Feuds Between Drill Gangs Could Hold Clue to Death of Chris Kaba

Undated family handout photo issued by charity INQUEST of rapper Chris Kaba who was shot by armed officers from the Metropolitan Police at Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham Hill, south London, on Sept. 5, 2022. INQUEST via PA Media

Earlier this month 24-year-old Chris Kaba, an unarmed black man, was shot dead by a Metropolitan Police officer in an incident which immediately triggered protests on the streets of London.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) has said its homicide investigation into the shooting by a specialist firearms officer may take between six and nine months.

But while much of the media focus has been on Kaba being black and unarmed, there has been little focus on south London’s gang feuds, fuelled by drill music, which may hold the key to why armed police targeted the car he was in that fatal night.

Kaba, who was also known as Itch or Mad Itch, had been a rapper with a drill group called 67, which has been involved in a long-running feud in south London.

A forensics officer takes photographs of the scene where 24-year-old Chris Kaba was killed by police in Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham Hill, south London, on Sept. 5, 2022. PA

The musical genre known as drill has its origins on Chicago’s South Side, where it was born around 2010.

To the outsider there may be little to distinguish drill from other forms of hip-hop or “gangsta rap,” including trap and grime.

But in 2012 music journalist Lucy Stehlik wrote in The Guardian, “As Chicago’s murder rate spikes, nihilistic drill reflects real life where its squeaky-clean hip-hop counterparts have failed.”

Musically, drill songs have an average of 140–150 beats per minute, compared with 100–130 for pop songs and 60–80 for R’n’B.

Drill ‘Doesn’t Necessarily Have to Be Violent’

One London drill artist, Lee (a pseudonym), told The Epoch Times: “Although the word drill usually refers to an act of violence—I’m going to do a drill, meaning I’m going to hurt somebody—the music in the genre doesn’t necessarily have to be violent. There’s many sub-categories of drill. You can have parody drill or romantic drill.”

A YouTube screenshot of drill rapper Chief Keef from Chicago. Screenshot via The Epoch Times

One of the first stars of drill in Chicago, Chief Keef—real name Keith Cozart—was investigated over the murder of one of his rivals, Joseph Coleman, better known as Lil Jojo, who was gunned down in September 2012.

That same year drill arrived in Britain, and several London gangs took it up enthusiastically.

Lee told The Epoch Times: “The use of guns and inciting lyrics is what caught the attention of the UK. The Chicago drill artists would taunt their rival gangs by having the most guns in their videos. One guy named RondoNumbaNine even took it to the extreme and brought out a rocket launcher.”

In 2017 youth worker Ciaran Thapar wrote an article for Factmag in which he quoted a teenager from the Marcus Lipton community centre in Brixton who said, “If Chicago drill is a gun, ours is a knife.”

Brixton’s GAS gang—an acronym for Guns and Shanks, meaning knives—quickly formed a drill group called 150.

In July 2010 five GAS members were convicted of murdering Zac Olumegbon, 15, known as Little Zac, who was linked to a Tulse Hill gang called TN1 (Trust No One).

A rivalry soon sprang up with young men who lived down the road in Brixton Hill, who formed their own drill collective, called 67, and put out a track which mourned Little Zac.

The feud between 150 and 67 was one of many such disputes between drill groups which have led to violence.

Drill artist Nines and his rival K-Koke, both of whom are linked to gangs in the London Borough of Brent, have goaded each other in numerous songs, often followed by violent retributions.

Another feud which has claimed several lives is between the Ngang, or 156 crew, in Northolt, northwest London, and their rivals from Rayners Lane.

Back in south London, the 150 group is based on the Angell Town estate in Brixton and one of their leading rappers was Stickz—real name Tyreicke Williams—who in 2020 would survive after being stabbed by a rival from another gang.

Between 2012 and 2014 a number of tracks—with videos uploaded onto YouTube—were produced by 150 and 67 which disrespected or “dissed” each other.

In February 2014 Dwayne Simpson, 20, one of 150’s rappers, was stabbed to death in broad daylight on the Angell Town estate by 67 member Rio Julienne-Clarke, 21.

67 Nominated for 2016 MOBO Awards

But this did not stop 67’s rise in popularity and in 2016 they were nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2016 MOBO (Music of Black Origin) awards.

Lee said 67’s background made them sound authentic and he said: “If Sam Smith decided to one day make drill songs about everyone he doesn’t like it would probably make newspaper headlines but wouldn’t be respected in the drill community. In fact it would be comical.”

In June 2019 the Labour MP and shadow home secretary Diane Abbott invited several drill artists to the House of Commons for a debate about censorship.

According to Dummy magazine, Abbott told her audience: “For as long as anyone can remember people have sought to blame the music they listen to for young people’s bad behaviour ... Much of that drill music and the videos are horrifying and appalling but at the end of the day the music is a reflection of the lives and the reality of those young people. It is not a cause of violent crime.”

Kaba—known as Mad Itch—was a member of 67, and featured in a music video called “Drillin’ Off” which got more than 3 million views on YouTube—but he was later jailed for firearms offences.

In August 2017 the Evening Standard interviewed five of the main members of 67—LD, ASAP, Liquez, Dimzy, and Monkey.

In that interview LD—real name Cassiel Wuta-Ofei—said: “I used to do everything for today, because tomorrow wasn’t promised. But now tomorrow is good. I have friends and family around, strangers showing love. Life’s changed.”

But in December 2019 LD and ASAP—whose real name was Maliki Martin—were jailed for nine years each for county lines drug dealing in Basingstoke, Hampshire.

Brother of Drill Rapper Murdered by Rival Gang

Nine months earlier two men from a Clapham gang allied to 150 had spotted Liquez in a car, being driven by his brother Gavin Garraway. They followed it and Garraway was stabbed to death.

Liquez—whose real name was Melique Garraway—survived.

In 2018 a company called 6IX7EVEN Limited was set up in 2018, only to be wound up two years later.

The directors included LD, ASAP, and Liquez as well as Dimzy (Steven Mubama), Monkey (Lloyd Acheampong), and another rapper, SJ (Joshua Amon).

BBC News handout photo issued on Sept. 7, 2022 of Jefferson Bosela, cousin of Chris Kaba who was fatally shot by armed officers, reading out a statement by the family. Kaba, who was due to become a father within months, died after a chase that ended in Streatham Hill, south London, on Sept. 5. PA

Kaba had left 67 and was in jail at the time that 6IX7EVEN Limited was founded.

On Saturday, an investigation by the Evening Standard found Kaba had been jailed for four years for possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence following an incident in Canning Town, east London, in December 2017.

He had been released in early 2020 and in August that year he was pulled over by police in south London and was found to have a lock-knife on him. He pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article and was sent back to prison.

Kaba was released again earlier this year and a source told The Epoch Times Kaba was wanted for an attempted murder at the time of his death.

A few days after Kaba, 24, was shot the IOPC said there was no gun in the car—which was not registered to him—or at the scene.

But they said: “Mr. Kaba died after a single shot was fired by an MPS officer from the specialist firearms command while police attempted to stop and contain the vehicle he was driving. This followed the activation of an automatic number plate recognition camera which indicated the vehicle was linked to a firearms incident in previous days.”

Lee said of Kaba: “I haven’t heard him making music in a while but I assume he had plans of returning. He was quite big when he first came through, due to the buzz that 67 had.”

On Sept. 22, after the Kaba family were shown body camera footage of the shooting, they issued a statement through the charity INQUEST in which their spokesman, Jefferson Bosela, said: “The family just wants justice. For now, the family are going to take a break and take a step back.”

Kaba’s inquest is due to be opened and adjourned next Tuesday and it may take many months for the IOPC to determine whether or not the police officer acted legally or illegally in shooting him.

But his involvement in the drill scene and gangs may turn out to have been contributing factors.