The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Trap style · 2003–

Drill keeps trap’s 808 slide, hat rolls, and minor vamp and recodes them as Chicago street tape.

Influence

Drill

style · 2010–

Also called drill music, Chicago drill

Kind of Hip-hop · Includes Brooklyn drill, UK drill

2010s Chicago street rap: sliding 808s, sparse minor loops, and a deadpan or shouted neighborhood voice (Chief Keef, Lil Durk). It hears Trap for the 808-and-hat grid. UK drill is the named London child. Brooklyn drill is the named New York child. Later copies stay on those nodes or this one. Empty extra Received/Given is historically checked.

Listen

  1. I Don't Like Chief Keef (2012) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  2. Love Sosa Chief Keef (2012) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  3. Dis Ain't What U Want Lil Durk (2013) YouTube · Spotify
  4. Faneto Chief Keef (2014) YouTube · Spotify
  5. Gummo 6ix9ine (2017) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon

Passed on

Brooklyn drill style · 2018–

Brooklyn drill keeps Chicago drill’s street-rap job — neighborhood voice, short chant tracks, YouTube tapes — and hangs it on a UK 808.

Influence
UK drill style · 2012–

UK drill keeps Chicago drill’s sliding 808 and sparse minor vamp and changes the voice and the grid.

Influence

Trap → Drill

meter and groovetimbre and productionform and structurestrength: highwell documented2010–2014recordingoral

Mechanism

Drill keeps trap’s 808 slide, hat rolls, and minor vamp and recodes them as Chicago street tape. Strength high. Hip-hop is the umbrella; this hop is the beat parent.

Evidence

Keef/Durk early-2010s sides against late-2000s Atlanta trap; Grove on that grid.

Debate

Whether drill is only a regional trap. The Chicago voice and the colder mix make a named school.

Mediators

artist: Chief Keef

Drill → Brooklyn drill

form and structurefunction and contextmelodystrength: mediumscholarly consensus2018–2020recordingoral

Mechanism

Brooklyn drill keeps Chicago drill’s street-rap job — neighborhood voice, short chant tracks, YouTube tapes — and hangs it on a UK 808. Strength medium. uk drill brooklyn drill is the beat hop; this edge is the Chicago-named job. Brooklyn leftover as a copy is now this node.

Evidence

Pop Smoke and Brooklyn tapes billed as drill against Chief Keef’s Chicago job; Starr on regional drill copies.

Debate

Whether New York only heard London. The beat is UK; the named street-rap job and the word drill are Chicago’s.

Mediators

artist: Pop Smoke

Drill → UK drill

meter and groovetimbre and productionform and structurestrength: highwell documented2012–2016recordingoral

Mechanism

UK drill keeps Chicago drill’s sliding 808 and sparse minor vamp and changes the voice and the grid. Strength high. Grime supplies the cadence (grime uk drill).

Evidence

Brixton mid-2010s tapes against Keef-era Chicago; Grove on later drill dialects.

Debate

Whether this is only a copy. The London cadence and the later tempo make a named school.

Mediators

community: Brixton drill crews