Drill rap is somewhat a new form of gangster rap, with the genre of music made popular in the United States, and spreading to western markets like the United Kingdom and Australia with great success. Drill rap mainly focuses on the realistic and gritty life on the streets of tough neighbourhoods, with the original pieces coming out of Chicago and south London in the early 2010’s.

But the genre has increased greatly in popularity within Australia due to the success of local artists. The most well known drill rap to come out of Australia comes from two artists from Sydney’s western suburbs, one being ‘Hooligan Hefs’, the other a group called ‘One Four’. Both consist of a large number of men with pacific islander heritage, and although only a few members sing, the group around both artists is large and supportive.

Drill rap reflects a more realistic way of life to that of hip hop rap for many young people in struggling areas, this is also why the music is not often sent mainstream, with the gritty and violent tone not appealing to mainstream markets. This is where platforms like YouTube are excellent for exposing drill rappers to a wide audience, and this is where the Australian Artists found their big break.

In relation to the possible negative effects of drill rap videos being seen online, Charles Hymas wrote in London’s ‘Daily Telegraph’:

Ben McOwen Wilson, managing director of YouTube UK, rejects arguments that drill music should be banned, because he says the company believes the platform should offer “a place for those who did not have a voice.” He said that as long as drill artists abide by YouTube’s rules, the firm’s philosophy was to allow “different points of view to be heard even when they might be contentious”.

‘Hooligan Hef’s’ have accumulated over 6 million views on their music videos, and ‘One Four’ over 12 million, these are extremely impressive numbers for young artists from Australia. Australian drill rap has grown popularity in recent months with ‘One Four’ releasing two singles, both gaining over 4 million views each. Their music has attracted interest from around the world, prompting Vice Australia to do a short documentary.

In the short video the group explains how they were inspired by a UK group known as the ‘Harlem Spartans’, and how the UK scene was their biggest inspiration:

“The music meant we could put our lives in a story. We went with the UK, not the US, because we can’t relate to shootings,” but, “We can relate to stabbings and punch-ons though.”

The success of these Australian artists show their ability to create music that is both relatable to those here in Australia, but also entertaining enough for people all around the world to jump in on. It also shows different genres of music making its way around the world and changing depending on the location its created.

I am a big fan just quietly.

American Pie is a movie I had often heard about, people around me would often reference it, and it was joked about in TV shows and YouTube videos. It was one of those movies that people would ask if you’d seen, and you just reply ‘of course’ out of fear of missing out.

But truthfully I had no idea what it was about, so a couple weeks ago I decided to give the first movie a watch. The tittle certainly dose not give away the general theme of the movie, and maybe that’s why I had no idea what the movie was actually about, but as a viewer you get the overarching theme of the movie pretty quickly.

The movie follows a group of American high school kids (mainly focusing on four boys) who intend to lose their virginity before graduation and the beginning of college. As you can imagine, it does not go very smoothly, with the ups and downs of high school life, as well as the the awkward characters and the situations they put themselves in, it creates a very funny movie with many scenes being quite relatable to the intended audience.

The movie is clearly targeted to people around the same age as the characters, high school to college students, about 13 to 23 years old. As it is also set in America it is obviously most relatable to American students, however I think it is easy for young people from other western cultures to understand and adapt to their own experiences and circumstances.

The movie as a whole can be seen as a sort of sexual education documentary on what to do (and not do) when teens find themselves in similar situations. Sharyn Pearce writes in her academic journal ‘Sex and the cinema: what American Pie teaches the young.’ that:

“The American Pie series as a whole can consistently be ‘read’ as a contemporary sex education manual, where such manuals almost always inscribe and endorse the approved sexual conduct of the day. Traditionally, too, sex instruction manuals have been concerned at least as much with moral as with sexual education, and arguably that is the case here too. “

I wasn’t even born when the first movie came out, but I can imagine teenagers at the time would of much rather learnt about sexual activity from the film, rather than their parents or teachers. Catherine Ashcraft wrote a journal article on the need to:

“Critically incorporate popular culture into sex education efforts to develop programs that resonate with teens’ experiences and, at the same time, allow them to construct more equitable social relations.”

Whilst I do not think the movie is the most accurate informational tool for teens, I think it creates a bridge to learn more, and does so in a very lighthearted and hilarious way. If I was reviewing the film I would give it a solid 9/10, recommend to a friend.