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UK drill crew 67 criticise police and media for “scapegoating" their genre

"Watching 'Money Heist' doesn’t make me want to rob a bank"...

UK drill crew 67 have criticised police and media for “scapegoating" their genre, according to an open letter sent to The Fader by group member Dimzy. 

"Whilst I see that media need to give the general public answers, and authorities have to publicly be seen to do something about violence and crime, I don’t think it is right to blame or alienate one music genre as a scapegoat," the statement reads. 

Dimzy goes on to question why other forms of entertainment that glorify illegal activities— such as film, TV and video games— are not also in the line of fire. 

"I personally have watched numerous series on Netflix, recently binge watching 'Bulletproof', but that does not make me want to start stealing high end cars or accusing the police of corruption, as much as watching 'Money Heist' doesn’t make me want to rob a bank." 

It's the latest clash between authorities and artists producing the sound, which was partly inspired by the Chicago drill scene but, thanks to heavy British influences including grime, is very much its own entity. 30 UK videos were removed from YouTube after the London Metropolitan Police claimed they incited violence. Some later reappeared on PornHub. Meanwhile, all members of the 1011 crew have been banned from making music without police permission, a decision that was criticised as "ineffective, impractical and unjust" during the court hearing. 

Read Dimzy's letter in full here