Something a little different for you right here. Female London based MC BeckMilli with a drill track called ‘Just Look’.
BeckMilli calls her sound ‘Road Rap’ and all the familiar Drill music elements are there. Dark, moody, minimal beat with catchy stabs and samples are the name of the day. Anyone who isn’t familiar with ‘Drill ‘ could mistake it for Grime at first listen but there are quite a few differences that distinguish it to it from its well-known predecessor; biggest one being the lyrical content ,which is much grittier and much more connected to the reality of Innercity life from the perspective of the youths who fight for survival on a daily basis. Some who live in these catchment areas would say they are drawn into the cutthroat world of Road life, largely out of necessity rather than choice.
This may be is a reaction to our Innercity youths feeling alienated from society often coming from the struggle of living in the low-income bracket and feeling the urge to get respect and money in a way that’s denied them in the conventional manner, because of their background. If your face doesn’t fit in some walks of life, what other options do you have if you wanna eat food?. It’s like you become a victim, trapped by the postcode you were born in and often there are few other available options that to do what you have to do to support yourself and your family even with the huge risk to your own life and freedom. Be under no illusion, this life isn’t for the weak hearted and this is represented in the music those who have chosen this life have created, to communicate about the world they live in.
“Just Look” is a no holds barred description of the world BeckMilli lives in. She doesn’t glamorize it, on the contrary, it is just a brutally honest account of the mentality you have to have if you are going to survive On Road and we should all listen to the voice of the youth if we are able to understand the issues that affect millions of children who live on the wrong side of the tracks.
BeckiMilli has big plans for her career over the coming years and I’m definitely interested in following her development as an independent artist (and a female one at that), in what is a very macho, male-dominated genre.
A tour is in the pipeline and on another note, visually, I was very impressed by her videos which look consistently slick and impactful.
“Just Look” is tough music for tough times. Real Road music for real. Watch this space for what BeckiMilli’s cooking I’m expecting big things from this young MC.
Twitter: @BeckMilli_
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckmilli_/