IN-DEPTH: Feuds and Murders: Communities Look for Answers to London’s Drill Problem

Families of victims deny concerns about drill lyrics is 'moral panic'

An undated image of Salem Koudou—a drill rapper better known as 16Shotz, who was murdered in Brixton in August 2020—with his mother Marie-Julie Koudou in London. (Marie-Julie Koudou)

The mother of a drill rapper who was killed after he attacked a rival gang with an “enormous knife” has called on the mayor of London to host a summit on gang violence in the capital.

Marie-Julie Koudou, whose 20-year-old son Salem—better known as 16 Shotz—was killed in August 2020, said Sadiq Khan should also try to arrange a “ceasefire” to put a halt to the tit-for-tat murders.

The musical genre known as drill has its origins in Chicago’s South Side, where it was born around 2010.

Drill as a genre has become notorious for its violent lyrics and for videos on YouTube which often include gang members taunting rivals or bragging about stabbings or shootings.

Mocking the Dead in Notorious Drill Video

In one notorious video for a song by north west London drill artist Abzsav, a skeleton is mocked, and the lyrics contain clear references to the murder of a rival in October 2020.

In June 2019 Diane Abbott, who was at the time shadow home secretary, told an event in Parliament: “Much of that drill music and the videos are horrifying and appalling but at the end of the day the music is a reflection of the reality of those young people. It is not a cause of violent crime.”

But Ms. Koudou, 47, told The Epoch Times: “These MPs’ children are not on the street. They are in private schools. She can’t talk for us. They don’t represent us. They represent themselves.”

Several young men filming a drill video in Notting Hill, west London, on May 6, 2023. (Chris Summers/The Epoch Times)

Ms. Koudou said some drill songs and videos were “fuelling” the violence and she said: “More deaths are going to happen. The young people are just disconnected from humanity.”

She wants Mr. Khan to follow the example of New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, and hold a summit with drill artists to try to get them to tackle some of the most “toxic” lyrics and videos.

In February 2022 Mr. Adams said he was “alarmed” by the guns and violence being used in drill music videos being posted on social media and said: “This is contributing to the violence that we are seeing all over the country. It’s one of the rivers we have to dam.”

Mr. Adams later met a group of drill artists, including rapper Maino.

James Bascoe-Smith (R) listens as his aunt, Rachel Duncan, speaks to the media outside the Old Bailey, London, on Nov. 4, 2022. (PA)

Back in London, Rachel Duncan—who set up a campaign called Sit Up Stand Up 2 Knife Violence after her 16-year-old nephew James Bascoe-Smith was almost killed in 2021—believes drill music has worsened the postcode gang wars.

Teenager was ‘Collateral Damage’ in Drill Dispute

She said her nephew became “collateral damage” because a gang were retaliating for a drill music track by rivals who disrespected or “dissed” them.

James, who had no affiliations to any gangs, was stabbed with a large knife or machete and was so badly wounded that open-heart surgery had to be performed on him at the scene before he could be taken to hospital.

Last month two gang members and drill artists were convicted of murdering another young man with no gang affiliations, Sven Badzak, in Kilburn, north west London.

Undated images of Rashid Gedel (L) and Shiroh Ambersley (R), better known as drill rappers Broadayyay and Shodyest, who were jailed for life for the murder of Sven Badzak on Aug. 3, 2023. (Metropolitan Police)

Sven’s mother, Jasna Badzak, said there needed to be a “war on gangs” and she told The Epoch Times: “The police need to crack down on drill music. It just inspires hatred and killing. It glorifies violence.”

But music entrepreneur TK said it was wrong to target the genre per se and he pointed out there were many different types, including gospel drill.

Music Entrepreneur: ‘It’s not Glorification’

TK, who is co-founder of a London record label called Finesse Foreva which represents several drill artists, told The Epoch Times: “The subject matter is going to be based on how they are living. So it’s not glorification. If there wasn’t a problem on the streets of London, if there wasn’t an issue with gang activities, if there wasn’t an issue with economic disparity, then you wouldn’t have this music.”

He said London was plagued by gang violence long before drill came along but he admitted that some drill artists overstep the line when it comes to lyrics and videos.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, listens to Commander Alison Heydari of the Metropolitan Police during a visit to an estate in Edgware Road, Westminster, central London, to discuss Operation Nightingale, on April 14, 2023. (PA)

TK said: “I don’t think people should ever diss the dead. I think we need to respect people that have passed because that’s someone’s son or someone’s family member. But again we need to come back to the fact of how has society got this bad that people think that that is okay, or why is that a mindset that you can have that much hatred for someone to do that?”

Sheldon Thomas, a former gang member who now runs a not-for-profit called Gangsline, said the drill artists had to change their lyrics.

He said: “Change your lyrics and you can still make money. But you’ve got to change your lyrics. We can’t be as a community allowing a music that comes out literally telling a young person to sheff (stab) him up or go out and make yours. And we know that music is more powerful than a voice.”

Referring to the criticism of drill, Mr. Thomas said: “I don’t think it’s racist. I think what’s happened is, is that a majority (of drill artists) happen to be black, and the majority of them happened to be gang members or former gang members, who are very talented.”

Drill groups are often associated with gangs from specific geographical areas, or housing estates, and rivalry between them can be intense.

Ms. Koudou said: “It’s a battlefield for these young people. A serious war is going on. But I feel like the government and the politicians is doing nothing about it. If it was happening in Somalia somebody would do something but nobody is even talking about it. It’s too easy to kill.”

Bittersweet News of ‘Miracle’ Grandchild

Ms. Koudou revealed her son’s girlfriend discovered, after his death, she was pregnant with a little girl.

“It was like a miracle. God gave us a part of him before he called him back to him. She is two years old now,” she added.

Salem Koudou—better known as drill artist 16 Shot—was cornered and stabbed to death here, in Wynne Road, Brixton, south London, on Aug. 20, 2020. (Chris Summers/The Epoch Times)

Two men were jailed for life last month for the murder of Mr. Koudou.

Although the racial background of youths involved in gangs in London is diverse, the majority of victims in the last decade have been young black men.

Ms. Duncan said London’s black community needed to speak out more against gangs and not just accept the deaths of dozens of young black men every year, not to mention those who survived with serious injuries.

‘We Need to Stop This’

She said: “This is being normalised. We need to stop this. Our system is so fractured and broken. In an ideal world I'd love to get the gangs together and get them to talk.”

There have been dozens of murders involving drill artists since it arrived in London from Chicago a decade ago.

Rachel Duncan—whose nephew James Bascoe-Smith was stabbed and almost killed by a gang in Feb. 2021—in Brixton, south London, on June 20, 2023. (Chris Summers/The Epoch Times)

Michael Railton, an expert on drill music and its manipulation by gangs in London, said: “Shame, trauma, and disrespect wield immense power as motivators for violence. When explicit content is personalised with shaming and traumatic hyper-local references, the impact of the lyrics cuts deep.”

‘Each Verse Runs the Risk of Triggering Violent Retribution’

Mr. Railton, a former Metropolitan Police officer who is now director of ContexKey, an expert witness and training consultancy, said: “Each verse runs the risk of triggering violent retribution in an attempt to right perceived wrongs, with each act of revenge glorified and amplified in the next track. This vicious cycle leaves no ultimate winner.”

He said some of the most provocative drill artists, like Abzsav, were some of those most at risk.

“Succumbing to the demands of the audience might propel you into the limelight, but it may come at the possible detriment of your safety,” Mr. Railton told The Epoch Times.

Jeremiah Sewell (L), who was murdered by Godfrey Madondo (R)—a drill artist better known as Gully—in a park in Beckenham, south London on July 16, 2022. (Family handout/Metropolitan Police)

Ms. Duncan said: “People blame the music and the drugs but we also have to hold ourselves to account as a community because we have failed these youngsters.”

Mr. Thomas said politicians were also failing the black community.

Criticising Gangs ‘not a Vote Winner’ for MPs

He said criticising the police “goes down well with the public” in the black community because of high levels of perceived racism but focusing on gangs did not win any votes.

Mr. Thomas said: “Black people believe that Labour is a party for black people. It’s not. It never has been.”

“What has Labour done for the black community over the last 60 years in the same comparison to what the Conservatives done, which is almost nothing? Under Labour our lives were not improved. We didn’t get any more jobs. We were still the most unemployable people on planet Earth. We’re still demonised by police officers,” added Mr. Thomas.

He said there was no doubt Afro-Caribbean and African youths were over-represented in gangs in the UK but he said: “Apart from some travellers ... black men are the most unemployable people in the country and have been for the past 40 years.”

He pointed to a study by Professor John Pitts in 2007 which found a correlation between poor job prospects and the likelihood of joining a gang in one London borough.

Sasha Johnson (C) of the Black Lives Matter movement—who was later shot at a party in Peckham—attends a protest at Hyde Park in London on June 13, 2020. (Alberto Pezzali/AP Photo)

“So when you go to a black guy who’s just finished school, eight GCSEs, done well in school, can’t get a job because he’s black, drug dealer offers him £150 a day to sell drugs. He’s not going to say no. So it’s not a black issue per se. It’s an economic issue,” added Mr. Thomas.

Ms. Duncan said Black Lives Matters campaigners had been reticent to speak out about gang violence, even after activist Sasha Johnson was shot at a party in Peckham in May 2021.

She said: “It’s young black boys being killed and the perpetrators are mainly black. Black Lives Matters mean different things to different people but if black lives truly matters then we all need to come together for the wellness of our black community.”

Response From Mayor of London

In a statement sent to The Epoch Times by email, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Young people killed in senseless violence is utterly heart-breaking for their families and loved-ones, and the wider community.”

He added: “The mayor is committed to doing everything he can to tackle violence and building a safe city for all Londoners by being tough on violence and tough on its complex causes. That’s why he is working with the Met Police to ensure thousands of online videos and social media content which incites and promotes gang violence is taken down, as well as helping hundreds of young people away from criminal gangs through his London Gang Exit Programme.”

“The Mayor agrees that more must be done to make London safer for everyone and he is determined to support the police to go after the worst offenders. Through his Violence Reduction Unit, the first of its kind in England, the mayor is investing record amounts in early prevention and support programmes to address the complex causes of violence, and providing young Londoners with the positive opportunities they deserve this summer and beyond,” the statement concluded.

The Epoch Times contacted Labour MPs Florence Eshalomi, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Tulip Siddiq—whose constituencies cover Stockwell and Brixton respectively—and independent MP Diane Abbott but have not had a response.