UK Drill has hit the big time. We’ve seen the genre quickly become one of the country’s biggest cultural exports over the last few years. Consequently, more and more bastardisations have popped up, as the sounds evolve and edge further and further away from the dark rattling basslines that defined UK Drill’s formative years. Even the artists that find themselves occupying these spaces have changed drastically since the basic hood videos, and when Operation Domain was just a twinkle in the Metropolitan Police force’s eye. Sweet boy Drill and sample Drill are two in particular that have exploded in popularity, and made Drill more public facing, fusing commercial leaning soundscapes with stories about young love and heartbreak.
This has meant that there is now a significant gap in the market for those raw unfiltered sounds and stories, which have seemingly taken root in the underground once more; despite the fact that many fans remain ravenous for music that stays true to the essence. Whether its on the r/UKDrill thread, or in comments sections across his multiple Youtube hits, PS HitSquad is being championed by these fans (rather than so called industry experts) as someone who is bringing authentic Drill to the fore once more. A founding father of Zone 2, the Peckham native has been putting out music for over half a decade now under various different monikers; a nightmare for SEO, but PS Hitsquad’s vocals have always remained unmistakable.
Even on early Zone 2 posse cuts, PS’s approach on each track always stood out, finding pockets effortlessly, and consistently proving that Drill flows need not be so one dimensional. Lyrically PS is someone who has always pushed the envelope, and there’s certainly not another Drill artist out there who is capable of making a Mary Poppins reference sound so menacing.
Until now, we’ve mostly had to make do with grainy jail freestyles and the leaks that have cropped up on Youtube if we wanted some fresh PS Hitsquad vocals. So Community Service certainly lives up to its namesake, and comes at a time where the appetite for new music from PS Hitsquad is at an all time high.
The debut mixtape features five singles, which means that it largely consists of entirely new music. Long time collaborator and friend Kwengface features on two joints, with South London veteran Tiny Boost making a welcome appearance as well. Most interestingly though, we’ve got UK Drill legend AM joining the fray, as well as Cristale, proving she too might be a contender for one of the best in Drill. Barring side by side with PS is certainly an extreme sport, as he adeptly weaves and wraps his vocals around each instrumental in new and innovative ways, which really helps each track feel fresh, in spite of the fact that they were likely recorded at least 12 months ago, because of his incarceration.
A mark of a truly great project are when its best moments are not simply confined to the singles, and Community Service has plenty. “Rah” being one of those, brought to us courtesy of Gotcha and Scratch, the mercurial drilly bassline is perfect fodder for PS Hitsquad and Cristale, and would surely be a strong candidate as the next single if PS was free. “Rah” also displays PS Hitsquad’s ability to write incredibly catchy, clever hooks – something which we probably haven’t given him enough props for thus far.
“Another Opp Boy (XO Tour Life)” most candidly displays the brilliance of PS, as his cadence and clarity elevate a fairly quintessential Drill instrumental into an anthemic banger. PS clearly has an understanding of how to make good song, a transition many of his peers never make.
Although PS’s unfortunate legal situation has only further raised his stock, it does leave us wondering what he’d be capable of if he was able to solely focus his efforts on the music. PS’s willingness to tackle different instrumentals and tempos really earmark him as a proper artist, rather than just a driller. Community Service may have not been the tape that PS Hitsquad planned to release, but it’s served to remind the community that he may really be the king of Drill.