On the other side of the metal detector, a kid who grumbled to the security guard about not wanting to take off his Gucci belt calls out to his friend: “We’re missing it!” On The Novo’s outdoor speakers, we hear the DJ ask the question: “Are you ready for BabyDrill?!?” Feel him launch into the song that redefined a generation and defined several new ones.
Over a decade since Chief Keef & co. exploded out of Chicago, “drill” is a global music phenomenon associated with numerous regional scenes. Someone more tapped in to the current state of music might tell you that New York’s rendition is best, or the UK’s, or wherever’s. As someone from Illinois a few years older than Keef, I am partial to the original version. Chicago drill could have only come out of that city at that time, from Midwestern kids who grew up with Southern rap dominating the literal airwaves and their new digital counterparts. Of course the musical exchange then and since has been cyclical.
In 2023 Atlanta remains, at least according to some article I saw tumbling around Twitter about “the best rap cities,” The Best Rap City. The biggest names—Future, Young Thug, Lil Baby—are from there. The other big names draw from Atlanta’s influence much more than they do New York’s at this point. Music styles tend to spread from a concentrated origin then spread like a wildfire. The hottest stuff can be felt and reflected back everywhere. From his name to his DJ’s choice of intro song to the sounds of his new album MadMan, BabyDrill makes music that fits the drill distinction. It’s also uniquely Atlanta and uniquely him.
I found out about Drill when the opportunity to interview him for Passion of the Weiss arrived in my inbox. According to the PR person, you can’t drive around Atlanta right now without hearing “Slight Dub,” the MadMan single featuring 21 Savage and Young Nudy.
The interview was supposed to take place backstage before Drill’s two-night opening gig for Nudy at The Novo in downtown LA. The venue where my friend once got denied entrance from a Tim & Eric show he dragged me to because he tried to walk in with beer in a red cup. I’ve had several miserable experiences in the venue, including that one and a recent trip to see Madlib & Freddie Gibbs where Madlib canceled last minute and was replaced with The Alchemist. The Novo, located in the corporate hellscape that is LA Live, around the corner from associated larger venue and ok also a sports place Crypto.com Arena, has been booking an impressive calendar of hip-hop acts on the upswing. 03 Greedo performed there for his joyous recent hometown return. Before the show last Thursday BabyDrill went silent to his PR guy but the free GA ticket still appeared in my email. I went. Alone.
Drill’s social media suggests what the PR person told me is true. People in Atlanta love him. When he opened for Nudy in his hometown, according to the video I saw, the crowd knew every word. When I walked in the LA crowd was calm and unfamiliar, blowing smoke into the confined air and swaying, at most. Drill played hits that I recognized from playing MadMan on loop—like “On My Conscious” and “King Smoke”—but without the crowd’s familiarity they didn’t hit as hard as I know they can.
My most successful tweet, like and retweet wise, was a video I dug up of Kendrick Lamar opening for Freddie Gibbs & the GZA before he became a superstar, a few years before “I Don’t Like” came out. I’m not going to lie and say I knew that Kendrick was going to be huge, but his set that night was great enough for me to keep tabs on him. BabyDrill doesn’t need to rap like that, and couldn’t in such a less intimate venue, but if I hadn’t heard about his buzz before seeing him open for Nudy I might not think I was witnessing something worth reminiscing upon years later. With the knowledge of how popular he is in his hometown already, and the caliber of his set list despite the proper audience response, I do feel that way. BabyDrill and MadMan are great and the rest of the world will know that soon enough.
I’m not going to write too much about BabyDrill on this blog post because I still might interview him and I want to save whatever thoughts I have about his music and his album for that article. But I wanted to use this opportunity to invade your inbox the way the PR person invaded mine, to tell you about an artist who’s been on repeat since I heard about him. My favorite lyric is on “Slight Dub,” when Drill says “I like my pockets like my pizza (talkin’ bout stuffed crust).” The first several times I heard that for some reason in my head I pictured deep dish pizza, because that’s how I like it. But I like Pizza Hut stuffed crust too. And I’m good with my pockets being both deep and stuffed.
“I don’t think I need to go to a concert ever again,” I told the woman cutting my hair at Floyd’s Barbershop today when she asked me what kind of music I would like to see live. I’ve been to too many shows, seen every living artist I care to see, and I’m kinda worried about my hearing the older I get. I’m good.
Going to the free Young Nudy show alone was not fun or exciting, the way it might have been a decade ago if Young Nudy were around then. In fact, I left after BabyDrill’s set, because Nudy was taking too long to come on and I don’t have the patience anymore. Instead I rode a Lime scooter, rats scurrying away from me, through the empty streets back to my car. I didn’t have a Gucci belt to take off for the metal detector or a friend turn to and say “We’re missing it!” There was no we, just me standing there, swaying at most to BabyDrill. Now that I think about it, it was pretty great.