Ron Suno (22) strikes a pose known as the “woo” on TikTok in tribute to the late Pop Smoke, an ascendent talent from Brooklyn murdered in 2020. In 2022, Ron Suno was removed a day before the start of the Rolling Loud music festival in New York at the request of the New York Police Department. Co-op City, New York, United States.
Originally from the streets of Chicago, United States, drill is the newest subgenre of hip-hop to blow up globally, influencing artists from the United Kingdom to Brazil to Korea. While its sound – fusing aggressive, raw lyrics with pounding, rapidly syncopated drums – may be a new phenomenon, the story of its rise is a familiar one in the history of rap music. Like generations of musicians before them, drill artists transform the pain and desperation of their experiences coming of age in some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the United States into a distinct form of musical expression.
But even as some drill artists rise to music stardom and enjoy global acclaim, at home, many are subject to misrepresentation by local authorities who believe that the violent lyrical content of the music is the cause and not the effect of crime in their cities. In New York City, drill artists are targeted by New York City Police Department (NYPD) investigators who comb their lyrics and music videos for evidence of gang-related crimes. Concerts are shut down, headliners are pulled from music festivals, and artists face criminal indictments. Complicating the situation, artists must contend with jealousy and rivalry from their own peers in their own neighborhoods. This series offers an intimate look at several members of this new generation of young men and women drill artists navigating the pride and pain of their experiences and striving to realize their dreams.
Ashley Peña is a Dominican-American artist based in New York. For this portrait series, commissioned by New York Magazine, she photographed her subjects in their own neighborhoods, studios, or other private spaces, combining intimate familiarity with visual references to religious iconography. The result is this series of personal portraits that stand in contrast to the ways in which many of these artists are typically portrayed in the media.
Listen to the artists featured in this story on Spotify.
