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Posh UK drill and the myth of the respectful parodist

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2025

Jamie Johnson Open the ORCID record for Jamie Johnson [Opens in a new window]
Jamie Johnson*
Affiliation:
London College of Music, https://ror.org/03e5mzp60University of West London, United Kingdom
*
Email: James.Johnson@uwl.ac.uk
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Extract

In recent years, the genre of UK drill has become the target of a range of ‘posh’ musical parodies. These parodies come in various forms, from private school students making TikToks under the hashtag #privateschool that use the genre’s reputation to illustrate their own privilege (Hall 2020; Complex UK 2023), to folky YouTube covers of drill songs that play off the musical differences between the two styles. Some of these parodies juxtapose UK drill’s reputation as a working class and Black British artform with upper class and white stereotypes, providing a sharp reminder of the issues that can arise through unnecessary socio-cultural comparison. In addition, many creators of these parodies appear to hide behind a veil of self-reflexive acknowledgement to mask the various ethical quandaries that arise in their work, often passing harmful content off as self-deprecating fun.

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Type
Middle Eight
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Popular Music , First View , pp. 1 - 7
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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