy about that,” he said.
Pic: AP
Jungle’s arrival on the Prime Video streaming platform is seeing drill reach a brand new audience, many of whom will have only heard of the music genre in headline-grabbing newspaper pieces critical of how it can glamorise gang violence.
But there is no getting away from how firmly embedded it is now in modern music culture – a form of rap which clearly resonates globally with millions of young listeners around the world; Drill’s first UK number one last year – Body by Russ Millions x Tion Wayne – was a landmark moment.
So is Big Narstie right? Have darker forces been at play?
“It’s racism, I believe, and classism,” says Justin Finlayson, founder of United Borders, a charity which mentors young people using music.
“The factors surrounding drill – inner city, deprived estates – those factors are there regardless of the genre,” he told Sky News.
“So I do feel that sometimes this genre cops all the blame for serious issues, you know, that it shouldn’t be blamed for really when there are other things going on.”
Read more: Backstage with… Big Narstie on Jungle
Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts
The charity operates from a converted bus turned into a recording studio, designed to drive creative talent in a positive direction.
“Drill is a genre that has some elements of negativity attached to it. However, for us, it’s a great meeting point with young people. That’s where they’re most passionate, that’s how they express themselves, so we can actually know a lot more about the individual based on the art they pursue.”
But that doesn’t mean the genre isn’t problematic.
Pic: Jungle/Amazon Studios
Lady TT, a youth mentor and DJ, says: “I actually don’t think it’s unfairly pigeonholed.”
“You’ve got good and bad, but drill has had a bad reputation because they’ve allowed it to have a bad reputation with tracks that go online specifically targeting people, incidents happen and then they’re doing glory videos afterwards.
“So for people to say, ‘oh we’re so hard done by’ – you’re not hard done by, you have to take accountability for what it is you’re putting out there.
“If you are creating content that is targeting people to either have violence committed against them or glorifying violence or murders… I can’t like the track regardless of how well you execute it. I can’t like it for the lyrical content.”
While it remains lyrically controversial, the success of young British drill artists proves that theirs is a voice that clearly resonates on a global stage.
They’re getting through 70kg of rice a day and the wholesaler has run out of noodles. Yes, Sumo returns to London on Wednesday.
It’s just the second time a Grand Tournament has been held outside of Japan – and this is a sport that has records going back more than 1,500 years.
It’s 34 years since the Royal Albert Hall hosted the only previous such event on foreign soil – and the appetite for tickets meant all five days sold out immediately.
Much of the focus is on the two grand champions or yokozuna, the 74th and 75th men to attain the rank.
They’re the Mongolian Hoshoryu Tomokatsu, plus Japan’s Onosato Daiki – who this year became the quickest wrestler to achieve the rank in the modern era.
“I’m happy that Sumo is back after so many years,” Onosato said. “I hope I can show the UK fans how fantastic Sumo is.”
“Being a yokozuna has a lot of responsibility,” Hoshoryu told Sky Sports. “We have to show everyone an example of what a yokozuna is – and that’s very difficult.
“My uncle was a yokozuna – and I’m happy to follow in his footsteps. But I came here to London as a yokozuna which he didn’t, so I’m even happier.”
The two are already great rivals.
Onosato Daiki became the quickest ever to achieve yokozuna rank. Pic: AP
At the recent Aki Basho – the most prestigious tournament on the sumo calendar – the pair finished with identical records after 15 days of bouts.
It all came down to a final play-off between the two yokozuna – the first time that had happened in 16 years. It was Onosato who came out on top on that occasion.
Hoshoryu says he is a big fan of basketball and football. He follows Chelsea, although his favourite players are going back a bit: “Didier Drogba and Petr Cech. He’s the ‘keeper. I like this guy!”
Early starts and a hearty stew: The life of a rikishi
The wrestlers – or rikishi – have a rigorous training regime.
They live in communal blocks called stables and practice starts early. Perhaps surprisingly, everyone skips breakfast. After training and practice – and for the younger rikishi, chores – the wrestlers all eat together.
The staple of their diet is chankonabe, a hearty stew packed with meat and vegetables. The feeding of the 40 rikishi who have come over for the five-day tournament is a challenge in itself.
Donagh Collins, the CEO of co-organisers Askonas Holt, said: “We are going through 70 kilos of rice a day. Somebody told me that the wholesaler for the noodles has run out of noodles. We’re really pushing the system here.”
The ring – or dohyo – is just 4.55m in diameter and quite small when two giant wrestlers leap at each other.
The aim of the fights is to either get your opponent onto the floor – or, more spectacularly, shove or hurl them out of the dohyo, so spectators in the ringside seats may be getting extremely up-close to the wrestlers.
The last time the tournament was in Britain, the massive Konishiki, known as the Dump Truck, took centre stage.
The giant Hawaiian was the heaviest-ever rikishi coming in at 287kg – or 45 stone. That’s a lot of wrestler to dodge if he comes falling out of the ring towards you.
Read more from Sky News:
Wildlife award revealed – see stunning snaps
Premier League players to take the knee again
The Royal Albert Hall may be firstly a concert venue, but it has hosted the likes of John McEnroe, Lennox Lewis and even Muhammad Ali.
And for the next five days, the cream of the world of sumo will be thrilling the crowds – provided a new noodle supplier is found.
What is a yokozuna?
Yokozuna is the highest rank in sumo, with its name meaning “horizontal rope” and refers to the rope worn around a competitor’s waist as they enter the ring.
An emergency vote on Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has been called off following developments in the Middle East, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said.
Contest organisers had scheduled “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online” in early November after several countries said they would no longer take part in Eurovision if Israel participated.
The EBU said in a statement that following “recent developments in the Middle East” the executive board had agreed on Monday that there should be an in-person discussion among members “on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026”.
It said the matter had now been added to the agenda of its winter general assembly, which will take place in December.
Further details about the session would be shared with EBU members in the coming weeks, it added.
It is not clear if a vote will still take place at a later date.
Austria is hosting next year’s show in Vienna. The country’s national broadcaster, ORF, told Reuters news agency it welcomed the EBU’s decision.
Sky News has contacted Israeli broadcaster KAN for comment.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Will Eurovision boycott Israel?
Faced with controversy over the conflict in Gaza, Eurovision – which labels itself a non-political event – had said member countries would vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t take part.
Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland had all issued statements saying if Israel was allowed to enter, they’d consider boycotting the contest.
As one of the “Big Five” backers of Eurovision, Spain’s decision to leave the competition would have a significant financial impact on the event – which is the world’s largest live singing competition.
In September, a letter from EBU president Delphine Ernotte Cunci, said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before” the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.
Read more:
Why Eurovision vote on Israel might not stop boycott
Could Eurovision boycott lead to a competition crisis?
On Monday, Palestinian militant group Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza, and Israel released busloads of Palestinian detainees, under a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to the two-year war in the Middle East.
The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the enclave and killing more than 67,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants but it says around half of those killed were women and children.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports2 years agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment1 year agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024