{ "slug": "uk-drill", "name": "UK Drill", "aliases": [ "drill", "uk drill", "brooklyn drill" ], "description": "South London from 2015, taking Chicago drill's subject matter and rebuilding it on a sliding 808 and a skipping, off-grid hi-hat pattern that owes more to grime than to Atlanta. Heavily policed, and legally suppressed more than any music since.", "origin": { "place": "South London, England", "year": 2015 }, "lineage": [ { "genre": "trap", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/trap/", "inherited": "The instrument list and the tempo. Drill is a trap kit — tuned 808, rolled hats, sparse synth — with the bass line made to slide between notes, which is the single element that makes it identifiable in one bar." }, { "genre": "grime", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/grime/", "inherited": "The accent, the crews and the delivery. Drill MCs are working in a London tradition of pirate radio, clashes and video premieres that grime built, and the rhythmic placement of the bars is grime's rather than Atlanta's." } ], "bpm": { "min": 138, "max": 145 }, "updated": "2026-08-31", "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/uk-drill/", "trackCount": 7, "curatedBy": [], "playlists": {}, "tracks": [ { "rank": 1, "trackKey": "headie-one--next-up", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/headie-one--next-up/", "title": "Next Up?", "artist": "Headie One", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/headie-one/", "year": 2018, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "A freestyle series entry that became the genre's calling card. Headie's timing is behind the beat throughout, and the restraint is what separates him from the field.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Headie%20One%20Next%20Up%3F", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FTw_3O1Hw7g", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 2, "trackKey": "digga-d--mad-about-bars", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/digga-d--mad-about-bars/", "title": "Mad About Bars", "artist": "Digga D", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/digga-d/", "year": 2018, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Digga D has recorded under a court order requiring him to submit lyrics to the police before release, which is a fact about British music worth stating plainly.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Digga%20D%20Mad%20About%20Bars", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=WIPz5BMVcsw", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 3, "trackKey": "67--kennington-where-it-started", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/67--kennington-where-it-started/", "title": "Kennington Where It Started", "artist": "67", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/67/", "year": 2016, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Brixton and Kennington, and one of the first UK drill records to travel. The beat is closer to Chicago here than to what the sound became.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/67%20Kennington%20Where%20It%20Started", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NCfT8kPxDBQ", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 4, "trackKey": "russ-millions-and-tion-wayne--body", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/russ-millions-and-tion-wayne--body/", "title": "Body", "artist": "Russ Millions and Tion Wayne", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/russ-millions-and-tion-wayne/", "year": 2021, "label": "Relentless", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The first drill record to top the UK singles chart. Lighter than the scene's core, and it took the sound to an audience that had only read about it.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Russ%20Millions%20and%20Tion%20Wayne%20Body", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hS91BXWg5IM", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 5, "trackKey": "unknown-t--homerton-b", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/unknown-t--homerton-b/", "title": "Homerton B", "artist": "Unknown T", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/unknown-t/", "year": 2018, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "East London, and the melodic end. A hook rather than a threat, and it demonstrated the form could carry a tune without losing its weight.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Unknown%20T%20Homerton%20B", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9T3N_trY10", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 6, "trackKey": "skengdo-and-am--panic-room", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/skengdo-and-am--panic-room/", "title": "Panic Room", "artist": "Skengdo and AM", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/skengdo-and-am/", "year": 2018, "label": null, "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "The duo later received a suspended prison sentence for performing their own lyrics live. Whatever one concludes about the music, that is an extraordinary thing to record here.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Skengdo%20and%20AM%20Panic%20Room", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCtYivaWtM", "exact": true } } }, { "rank": 7, "trackKey": "dave-featuring-burna-boy--location", "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dave-featuring-burna-boy--location/", "title": "Location", "artist": "Dave featuring Burna Boy", "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dave-featuring-burna-boy/", "year": 2019, "label": "Neighbourhood", "isrc": null, "whyItMatters": "Not drill exactly, by an artist who came through it, and proof of where the sound's writers could go. Dave won the Mercury the same year.", "alsoOn": [], "links": { "spotify": { "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Dave%20featuring%20Burna%20Boy%20Location", "exact": false }, "youtubeMusic": { "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=JpGKWUdRnXE", "exact": true } } } ] }