Krept & Konan respond to crackdown on drill music with poignant new single "Ban Drill"

"Ban Drill" is the first single to be shared from Krept & Konan's forthcoming second album, and is their first offering since their single dedicated to their late cousin, "Last Letter To Cadet".

The new video for "Ban Drill" is directed by Rapman, who provided a narrative with his rapping in last year's "Shiro's Story" series.

Speaking about working with Rapman, Krept & Konan explain, "We wrote ban drill to explain a serious reality that many artists have to face. We knew Rapman was the perfect person to paint this picture for us with a short film in the way we needed to get our message across."

Alongside the new single, Krept & Konan have launched a petition with change.org to stop silencing musicians. The description explains, "Banning Drill or any type of art is problematic for a number of reasons. It deprives already disenfranchised young people of a voice, it reflects moral cowardice for failing to look straight-on at the reality of marginalised groups on inner-city estates, and it won’t tackle issues caused by poverty, racism, and classism.

At best, it’s ineffective. Restricting young people’s ability to communicate will push them to express themselves on less detectable outlets.

At worst? There is a broader danger here that these bans stop our ears to severely disadvantaged youth of our society. Drill may not, technically, be classed as protest music, but the state should think twice before stifling the genre. There is a long history of suffering in black music. That collective expression is important, particularly for a deprived and otherwise voiceless community."