Tune into a conversation with UK drill star AM and journalist Ciaran Thapar

The livestream is an exclusive for Supporters.

The complex connections between UK drill, youth violence and government censorship are up for discussion in the next Supporters Talk, the first of a new series available exclusively to Crack Supporters.

Brixton rapper AM, one of the vanguards of the UK drill movement alongside his regular collaborator Skengdo, will be in conversation with youth worker and journalist Ciaran Thapar, whose new book Cut Short: Youth Violence, Loss and Hope in the City is a visceral account of the streets, schools and scenes that birthed a genre. Hosted by journalist Nicolas-Tyrell Scott, the free-to-attend talk will be livestreamed on 14 July at 7pm (GMT).

Drill has been the target of a controversial censorship campaign by the Metropolitan Police, with music videos pulled from the internet amid claims that they provoked gang violence. In 2019, Skengdo and AM were given a suspended jail sentence for breaching an injunction which prevented them from performing live.

AM and Skengdo also gained notoriety for a 2019 collaboration with Russian artist Andrei Molodkin, who exhibited a sculpture spelling out the duo’s lyrics in human blood donated by visitors to the Saatchi Gallery.

Supporters can join live via the Supporters site – head here to watch the talk on 14 July. Become a Supporter now to access this and more talks, screenings, digital issues and exclusives.