Unknown T was banned from the Lexis night club in Mansfield due to violence.
“Following meetings with the Police, Licensing & other relevant authorities and after much discussions and careful considerations of our long term relationship with said authorities V-Loco have had no other option than to Cancel the event with Unknown T on 1st of March”
However despite the fact that he is being prevented fro performing due to gang violence, there is no evidence to suggest Unknown T was involved in criminal or violent activity in Mansfield, or intention of doing any crimes.
In my opinion this is another incident of UK Drill vs UK authority, due to recent spike in gun and knife crime in the UK,. Drill artist in-particular have been targeted by police online and this now seems to be translated to shows.
UK police have a history of using music scapegoat for urban crime back in the 2000s. For example “Form 696, a Met Police document which demands the names, private addresses and phone numbers of all artists at live shows "predominantly featuring DJs or MCs performing to a recorded backing track" – mostly black and Asian artists, in other words. Until 2009 the form specifically cited bashment, R&B and garage, and asked for an ethnic breakdown of the crowd. Unbelievably, some police forces outside the capitol still require this. The police have used 696 to shut down scores of shows, including many headlined by Giggs, arguing they are "high risk" events, but providing no further evidence.
The "pre-emptive policing" of Form 696 is dystopian, going beyond thought-crime into identity-crime as it launches a thinly-veiled, racialised assault on the “underground voice of the black youth” The form was introduced in 2006”
They targeted grime raves and events and now Drill in 2019, while I do agree that allot of Drill diss tracks and beefs cross line, too demonise the entire genre and prevent artist from making music especially those making an effort to be more vague in music and not talk about ongoing cases is not just censorship but also unfair.
Take for example Unknown T his hit single “Homerton B”, which charted. This because the focus of the song was to get girls twerk, rather than being inherently violent. The track is still is real because he speaks his truth but it is not as provocative as other drill tracks. His newest track “Throwback”, focuses nostalgia and childhood and is far from anything violent. This shows the progression of artist when given an opportunity.
Ironically other genres of music such as Rock/Heavy metal and various forms of electronic music are often too associated with violence and drugs, yet do not often get as much attention from press or police. Despite the fact that a Heavy metal or Punk rave probably is more violent and crazy than a UK Rap/Drill event. However regardless of what your stance is on Drill it is clear that governments crack down on the genre and artist related to it isn’t going to end anytime soon.
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