Background: The criminalisation of drill music, a rap-based genre, is a recent chapter in a long history of policing “Black” music. The association of drill and other rap music with “gang” violence has a direct impact on the treatment of Black boys and men in the criminal justice system. However, critics argue that, rather than causing violence, violent lyrics reflect the lived experiences of marginalised communities. Method: Using a qualitative approach, this study analysed the lyrical content of 90 drill, grime, and other rap-based songs by UK artists, using thematic analysis. Findings: The following themes were found: social issues in the local area and community, involvement in crime, social status, coping with adversity, social support network, police, and escaping. Collectively, the themes highlight a narrative of Black boys and men who have experienced a range of adversities such as poverty, racism, child criminal exploitation, and community violence. Conclusions: Artists who make reference to drugs and violence in their lyrics also discuss adverse experiences and the impact of these, supporting the view that violent lyrics are a reflection of lived experience. Thus, focusing on criminalising rap music may be deflecting attention from risk factors for serious youth violence that are evidence-based.

The brutal ‘honour’ killing of Banaz Mahmod, aged 20, is still one of the most prominent murder cases of this kind in Britain. This was due partly to its complexity as well as the poor police response to Banaz’s pleas for help before her death—most notably, she reported her abuse on multiple occasions, forewarned them of her murder, and named her killers. This tragic case was a painful example of how professional agencies in the UK fail victims of so called ‘honour’ abuse and violence. Fifteen years on, support services are still naive about the people and communities most vulnerable to ‘honour’ abuse in Britain. More recently, campaigns to include Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority victims in the mainstream domestic abuse agenda have encouraged agencies to be culturally-competent in their support of ‘honour’ abuse victims, to redress previous failings. To facilitate this, this study conducted a focus group discussion with fourteen women (12 victim survivors and 2 support workers) recruited from a support organisation for ethnic minority women dealing with ‘honour’ abuse, to gain insight into their lived experiences. Interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes emerged, each with two sub-themes; vulnerability (sub-themes, fear of external organisations and racism); organisational and agency support (sub-themes, education and support from law enforcement), and rules and restrictions (sub-themes, immigration status and agency funding). These themes should be explored by professionals to better understand how to support female victims of ‘honour’ abuse and violence, without disparaging their culture.