Developed and completed in DePaul University's graduate sociology program, the original research paper was the impetus for the larger Chi DNA project. It draws its findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with drill rappers, other folks in the independent rap scene, and social justice organizers and activists in Chicago. Read the abbreviated sections or the full paper below.
Chicago DNA: Resistance, Meaning, and Perspectives in Drill Rap and the Activist Resurgence
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Abstract |
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Drill rap is a Chicago-based, originally underground, subgenre of gangsta rap. The gritty and aggressive subgenre deals with violence and bravado, and urban street life. The "activist resurgence" references the current movement of grassroots activism primarily led by young black, brown, and/or politically left individuals organizing primarily around race, policing, poverty, economic equality, criminal justice, and LGBTQ rights. This study seeks to understand the creation, meaning, perspectives, and potential connections between drill rap music and the activist resurgence in Chicago over the past five years. It focuses on contemporary Chicago as an intentional place for the resurgence of these two formations of cultural and political resistance during relatively the same time period. The qualitative research—semi-structured in-depth interviews with drill rappers, underground music professionals, and activists—examines how authenticity, community, and other values the subjects deem important are impacted and promoted via technology and social media. Though differences exist between the groups, the participants present a strong sense of identity in authentic, grassroots narratives, which they propel to the mainstream via uncompromised self-production of commodified stigma, inequality, and cultural pride. Hage’s (1998) inclusion/exclusion dialectic serves as a relational framework for the formations’ function as resistance with respect to time, place, and meaning. This situates drill rap and the activist resurgence in a social, cultural, and economic matrix that pushes the creators to barter authentic social capital (Bourdieu 1986) often by way of social media and mobile technology in the advanced attention economy (Tufekci 2013).
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Introduction |
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This study seeks to understand the creation, meaning, perspectives, and potential connections between Chicago drill rap music and the resurgence of grassroots activism for social justice over the past five years. It focuses on contemporary Chicago as an intentional place for the resurgence of these two formations of cultural and political resistance during relatively the same time period. The research examines how authenticity, community, and other values the subjects deem important are impacted and promoted via technology and social media. Furthermore, it situates the findings into a broader theoretical and empirical history of systemic inequality and resistance in Chicago.
This research investigates how and why these two separate formations have come to the forefront of media attention and discussion in the past five years (Berlatsky 2014; Charity 2014; Clifton 2016; Coates 2015; Daly 2014; Lulay 2016; McClelland 2013; Moore 2016; Stuart 2016). “Gangsta rap” music and grassroots activism for social justice existed long before 2012, yet the current movements in Chicago are worth exploration. The two are similar in their strategies of promotion, critique of inequality, and ways in which they challenge the status quo and traditional mechanisms of their respective predecessors. These youth-led movements have impacted political legislation and economic models in entertainment as well as the broader mass consciousness that informs them in terms of communication framing (Goffman 1974) and power relations in discourse (Foucault 1984) and cultural taste (Bourdieu 1986).
Chicago’s “brand” of gangsta rap (in drill) and organizing (in the activist resurgence) reflects its unique history and city pride amongst its residents. “Drill rap” is a Chicago-based, originally underground, offshoot of gangsta rap while the activist resurgence will be defined as the current movement of grassroots activism for social justice primarily led by young black, brown, and/or politically left individuals. This resurgence organizes around issues such as race, policing, poverty, economic equality, labor rights, LGBTQ rights, and the criminal justice system.
The purpose of this study is to better understand the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that differentiate drill rap from previous waves of gangsta rap and the activist resurgence from previous social movements. The research is significant in its implications on how newer direct and nuanced forms of resistance to social inequality operate in a more digital world with a decentralized information economy and a greater demand for public attention. The studied formations need be dissected and understood if their strategies and merits are to be better sustained for a more just future. Analysis of these outcomes reflect the current changing socio-cultural landscape in terms of policy, social integration, and critical understanding of popular forms of entertainment produced by marginalized agents.
Chicago is an important site for these formations because of its rich history of music, gangs, and political organizing (both activist-led and electoral/state-led). The city has been in the national spotlight for street violence since 2012 when it was deemed the nation’s “murder capital” based on FBI data[1] (Sherwell 2013; Staff 2013; Wilson 2013). Drill rose to prominence around the same time. Since then, drill rappers have received major record deals to Def Jam, Interscope, and Epic. Many, like Lil’ Durk and Chief Keef, are from some of the same poor, blighted, disinvested black community areas of concentrated violence (McClelland 2013).
Many activist groups and campaigns in the city organize for a restructuring[2] of the criminal justice system and an end to police brutality among a myriad of other issues. Multi-issue, cross-organizational campaigns like Black (Trans) Lives Matter, #SayHerName, #DecarcerateCHI, and #ByeAnita[3] challenge policies and city officials that produce disproportionately negative effects on poor black and brown communities and said individuals at large (Clifton 2016; Lulay 2016; Moore 2016). Along with the national reporting on guns and violence in Chicago, the city has received attention for the 2015 mayoral run-off election, multiple police shootings, and controversial Cook County Justice Department practices (Cherone 2017; Hague 2016; Moore 2016).
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ramped up the neoliberal philosophy set forth by the previous decades of ironclad Daley Jr. mayoral rule[4]. Since his 2011 inauguration, Chicago has entered a new era of fiscal austerity, union antagonism, social service cuts, education reductions, corporate favoritism, punitive measures in criminal justice, and privatization, particularly amidst the Illinois budget crisis[5](Hague 2016; Lowery 2016; Moore 2016; Simpson et al. 2016). The most recent transition of power from one Chicago mayor to the next signaled the salient embrace of neoliberalism and its vision on the city. The interconnected ramifications of these policies for everyday Chicagoans on the ground-level are at the crux of understanding the climate in which modern activists and drill rappers operate. Grassroots formations in music and activism have forcefully transitioned themselves from localized products of environment to national and international disruptions to the socio-political status quo.
This project examines the meaning, importance, and mechanisms in which these formations function by those who orchestrate them using qualitative methods. This approach gives insight into how their work interrupts and/or reflects previous trends and challenges dominant cultural and political hierarchal structures. The unique and direct perspectives from drill rappers and activists themselves are essential to understanding the cyclical nature of the connections between art, culture, and resistance. This study is particularly interested in the following: the meaning of these movements to the change makers themselves; why and how these formations have come about in Chicago over the past five years; how the historical factors reflect the unique yet similar trajectories of the resulting movements; what similarities can be gathered between the two formations; and what relationship the two have with each other, if any.
This research investigates how and why these two separate formations have come to the forefront of media attention and discussion in the past five years (Berlatsky 2014; Charity 2014; Clifton 2016; Coates 2015; Daly 2014; Lulay 2016; McClelland 2013; Moore 2016; Stuart 2016). “Gangsta rap” music and grassroots activism for social justice existed long before 2012, yet the current movements in Chicago are worth exploration. The two are similar in their strategies of promotion, critique of inequality, and ways in which they challenge the status quo and traditional mechanisms of their respective predecessors. These youth-led movements have impacted political legislation and economic models in entertainment as well as the broader mass consciousness that informs them in terms of communication framing (Goffman 1974) and power relations in discourse (Foucault 1984) and cultural taste (Bourdieu 1986).
Chicago’s “brand” of gangsta rap (in drill) and organizing (in the activist resurgence) reflects its unique history and city pride amongst its residents. “Drill rap” is a Chicago-based, originally underground, offshoot of gangsta rap while the activist resurgence will be defined as the current movement of grassroots activism for social justice primarily led by young black, brown, and/or politically left individuals. This resurgence organizes around issues such as race, policing, poverty, economic equality, labor rights, LGBTQ rights, and the criminal justice system.
The purpose of this study is to better understand the social, cultural, political, and economic factors that differentiate drill rap from previous waves of gangsta rap and the activist resurgence from previous social movements. The research is significant in its implications on how newer direct and nuanced forms of resistance to social inequality operate in a more digital world with a decentralized information economy and a greater demand for public attention. The studied formations need be dissected and understood if their strategies and merits are to be better sustained for a more just future. Analysis of these outcomes reflect the current changing socio-cultural landscape in terms of policy, social integration, and critical understanding of popular forms of entertainment produced by marginalized agents.
Chicago is an important site for these formations because of its rich history of music, gangs, and political organizing (both activist-led and electoral/state-led). The city has been in the national spotlight for street violence since 2012 when it was deemed the nation’s “murder capital” based on FBI data[1] (Sherwell 2013; Staff 2013; Wilson 2013). Drill rose to prominence around the same time. Since then, drill rappers have received major record deals to Def Jam, Interscope, and Epic. Many, like Lil’ Durk and Chief Keef, are from some of the same poor, blighted, disinvested black community areas of concentrated violence (McClelland 2013).
Many activist groups and campaigns in the city organize for a restructuring[2] of the criminal justice system and an end to police brutality among a myriad of other issues. Multi-issue, cross-organizational campaigns like Black (Trans) Lives Matter, #SayHerName, #DecarcerateCHI, and #ByeAnita[3] challenge policies and city officials that produce disproportionately negative effects on poor black and brown communities and said individuals at large (Clifton 2016; Lulay 2016; Moore 2016). Along with the national reporting on guns and violence in Chicago, the city has received attention for the 2015 mayoral run-off election, multiple police shootings, and controversial Cook County Justice Department practices (Cherone 2017; Hague 2016; Moore 2016).
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has ramped up the neoliberal philosophy set forth by the previous decades of ironclad Daley Jr. mayoral rule[4]. Since his 2011 inauguration, Chicago has entered a new era of fiscal austerity, union antagonism, social service cuts, education reductions, corporate favoritism, punitive measures in criminal justice, and privatization, particularly amidst the Illinois budget crisis[5](Hague 2016; Lowery 2016; Moore 2016; Simpson et al. 2016). The most recent transition of power from one Chicago mayor to the next signaled the salient embrace of neoliberalism and its vision on the city. The interconnected ramifications of these policies for everyday Chicagoans on the ground-level are at the crux of understanding the climate in which modern activists and drill rappers operate. Grassroots formations in music and activism have forcefully transitioned themselves from localized products of environment to national and international disruptions to the socio-political status quo.
This project examines the meaning, importance, and mechanisms in which these formations function by those who orchestrate them using qualitative methods. This approach gives insight into how their work interrupts and/or reflects previous trends and challenges dominant cultural and political hierarchal structures. The unique and direct perspectives from drill rappers and activists themselves are essential to understanding the cyclical nature of the connections between art, culture, and resistance. This study is particularly interested in the following: the meaning of these movements to the change makers themselves; why and how these formations have come about in Chicago over the past five years; how the historical factors reflect the unique yet similar trajectories of the resulting movements; what similarities can be gathered between the two formations; and what relationship the two have with each other, if any.
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[1] However, despite the 500+ homicides in 2012, this notion of the “murder capital” is largely based on perception and sensationalism. Chicago’s raw number of murders and the murder rate (murders per 100,000 residents) are often conflated as the same when they are not. The raw murder numbers in Chicago are compared to New York, Los Angeles, and other U.S. cities without weighing for total population or more stark racial and class segregation (Galik 2013; Moore 2016; Staff 2013)
[2] Restructuring the criminal justice system’s functioning and funding is often seen as a first step to eventual abolishment of the system as a whole (Interview Data).
[3] #ByeAnita was a successful cross-organizational campaign to vote out the former Cook County State’s Attorney in March 2016 (Lulay 2016).
[4] Richard M. Daley Jr. was Chicago’s longest serving mayor from 1989 to 2011 (even more than his father Richard J. Daley Sr.,1955 to 1976). Both Daley’s operated the Democratic machine which consolidated political power throughout the city in order to push their agendas. Daley Jr. extended his power by placing himself in charge of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) after the demolition of public housing units in the 1990s among other practices. He served as a champion for privatization, even after his tenure (Hague 2016; Merriner 2008; Moore 2016; Rakove 1976; Royko 1988).
[5] On July 1, 2017, the state of Illinois entered its third year without a budget due to gridlock in the capitol of Springfield (Schulte 2017).
, if any.
[2] Restructuring the criminal justice system’s functioning and funding is often seen as a first step to eventual abolishment of the system as a whole (Interview Data).
[3] #ByeAnita was a successful cross-organizational campaign to vote out the former Cook County State’s Attorney in March 2016 (Lulay 2016).
[4] Richard M. Daley Jr. was Chicago’s longest serving mayor from 1989 to 2011 (even more than his father Richard J. Daley Sr.,1955 to 1976). Both Daley’s operated the Democratic machine which consolidated political power throughout the city in order to push their agendas. Daley Jr. extended his power by placing himself in charge of the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) after the demolition of public housing units in the 1990s among other practices. He served as a champion for privatization, even after his tenure (Hague 2016; Merriner 2008; Moore 2016; Rakove 1976; Royko 1988).
[5] On July 1, 2017, the state of Illinois entered its third year without a budget due to gridlock in the capitol of Springfield (Schulte 2017).
, if any.
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Background |
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Drill
Drill rap is a subgenre of gangsta rap that originated in Chicago around 2010. Its hard-hitting beats and musical stylings take from trap music, a Southern-style of rap that came about in the mid-2000s. The term “drill” as a type of music was coined by rapper Pac Man who was shot to death in 2010. King Louie[1] continued the sound as Chief Keef put drill on the mainstream stage in 2012 with songs like “I Don't Like” and “Love Sosa”. Other popular drill rappers include Lil’ Durk, Lil’ Bibby, G Herbo (formerly Lil’ Herb), and Katie Got Bandz (McClelland 2013; Spooner 2016; Stuart 2016).
The gritty and aggressive subgenre deals with violence and bravado, themes often associated with urban street life. The nuanced, hyperlocal music consists of language, lingo, and direct references to city geography and current gang landscape. This is primarily a collection of decentralized, block-by-block gang factions, remnants of the larger street organizations of previous decades. The emergence of drill and re-surfacing of the “violent gangsta rap” narrative is closely tied to these unequal socio-economic conditions of the neighborhoods where many gangs persist—especially on the South and West sides (Chicago Tonight 2016; McClelland 2013; Spooner 2016; Stuart 2016).
According to Chuck D (Public Enemy front-man) rap music is Black America’s CNN only with an alternative youth-controlled and youth-centered framework (Chang and Herc 2005; Leland 1988). Unlike the international reach of CNN or national listeners of Black America, drill operates in a hyperlocal context. This limits said control and framework to Chicago youth that report to and about a close knit, geo-specific matrix of neighborhoods and blocks only found in the city. The hyperlocality and social media utilization of drill takes this notion of youth-reporting authenticity several steps further (Spooner 2016; Stuart 2016). Drill exists as cultural resistance at the intersection of inequality, social formation, expression, and technology.
Drill rap is a subgenre of gangsta rap that originated in Chicago around 2010. Its hard-hitting beats and musical stylings take from trap music, a Southern-style of rap that came about in the mid-2000s. The term “drill” as a type of music was coined by rapper Pac Man who was shot to death in 2010. King Louie[1] continued the sound as Chief Keef put drill on the mainstream stage in 2012 with songs like “I Don't Like” and “Love Sosa”. Other popular drill rappers include Lil’ Durk, Lil’ Bibby, G Herbo (formerly Lil’ Herb), and Katie Got Bandz (McClelland 2013; Spooner 2016; Stuart 2016).
The gritty and aggressive subgenre deals with violence and bravado, themes often associated with urban street life. The nuanced, hyperlocal music consists of language, lingo, and direct references to city geography and current gang landscape. This is primarily a collection of decentralized, block-by-block gang factions, remnants of the larger street organizations of previous decades. The emergence of drill and re-surfacing of the “violent gangsta rap” narrative is closely tied to these unequal socio-economic conditions of the neighborhoods where many gangs persist—especially on the South and West sides (Chicago Tonight 2016; McClelland 2013; Spooner 2016; Stuart 2016).
According to Chuck D (Public Enemy front-man) rap music is Black America’s CNN only with an alternative youth-controlled and youth-centered framework (Chang and Herc 2005; Leland 1988). Unlike the international reach of CNN or national listeners of Black America, drill operates in a hyperlocal context. This limits said control and framework to Chicago youth that report to and about a close knit, geo-specific matrix of neighborhoods and blocks only found in the city. The hyperlocality and social media utilization of drill takes this notion of youth-reporting authenticity several steps further (Spooner 2016; Stuart 2016). Drill exists as cultural resistance at the intersection of inequality, social formation, expression, and technology.
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[1] King Louie and Pac Man both represented “Dro City”, a neighborhood within the East side community area Woodlawn. As this was the origin of “drill” rap, the sound quickly spread. The name “Dro” references a respected resident of the area who was murdered in 2007 (Drake 2012; King Louie 2011). Naming and re-naming neighborhoods, streets, and other areas after fallen loved ones is common in drill rap as well as the communities it represents.
Activist Resurgence
Since Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson killed Mike Brown in 2014, a movement in grassroots organizing has emerged, particularly amongst young, black, and politically left individuals. This new era of activism mobilizes around issues of race, police brutality, mass incarceration, and criminal justice. These issues were initially on the forefront of the national conversation with citizen-based and mass media coverage on the police killings of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Rekia Boyd, Laquan McDonald, and many others (Lowery 2016; Moore 2016). The intersectional approach in cultural and policy-based organizing has broadened this work to confront other issues including but not limited to poverty, homelessness, trans rights, as well as housing, and economic justice.
The activist resurgence is nation-wide, yet Chicago’s iteration is unique. This current wave of political resistance seeks to dismantle white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, neoliberalism, and other systems of oppression. Local Chicago and national grassroots organizations such as Black Lives Matter[1], BYP (Black Youth Project) 100, Assata’s Daughters, (formerly) We Charge Genocide, Fight for 15, Fair Economy Illinois work to ail these broader structures. Furthermore, the city holds a longstanding history of police brutality, corruption[2], and torture[3] amongst its black citizens (Berlatsky 2014; Cherone 2017; Moore 2016). This saga of mistreatment calls for a special brand of resistance by those directly and tangentially effected to match said atrocities.
Additionally, the Chicago activist resurgence targets local policies and operatives [4] upholding long-running “machine” politics, or autocratic control over enough votes to maintain control over a jurisdiction to advance their political agenda (Lowery 2016; Merriner 2008; Moore 2016; Rakove 1976; Royko 1988). The Chicago resurgence organizes against the backdrop of Mayor Emanuel’s controversial 2013 school closings, 2014 police killing of Laquan McDonald and the subsequent cover-up, numerous privatization deals with large corporations and disinvestment into various social services (See Hague 2016; Lowery 2016; Moore 2016).
In March 2016, the Chicago brand of activism hit a fever pitch when cross-issue activist groups shut down the then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign rally at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Pavilion. While the candidate’s prior events had been characterized by activists’ interruptions, Chicago marked the first time he cancelled the event due to local outcry (Davey and Bosman 2016)
Since Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson killed Mike Brown in 2014, a movement in grassroots organizing has emerged, particularly amongst young, black, and politically left individuals. This new era of activism mobilizes around issues of race, police brutality, mass incarceration, and criminal justice. These issues were initially on the forefront of the national conversation with citizen-based and mass media coverage on the police killings of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Rekia Boyd, Laquan McDonald, and many others (Lowery 2016; Moore 2016). The intersectional approach in cultural and policy-based organizing has broadened this work to confront other issues including but not limited to poverty, homelessness, trans rights, as well as housing, and economic justice.
The activist resurgence is nation-wide, yet Chicago’s iteration is unique. This current wave of political resistance seeks to dismantle white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, neoliberalism, and other systems of oppression. Local Chicago and national grassroots organizations such as Black Lives Matter[1], BYP (Black Youth Project) 100, Assata’s Daughters, (formerly) We Charge Genocide, Fight for 15, Fair Economy Illinois work to ail these broader structures. Furthermore, the city holds a longstanding history of police brutality, corruption[2], and torture[3] amongst its black citizens (Berlatsky 2014; Cherone 2017; Moore 2016). This saga of mistreatment calls for a special brand of resistance by those directly and tangentially effected to match said atrocities.
Additionally, the Chicago activist resurgence targets local policies and operatives [4] upholding long-running “machine” politics, or autocratic control over enough votes to maintain control over a jurisdiction to advance their political agenda (Lowery 2016; Merriner 2008; Moore 2016; Rakove 1976; Royko 1988). The Chicago resurgence organizes against the backdrop of Mayor Emanuel’s controversial 2013 school closings, 2014 police killing of Laquan McDonald and the subsequent cover-up, numerous privatization deals with large corporations and disinvestment into various social services (See Hague 2016; Lowery 2016; Moore 2016).
In March 2016, the Chicago brand of activism hit a fever pitch when cross-issue activist groups shut down the then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign rally at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Pavilion. While the candidate’s prior events had been characterized by activists’ interruptions, Chicago marked the first time he cancelled the event due to local outcry (Davey and Bosman 2016)
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[1] The organization Black Lives Matter formed after the death of Trayvon Martin in 2013, yet the broader movement for black lives and other intersectional offshoots was exacerbated after the death of Mike Brown (Lowery 2016).
[2] CPD has been known to detain and drop off alleged gang members in dangerous or rival territory if detainees did not reveal the information CPD wanted. A known occurrence in black communities, this was revealed in the 13-month Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation after the Laquan McDonald shooting (Cherone 2017).
[3] Most notably, former Police Commander Jon Burge’s tortured over 100 black men by various inhumane means to illicit false confessions to charges in the 1970s and 80s. Then Cook County State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley did not investigate Burge despite widespread accusations and even made convictions on said confessions. In September 2014, the organization We Charge Genocide testified to the United Nations about Chicago Police Department torture and brutality. Some victims received financial reparations from the city (Berlatsky 2014; Hague 2016; Moore 2016).
[4] These operatives include Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy (Hague 2016; Lowery 2016; Moore 2016).
[2] CPD has been known to detain and drop off alleged gang members in dangerous or rival territory if detainees did not reveal the information CPD wanted. A known occurrence in black communities, this was revealed in the 13-month Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation after the Laquan McDonald shooting (Cherone 2017).
[3] Most notably, former Police Commander Jon Burge’s tortured over 100 black men by various inhumane means to illicit false confessions to charges in the 1970s and 80s. Then Cook County State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley did not investigate Burge despite widespread accusations and even made convictions on said confessions. In September 2014, the organization We Charge Genocide testified to the United Nations about Chicago Police Department torture and brutality. Some victims received financial reparations from the city (Berlatsky 2014; Hague 2016; Moore 2016).
[4] These operatives include Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, and former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy (Hague 2016; Lowery 2016; Moore 2016).
Chicago Gangs, Black Activism, and the State: A Brief History
Social, political, and economic factors have greatly and adversely impacted Chicago’s urban areas of color that inform the cultural and political forms studied—drill rap and the activist resurgence. From the beginnings of neoliberalism in the 1960s until today, institutionalized racist policies have negatively impacted black and brown communities as well as the multi-racial working poor (Hague 2016; Harvey 2007, 2010; Rolnik 2013). Housing practices like redlining and blockbusting sequestered people of color to communities of little to no resources. Segregation and disinvestment was instilled further with housing projects such as the Robert Taylor Homes and Cabrini-Green that concentrated black poverty (Denton 2013; Massey 1990; Moore 2016; Rolnik 2013; Sampson 2013).
Gangs, or “street organizations”, resulted as bi-products of said disinvested places with little social, political, or economic capital. The Black Disciples, Gangster Disciples, Latin Disciples, and Black P Stones are examples of large, highly organized, “corporate-structured” gangs that operated during this time. Unlike the stratified gang landscape today, these gangs functioned as large entities with rigid hierarchal structures of people and resources with strict, understood operational guidelines, comparable to a corporate tiered business (Moore and Williams 2012; Stuart 2016). Meanwhile, civil rights and black power groups like the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense were founded (Moore 2016; Neyfakh 2016).
In the 1980s, COINTELPRO, the FBI’s counter-intelligence program, derailed the progress and expansion of civil rights, black liberation, and street organizations. As COINTELPRO infiltrated radical black groups nation-wide, the intricate and now-controversial program worked with Chicago Police Department (CPD) to bring down leaders of both street and political organizations throughout the 1980s and previous decades. Most notably, in conjunction with CPD, the FBI killed Fred Hampton, Chicago Chairman of the Black Panther Party, and member Mark Clark on December 4, 1969 (Chicago Tonight 2016; Moore 2016; Neyfakh 2016).
The early 1990s brought the demolition of housing projects, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) trials[1], and gangsta rap (Austen 2012; Chang and Herc 2005; Moore 2016; Neyfakh 2016; Rolnik 2013). Unanimously ruled a colossal failure, housing projects across the country were demolished, scattering poor black folks across metropolitan areas with insufficient housing vouchers that were rarely honored. Legislation and federal cooperation with local police effectively dismantled the heads of the corporate gangs of previous decades through new RICO laws. Similar to the civil rights and black power movements, the lack of leadership and hierarchy left disorganization amongst the ranks.
From 1989 to the early 1990s, NWA (Niggaz With Attitude) brought an overtly new tonal spin to the rap genre. The unapologetic newly branded “gangsta rap” served as a cultural reflection of the turf wars over crack cocaine and the militarized police during the turbulent Reagan years. The protest song “Fuck the Police” and “Gangsta Gangsta” crystalized their sound and message (Chang and Herc 2005; Harkness 2013; Stuart 2016).
The 2008 financial crisis furthered previous decades’ disenfranchisement of people of color and the global poor. The housing and economic inequality felt by low-income black and brown people for centuries now expanded to affect virtually everyone. The largest economic crisis since the great depression awakened the masses to systemic inequality and illegal activity in the global financial market. In Chicago, the resulting housing foreclosure crisis removed many of the few remaining homeowners and little wealth from the predominantly black and brown communities of the South and West sides. This continued the pattern of decentralizing or dismantling black wealth and class-mobility in already struggling communities (Austen 2012, 2013; Hague 2016; Moore 2016; Rolnik 2013).
The Occupy Wall Street movement that followed spurred from the anger and resentment of a system that failed anyone but the “one percent”[2]. Similar to the 2011 Arab Spring in the Middle East, the broader Occupy movement was a reaction to an inherently oppressive economic system. These movements of the early 2010s were the first of their scale to utilize social media to report happenings in the streets faster and more accurate than mainstream and local news agencies (Kreiss and Tufekci 2013; Lowery 2016; McCosker 2015; Tufekci 2008, 2013).
This nearly 60-year history is necessary in understanding to what these cultural and political forms of grassroots resistance are responding. Now 2017, the everyday low-income black Chicagoan faces fewer school options for their children, more expensive privatized services, housing discrimination, and an unaccountable militarized police (Hague 2016; Moore 2016). Every decade presents and responds to similar problems in similar ways that affect similar marginalized populations. Drill rap and the activist resurgence are the cultural and political responses to this history.
Social, political, and economic factors have greatly and adversely impacted Chicago’s urban areas of color that inform the cultural and political forms studied—drill rap and the activist resurgence. From the beginnings of neoliberalism in the 1960s until today, institutionalized racist policies have negatively impacted black and brown communities as well as the multi-racial working poor (Hague 2016; Harvey 2007, 2010; Rolnik 2013). Housing practices like redlining and blockbusting sequestered people of color to communities of little to no resources. Segregation and disinvestment was instilled further with housing projects such as the Robert Taylor Homes and Cabrini-Green that concentrated black poverty (Denton 2013; Massey 1990; Moore 2016; Rolnik 2013; Sampson 2013).
Gangs, or “street organizations”, resulted as bi-products of said disinvested places with little social, political, or economic capital. The Black Disciples, Gangster Disciples, Latin Disciples, and Black P Stones are examples of large, highly organized, “corporate-structured” gangs that operated during this time. Unlike the stratified gang landscape today, these gangs functioned as large entities with rigid hierarchal structures of people and resources with strict, understood operational guidelines, comparable to a corporate tiered business (Moore and Williams 2012; Stuart 2016). Meanwhile, civil rights and black power groups like the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense were founded (Moore 2016; Neyfakh 2016).
In the 1980s, COINTELPRO, the FBI’s counter-intelligence program, derailed the progress and expansion of civil rights, black liberation, and street organizations. As COINTELPRO infiltrated radical black groups nation-wide, the intricate and now-controversial program worked with Chicago Police Department (CPD) to bring down leaders of both street and political organizations throughout the 1980s and previous decades. Most notably, in conjunction with CPD, the FBI killed Fred Hampton, Chicago Chairman of the Black Panther Party, and member Mark Clark on December 4, 1969 (Chicago Tonight 2016; Moore 2016; Neyfakh 2016).
The early 1990s brought the demolition of housing projects, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) trials[1], and gangsta rap (Austen 2012; Chang and Herc 2005; Moore 2016; Neyfakh 2016; Rolnik 2013). Unanimously ruled a colossal failure, housing projects across the country were demolished, scattering poor black folks across metropolitan areas with insufficient housing vouchers that were rarely honored. Legislation and federal cooperation with local police effectively dismantled the heads of the corporate gangs of previous decades through new RICO laws. Similar to the civil rights and black power movements, the lack of leadership and hierarchy left disorganization amongst the ranks.
From 1989 to the early 1990s, NWA (Niggaz With Attitude) brought an overtly new tonal spin to the rap genre. The unapologetic newly branded “gangsta rap” served as a cultural reflection of the turf wars over crack cocaine and the militarized police during the turbulent Reagan years. The protest song “Fuck the Police” and “Gangsta Gangsta” crystalized their sound and message (Chang and Herc 2005; Harkness 2013; Stuart 2016).
The 2008 financial crisis furthered previous decades’ disenfranchisement of people of color and the global poor. The housing and economic inequality felt by low-income black and brown people for centuries now expanded to affect virtually everyone. The largest economic crisis since the great depression awakened the masses to systemic inequality and illegal activity in the global financial market. In Chicago, the resulting housing foreclosure crisis removed many of the few remaining homeowners and little wealth from the predominantly black and brown communities of the South and West sides. This continued the pattern of decentralizing or dismantling black wealth and class-mobility in already struggling communities (Austen 2012, 2013; Hague 2016; Moore 2016; Rolnik 2013).
The Occupy Wall Street movement that followed spurred from the anger and resentment of a system that failed anyone but the “one percent”[2]. Similar to the 2011 Arab Spring in the Middle East, the broader Occupy movement was a reaction to an inherently oppressive economic system. These movements of the early 2010s were the first of their scale to utilize social media to report happenings in the streets faster and more accurate than mainstream and local news agencies (Kreiss and Tufekci 2013; Lowery 2016; McCosker 2015; Tufekci 2008, 2013).
This nearly 60-year history is necessary in understanding to what these cultural and political forms of grassroots resistance are responding. Now 2017, the everyday low-income black Chicagoan faces fewer school options for their children, more expensive privatized services, housing discrimination, and an unaccountable militarized police (Hague 2016; Moore 2016). Every decade presents and responds to similar problems in similar ways that affect similar marginalized populations. Drill rap and the activist resurgence are the cultural and political responses to this history.
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[1] The new law allowed for dozens of criminal conspirators to be charged at the same time. This was frequently instituted when the state went after large criminal organizations and sought to convict high-ranking leaders of powerful gangs (Meisner, Sweeney, and Gorner 2013).
[2] Those who own 1% of the world’s wealth.
[2] Those who own 1% of the world’s wealth.
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Research Questions |
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- What meaning and perspectives are reflected on the formations of drill rap and the activist resurgence according to those who operate in these networks?
- How do drill rap and the activist resurgence function as forms of resistance in relation to Chicago-specific historical and current structural inequalities?
- Why and how has drill rap and the activist resurgence seen a surge in mainstream attention specifically in Chicago and over the past few years?
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Data |
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This study employed qualitative methods including filmed in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a short demographic survey. The survey aided to easily reference basic information, affiliations, and identification of the participants upon coding and analysis. This sample included drill rappers, creative/business professionals who work with them, non-drill[1] underground rappers, activists, and organizers living and working in Chicago, Illinois in 2017.
Sixteen individuals participated in 13 total interviews (two were group interviews of two and three people). Out of the total 16 participants, six were involved with drill rap (four rappers, one music video director/videographer, one writer/producer), seven were activists/organizers[2], and three were non-drill independent rappers (two of whom are also pastors who do youth-oriented social justice work). Out of the total 16 participants, there were four females, twelve males; fifteen black, one white; varied ages ranging from 20 to 36 years old; and varied levels of education from some high school to masters/professional degree. Participants lived across the city of Chicago, concentrated mainly in the South and West sides.
All of the interviews were conducted from early March to late April 2017. The interviews averaged 1 hour and 35 minutes with the shortest running 44 minutes and the longest running 2 hours and 54 minutes. The interviews were visually-recorded on a Canon 6D Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera and the audio was captured on a Zoom H5 digital recorder. As a benefit to the study, participants were offered copies of all or parts of their footage upon request. Since many participants were people in the entertainment and activist realm, the footage may have been useful as promotion for their music, background on their cause, or other professional or personal reasons. Anyone who wished to opt out of the visual recording of the interview was given the option to only be audibly recorded, yet no participant selected to opt out of the visual recording or the study altogether.
Sixteen individuals participated in 13 total interviews (two were group interviews of two and three people). Out of the total 16 participants, six were involved with drill rap (four rappers, one music video director/videographer, one writer/producer), seven were activists/organizers[2], and three were non-drill independent rappers (two of whom are also pastors who do youth-oriented social justice work). Out of the total 16 participants, there were four females, twelve males; fifteen black, one white; varied ages ranging from 20 to 36 years old; and varied levels of education from some high school to masters/professional degree. Participants lived across the city of Chicago, concentrated mainly in the South and West sides.
All of the interviews were conducted from early March to late April 2017. The interviews averaged 1 hour and 35 minutes with the shortest running 44 minutes and the longest running 2 hours and 54 minutes. The interviews were visually-recorded on a Canon 6D Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera and the audio was captured on a Zoom H5 digital recorder. As a benefit to the study, participants were offered copies of all or parts of their footage upon request. Since many participants were people in the entertainment and activist realm, the footage may have been useful as promotion for their music, background on their cause, or other professional or personal reasons. Anyone who wished to opt out of the visual recording of the interview was given the option to only be audibly recorded, yet no participant selected to opt out of the visual recording or the study altogether.
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[1] Originally, only rappers and music professionals in the drill microscene were sought out to be involved in the project. However, other underground/independent non-drill rappers agreed to participate in the project early on and provided relevant insight to the independent rap scene in Chicago.
[2] The terms “activist” and “organizer” are used interchangeably for the purposes of this study since individuals doing this work often serve as both. However, the roles (especially activist) are nuanced and can differ in regards to their function in campaigns, visibility, and actual employment/volunteer status with an organization or group. For example, one can be an outspoken activist for a cause or campaign while not officially organizing people or money through an established group whereas an organizer may engage more heavily in the latter and behind-the-scenes research and planning.
[2] The terms “activist” and “organizer” are used interchangeably for the purposes of this study since individuals doing this work often serve as both. However, the roles (especially activist) are nuanced and can differ in regards to their function in campaigns, visibility, and actual employment/volunteer status with an organization or group. For example, one can be an outspoken activist for a cause or campaign while not officially organizing people or money through an established group whereas an organizer may engage more heavily in the latter and behind-the-scenes research and planning.
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Methods (Abbreviated) |
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All semi-structured interviews were filmed in-person at various locations—DePaul University academic buildings, music recording studios, the interviewer’s home, and a grassroots organization’s office. The interviews were framed as conversations based on an interview guide of about 47 questions, which varied depending on the participant’s role (drill, activist, independent) and depth of answers. Every question and follow up was not asked but the interviews generally surrounded their personal experiences as activist and/or artists, perspectives on drill rap, the activist resurgence, their influence, and inequality in Chicago.
All of the subjects consented to be filmed, audibly recorded, and for the project to use their name (or common moniker). The use of visually recorded interviews offered more nuanced information in verbal answers and non-verbal body language, facial expressions, and physical interactions for group interviews. The coalescing of in-depth interviews with the visual nature of this project’s methods allowed for a more robust understanding of the information that the subjects expressed. The primary investigator took notes during interviews and elaborated on them post-interview.
After the interviews, subjects were sent a link to a 42-question online survey via a DePaul Qualtrics account. This survey asked for basic questions about the subject regarding their demographic (age, gender, race, etc.), where they lived and worked, gang affiliation (if any), and relationship with drill music (whether they are an artist, manager, listener, etc.) and/or activist circles (whether they are primarily an organizer, volunteer, founder of an organization, artist, etc.).
All of the subjects consented to be filmed, audibly recorded, and for the project to use their name (or common moniker). The use of visually recorded interviews offered more nuanced information in verbal answers and non-verbal body language, facial expressions, and physical interactions for group interviews. The coalescing of in-depth interviews with the visual nature of this project’s methods allowed for a more robust understanding of the information that the subjects expressed. The primary investigator took notes during interviews and elaborated on them post-interview.
After the interviews, subjects were sent a link to a 42-question online survey via a DePaul Qualtrics account. This survey asked for basic questions about the subject regarding their demographic (age, gender, race, etc.), where they lived and worked, gang affiliation (if any), and relationship with drill music (whether they are an artist, manager, listener, etc.) and/or activist circles (whether they are primarily an organizer, volunteer, founder of an organization, artist, etc.).
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Findings (Abbreviated) |
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This research sought to better understand the formations, histories, meanings, and perspectives in drill rap and activist resurgence to actors in both movements. The in-depth semi- structured interviews spanned multifarious topics. Much of this was worked into the hypothesis and interview script while other themes and relevant incidents were found after the research was completed and coded. For clarity in this and the following sections, when broadly referencing types of participants, anyone involved in the drill microscene--rappers, producers, videographers, etc.—will be referred to as “drillers”; anyone involved primarily in the activist and organizing networks will be referred to as “activists”; the 3 non-drill rappers will be referred to as “independents” when exclusively discussed but will only be mentioned when uniquely relevant.
Drillers, independents, and activists shared many responses and analyses in common, with some notable differences and other more nuanced complexities even within groupings. The major findings shared amongst the groups were:
Drillers, independents, and activists shared many responses and analyses in common, with some notable differences and other more nuanced complexities even within groupings. The major findings shared amongst the groups were:
- A strong sense of authenticity and genuineness in the engaged actors’ life and work.
- Expressing one’s own narrative is imperative and understanding their personal story
is the impetus of their work. - The low-income communities of color in which they live and/or organize need social
resources and institutional support. - Participants were harsh critics of police, sharing stories of their wrongdoings institutionally and personally, offering community safety alternatives.
- Discussion of a coded, invisible “they” which seems to refer to powerful political and/or cultural elites--politicians, institutions, mass media, internet on-lookers, and white people.
- The idea of a “Chicago mentality” as reason for the strong resiliency and unapologetic attitude in drill and activism specific to the city and no other place.
- The formations and broader saliency of their work has been greatly impacted by technology and social media, though this oversaturates both landscapes.
- The visual spectacle--rather in music videos or activist art--is another necessity to furthering their cause.
- The futures of the political and cultural movements are in the hands of the youth.
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Discussion & Conclusion (Abbreviated) |
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Differences exist between drill rap and the activist resurgence in regards to the type of formation, perceptions around certain topics, and content. However, the histories, meanings, overarching concepts, and strategies reveal a strong and unique association between the independent creators and influencers. The data generally supports the hypothesis that ties a unique Chicago history of inequality and politics with the cultural and political resistance formations in drill rap and the activist resurgence. However, the hypothesis did not predict such findings as intersectionality as partial reasoning for the resurgence and success of modern activism (Crenshaw 1989), generational differences in community building, Chicago and Atlanta rap industry comparisons, and some other nuanced in-group differences of opinion.
The two operate and proliferate their self-inscribed meaningful doctrines and principles through various avenues of organic social integration (Durkheim 1951), technology, and visual language. In line with political process theory, mass mobilization (Mansbridge and Morris 2001), internet banging (Patton and Eschmann 2013), and capital exchange (Bourdieu 1986), this activity serves to successfully navigate the attention economy and battle for mainstream and in- group clout.
In terms of the research inquiries, the interpretation of the subjects’ responses uncovers a complex theoretical yet practical understanding of the idiosyncratic pathways in which the studied formations navigate and propagate themselves in the digital age of access and mainstream dissent. Hage’s (1998) inclusion/exclusion dialectic presents a relational framework for the formations’ function as resistance with respect to time, place, and meaning. The opposing yet dependent dialectic situates drill rap and the activist resurgence in a social, cultural, and economic matrix that pushes the creators to barter authentic social capital (Bourdieu 1986) often by way of social media and mobile technology in the advanced attention economy (Tufekci 2013). The strong sense of identity in authentic, grassroots narrative is propelled to the mainstream via uncompromised self-production of commodified stigma, inequality, and cultural pride.
These forms of cultural and political resistance not only reject dominant hegemonic culture and a patriarchal white supremacist state but also the more traditional ways in which their predecessors operated (Hall 1981; Lowery 2016; Stuart 2016). Drill’s content may not be rhetorically “counter-hegemonic” in its violent and toxically masculine tendencies, however, the subgenre still exists within a culture of resistance. The ingroup culture, or microscene, is influenced by decades of dominant racial and class politics, which now transforms the dominant model into a successful pathway that simultaneously responds to unequal social conditions and the corporate music hierarchy (Martinez 1997).
Likewise, newer grassroots organizations refute the non-profit industrial complex and generally being beholden to monied interests. With such structural differences coupled with the unabashed prideful mantra of the movement, the revamped Chicago radical organizing wave contends that it is “not your grandfather’s movement” (Moore 2016). As the Obama era of black respectability politics and playing by the established order’s rules fades, the unapologetic, intersectional, and inclusive cultural and electoral stances on issues and policy are coming to the forefront unlike previous decades (Lowery 2016).
Both formations interrupt the previous top-down construction of the media event by demanding attention away from oligopolistic means of mass media production to a more bottom- up form of news and visual creation. This offers a faster, and arguably, more authentic reporting. For activists, the participatory media within citizen journalism legitimizes grassroots struggles in the voices of the oppositional consciousness to the dominant narrative (Lowery 2016; Mansbridge and Morris 2001; Tufekci 2008, 2013). First responders’ intentionality within the social media sphere, visual or not, deceminates information and calls upon larger audiences to turn from spectators to actors due to its immediate nature (Lowery 2016). However, this is not to suggest that corporate media no longer has a place. The previous monopoly of public attention must now be more reflexive with new media and the groundswell of activists and everyday people using the tools of the day (See Chappell 2014).
The subjects studied are changing policy, educating the youth, holding elected officials accountable, expanding mass consciousness, and challenging the way culture is produced and consumed. The results indicate that systemic inequality and structural violence is evident in all aspects of the social world, including popular culture. The current mainstream framing of drill and rap music in general needs to closely associate with the environments that it represents in order to understand how these systems effect the lives of everyday people. The conclusions reveal new and expanded ways to consume and dissect popular culture through meaningful strategies of critical analysis on the subtle yet consequential ways we interact with each other.
The significance of the study’s findings gives insight into how and why a youth-led and youth- centered movement can impact public policy and bring crucial issues to the forefront that have negatively impacted marginalized populations, and by extension, all populations, for centuries. Layered with the best and worst characteristics of the American city, Chicago must take drill rap and the activist resurgence seriously if it is to ever reach its full potential. After all, they are part of its DNA.
