410 – UK Drill History

A history of 410 (formerly known as OC), from Brixton, south London.

The Guide to UK Drill has a short paragraph about 410, but for people new to UK Drill (or not from the area) I thought you might find their actual backstory interesting. It’s also a demonstration of how deep the UK Drill scene actually goes.

Context

The gang originated in the Myatts Field Estate in Brixton (SW9). Their territory also includes the nearby Vassall Road and Cowley blocks. The area borders with Camberwell (SE5), Kennington (SE11) and Walworth (SE17) on one side, and with Angell Town Estate in Brixton on the other.

OC stood for ‘Organised Crime’ or ‘One Chance’. The Myatts Field Estate was nicknamed ‘Baghdad’, and Myatts Field associated with the colour green.

Early 2000s

OC (Myatts Field Estate) were linked with PDC (Peel Dem Crew, from the neighbouring Angell Town Estate). They were also cool with a set called SMS (South Man Syndicate). Some of the earliest music from OC was collaborations with SMS and PDC artists:

2006

In this era, prominent OC members included Lox, Boost, Troopz, Syikes, Kearz, Komoshen, Mad Mikes, Rampz, Sleeks, Ratty and many others. At this time their main beef was with Peckham (Shoot Instant/PYG) and Black Prince (BYM) from Kennington.

Death of Tiny Alien

In 2006, a young OC member named Tiny Alien was murdered by BYM (now known as Kuku) at Black Prince, Kennington. He went to Kennington on a glide but ended up getting stabbed to death. His death made further media headlines after photos emerged of him posing with guns. He was only 15 when he died, and the younger generation’s biggest loss.

2007

Younger members of OC (Tiny OC) became more active in music and in general. They included Young Troopz, Looch, Lil Dread, Killa Buzz, Madantz, Fire Armz and others.

The birth of GAS Gang – minor OC v GAS feud

In this era, the gangs PDC (Angell Town Estate) and MZ (Somerleyton Estate) disbanded. The youngers from Angell Town and Somerleyton, led by Ard Adz, formed GAS Gang. At first there was resistance from Myatts Field, and a feud started between the GAS (Angell Town/Somerleyton) members and OC (Myatts Field) members. In the following track, OC members take shots at GAS:

GAS members responded taking shots at OC, over the same beat:

After this, the Brixton olders squashed the beef between Myatts Field (OC) and Angell Town/Somerleyton (GAS), and they became united again. Kinda important because they were facing a united enemy: the Peckham Boys (SN1, SI and PYG).

Political Peak and Ard Adz made light of the ‘Hard Bars’ diss tracks by merging their verses into a new track called ‘Beef Eww’. It had a music video but that got taken down.

GAS Gang became an alliance between the young members from Myatts Field, Angell Town, Loughborough and Somerleyton – four major estates of Brixton. The younger members from Myatts Field repped both OC and GAS. Older members from Myatts Field just repped OC.

GAS was represented by the colour green (for Myatts Field) and purple (for Angell Town):

2008

In early 2008, a prominent OC member Ratty was shot dead on the Myatts Field Estate, and the murder is unsolved to this day:

Peckham ‘Gunshot Riddim’ v Brixton ‘Bullet Riddim’

The war between Brixton (OC/GAS) and Peckham (SI/PYG) was fully cracking at this point. In early 2008, SI/PYG released one of their first music videos, filmed at the Peckham multi-storey car park:

That summer there were back-and-forth shootings between OC and SI members. In one incident, OC rode out on Walworth Road and caught Snap Capone and Butch (SI members) slipping. Snap and Butch ran into the Costcutter store and OC shot at them from the outside, but ended up killing a civilian. That made big media headlines. One thing that has to be mentioned was that OC were ruthless, they didn’t care if civilians got hit if they were in the way. “Civilians move” mentality.

Not long afterwards, OC/GAS released a response track to Gunshot Riddim in which OC members mocked Snap and Butch for running in the above incident: “remember what we flew in Wooly Road” … “had you running in the shop like you’re buying suttin” … “my dargs only run when they see the riot van” (etc). The video was filmed on the Myatts Field Estate:

Gunshot Riddim v Bullet Riddim was the start of the back-and-forth diss music videos between Brixton (OC/GAS) and Peckham (SI/PYG). Cracking on the streets and over Youtube. In my opinion, this era was the origins of what we now call the UK Drill scene.

Lox and Kearz release solo mixtapes

In 2008, Lox released the mixtape ‘I Du Diz 4 Fun’, and Kearz released ‘King of the Fields’. Both mixtapes were full of shots towards Peckham. Lox’s mixtape was notable for his remix of ‘Talking The Hardest’.

In December 2007, Giggs (Peckham) released the ‘Talking The Hardest‘ freestyle. In 2008, Lox responded over the same beat, dissing the Peckham Boys and especially the Shoot Instant set (which Snap Capone was a member of). This is a legendary music video in the Peckham v Brixton beef:

Sidebar

OC members popularised certain terms and phrases, which were associated with them through their music. The most famous examples were “cruddy” and “la la la”, common catchphrases and adlibs in OC/GAS songs.

Brixton (OC/GAS) links up with Old Kent Road (OBY)

GAS leader Ard Adz continued to build alliances against Peckham, and linked up OC/GAS with OBY from Old Kent Road (SE1). Old Kent Road was nicknamed ‘Brooklyn’ and they were also beefing Peckham at the time. The most prominent OBY member in music was John Wayne. The first track they made together was ‘Brooklyn to Baghdad’ (Old Kent Road to Myatts Field):

Ard Adz went to prison soon afterwards. Young Troopz continued the music collaborations between Brixton and Old Kent Road, releasing two music videos with John Wayne in November 2008:

A month later, December 2008, PYG members released ‘Coming Up‘. In the second verse, M1 (aka Young Gunna D) disses OC: “you little pricks make me laugh when you’re talking ‘cruddy’…”. Just a few weeks after Young Troopz dropped ‘Cruddy’.

2009

Brixton v Peckham continues

It would be way too long to list all the disses and responses between Brixton (OC/GAS) and Peckham (SI/PYG) at this point, but the beef was cracking. It was popularly followed by young Londoners across the city, in the same way that UK Drill beef is now. Many of the music videos were uploaded to a YouTube channel called Southbitz (since been deleted), and each topped a million views. I’ll just mention a few tracks, but there were many more:

PYG responded to ‘OC/GAS – Bullet Riddim’, in which OC mocked Peckham members for running during a shooting on Walworth Road. 16-year old Young Size (PYG) starts the track by stating: “You had two turners but never turned nothing, when I roll up on your block I’ma turn something off. He thinks he can try come Wooly Road and bark it off, but when I ride up on your block, little dickheads sliding off”:

In early 2009, Giggs (Peckham) released a music video for ‘Freestyle 09‘. At this time Giggs was the hottest rapper in the game, and had recently won the first ever ‘Best International Act’ at the BET Hip Hop Awards. In April, OC/GAS released ‘Ard 3Style’ over the same beat. The song includes various disses towards Giggs and Peckham, and the music video was filmed on the Myatts Field Estate:

In May 2009, PYG members Stigs and Shocks dropped a music video for ‘Rec A G‘ – one of the most legendary tracks to be dropped by youngers in the UK scene. The song doesn’t mention anyone specifically, but it’s clearly directed at Brixton. A month later, OC/GAS dropped a block freestyle in which they diss Peckham back. They reference lyrics in ‘Rec A G’ and mock Shocks’ adlib “ya liar”:

In summer 2009, PYG members Shocks and Young Size released ‘Police & Thief‘, dissing Brixton. In response, OC/GAS released their reply, dissing Peckham over the same beat. It became one of the biggest tracks in the scene that summer, and the music video was filmed on Myatts Field Estate:

That year, Young Troopz was the most active OC member in music. By this point he was considered one of the best youngers in the UK scene. He was also one of the more respected young members on road.

‘The Truth’ CCTV video

In 2009, the police were investigating certain Peckham (PYG) members due to their war with Brixton (OC/GAS). Police sent the Peckham members’ lawyers CCTV footage of Brixton and Peckham sliding on each others’ territories, as proof that they had evidence of their involvement. A PYG associate took the footage, annotated it and uploaded it to Youtube.

Part 1 of the footage shows PYG members sliding to Angell Town Estate in Brixton at night. Part 2 shows OC/GAS members sliding to the Peckham frontline in broad daylight. The annotations were written to to make OC/GAS look bad. The original upload was in better quality and gained over a million views, but this is the only clip left on YouTube:

After PYG uploaded the footage, OC/GAS and their allies YRS (Young Roadside G’s) released the video ‘Ur Liars’, accusing PYG of lying in the annotations and cooperating with the police for the CCTV footage:

PYG member Young Size filmed himself on the Myatts Field Estate to further disrespect OC/GAS:

 
2010

The new year saw Political Peak return to music, dropping the mixtape ‘More Than Peak Vol.1’. Two music videos from the project, featuring OC members Syikes, Madantz and Killa Buzz:

Political Peak and Sneakbo became frequent collaborators, dropping a number of OC/GAS music videos through the year. Two of those tracks stood out as classics. ‘Touch Ah Button’ was one of the biggest songs in the scene, from the playgrounds to the clubs. In an old interview, Drake said that ‘Touch Ah Button was his first introduction to the UK gang/rap scene, an interest he’s maintained to the present day:

The fall of Young Troopz

Young Troopz wasn’t active in music in 2010 because he and several other OC members were on trial for the 2008 murder on Walworth Road. In the end, Young Troopz was jailed for 5 and a half years for possessing the gun used in the murder. It was believed that Young Troopz talked during the investigation, so he was kicked out of OC and banned from Brixton. From this point onwards there’s no mention of him by Brixton members in music or on social media.

Peckham civil war

2010 was also the year of the Peckham civil war: a major split within the Peckham Boys which reshaped territories and alliances within the Peckham, Camberwell and Walworth area. This pretty much brought an end to the Peckham v Brixton war.

2011-2012

Murders puts media spotlight on OC and Myatts Field

OC were once cool with ABM (M Block), a gang from nearby Stockwell. However, ABM had sided with TN1/86 (Tulse Hill) in their increasing beef with Brixton. Plus Brixton were linked with 031 (Wandsworth Road) who were ABM’s main opps. These ties caused OC and ABM to fall out.

In March 2011, OC members Killa Buzz, Madantz and Kaz cycled from Myatts Field to Stockwell to score on ABM. Two members of ABM ran into the Stockwell Food and Wine store to hide, and OC shot into the store from the outside. The bullets hit the shop owner and his 5-year old niece Thusha Kamaleswaran, paralysing her. CCTV of the incident was released by the police, which was a big media story at the time. Killa Buzz was sentenced to minimum 17 years, Madantz and Kaz both got a minimum 14. This was only a few years after the Costcutter shooting in 2008 under similar circumstances, so a lot of scrutiny was put on OC:

In May 2011, a 16-year old OC member Nathan murdered a 15-year old boy named Temidayo Ogunneye on the Myatts Field Estate. Temidayo had gone to Myatts Field to retrieve a Blackberry that had been stolen by young OC members earlier that day, but got stabbed to death once on OC territory. Following his trial, Nathan was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years:

OC leaders leave gang life

A female pastor named Mimi Asher was living on the Myatts Field Estate. She opened her house to OC members, and over time helped many turn away from gang life:

Two outstanding members of OC, Lox (Karl Lokko) and Boost (Terroll Lewis), found Christianity and left gang life behind. They have both been open about their former lives:

In this period, younger OC members like Tiny Syikes became more active in music:

2013

OC change name to 410

The name OC had been tarnished by relentless media scrutiny, its main leaders had left road, and its beef with Peckham had died. It was like an old era had ended, and a new era was beginning.

Also Myatts Field Estate had been undergoing regeneration by this time, with the old blocks getting replaced by modern apartments. These changes were the inspiration for the new name of their gang. The Myatts Field Estate was being renamed as Oval Quarter, so members took O¼ (Oval Quarter) and flipped it to become 4/10. From now onwards, OC began to be known as 410 (four-ten).

Younger 410 members continued releasing music:

GAS Gang splits

In late 2013, a leading GAS member from Somerleyton Estate (5 Star) accused a leading GAS member from Angell Town Estate (Sneakbo) of snitching, and dropped a statement in this tweet. GAS Gang split as a result: the Angell Town faction formed 150, and the Somerleyton faction left as Siru/Siraq. The two blocks beef each other to this day. Myatts Fields (410) remained close with Angell Town (150), as they were before the GAS era.

2014

In May, 410 had their first Westwood crib session featuring the some of the more senior members Political Peak, Fire Armz, Syikes, Kearz, Troopz, Looch and VI:

Early UK Drill era

Alongside 150 and 67, the younger 410 members were pioneers of the early UK Drill sound. In June 2014, Baby Troopz (aka BT, the younger brother of Young Troopz) released his first solo video:

In September 2014, members BT, Tiny Syikes and Rendo released ‘4 Door Coming’. The song is considered a classic UK Drill track, and has since been referenced numerous times by other UK Drill artists:

410 ended the year with a ‘No Hook’ by BT, YS and Rendo, the first ‘No Hook’ in UK Drill. Rendo’s verse was considered one of the best in the early UK Drill scene:

 
2015

410 started the year with an anthem including senior and younger members:

UK – Chicago Drill history made

In May 2015, Chicago drill artist THF TP used the ‘410 – 4 Door Coming‘ beat for his track ‘THF TP – Bus Stop‘. That’s the first time a Drill beat from a UK song and producer was used by a Chicago drill artist. Bus Stop is considered a classic in the Chicago scene.

The rise of the duos

BT and Rendo continued releasing music together consistently, and became many people’s favourite duo in UK Drill. Some of the more prominent releases that year:

AM and Young Rendo (aka Skengdo), part of a younger generation of 410 members, started releasing music together. They would develop into many people’s favourite UK Drill duo’s in time:

F Block mixtape

In October 2015, 410 released the F Block mixtape, a classic squad tape in UK Drill.

 
2016

410 started the year by dropping anthems.

The duo of BT and Rendo dropped ‘Ten Toes’, one of the most gassed tracks of the era:

The younger members Sparkz, Skengdo and AM started the year with ‘Think Again’. The final verse by AM was very highly rated when it dropped:

410 also had their second Westwood Crib Session, featuring BT, Rendo, Tiny Syikes, VI, YS, Mo Squeeze, Troopz and Looch:

Overall 2016 was another productive year for 410 with its main rappers (BT, Rendo, AM and Skengdo) consistently dropping music. Some examples:

Tennessee

Around this time, 410 was mainly occupied by its long term war with Kennington. 410 (Myatts Field) and Harlem (Kennington Park) are rival sets located very close to each other. Several 410 and Harlem members were childhood friends, due to how close both areas are. However, gang loyalties turned those childhood friends into gang enemies.

‘Tennessee’ is a chicken shop on Brixton Road, located between 410 and Harlem territory. In 2016 an infamous stabbing took place at that Tennessee, with police releasing CCTV of the incident:

  • MizOrMac (Harlem) in Kent Nizzy: “CCTV can vouch for the squaddy”

410 and Harlem both mention that chicken shop in their lyrics when dissing each other, to imply that they won’t step beyond it into enemy territory:

  • Skengdo (410) in Think Again: “no you don’t come to the F, you go Tennessee you jokeman”

  • Loski (Harlem) in Teddy Bruckshot: “and I don’t go Tennessee jokeman, it was in Fields when I got (shh)”

2017

Golden era for 410

In January, 410’s rivals Harlem dropped ‘Harlem Spartans – Kennington Where It Started‘. It’s considered by many as one of the best UK Drill tracks of all time. A couple of weeks later, 410 dropped ‘Crash’, one of Skengdo & AM’s most iconic tracks:

In February, Skengdo & AM followed it by dropping ‘No Lotion’, ‘Foolishness’ and a collaboration with 17 (Wandsworth Road):

In March, AM follow up with ‘No Filter’, in which he takes various shots at Harlem:

March also saw 410’s third Westwood Crib Session, featuring Skengdo, AM, BT, Rendo, J1, Yamz (Young AM), Blackz and 3 Rounds. Constant shots taken at Harlem:

At this point the beef between 410 and the Harlem Spartans was the biggest storyline in UK Drill. Both gangs were dropping popular tracks and continually taking shots at each other. In the midst of this hype, Skengdo & AM dropped their iconic ‘Mad About Bars’ freestyle. At over 20 million views, it’s the most watched video ever released by 410:

In summer, 410 filmed a ‘Behind Barz‘ freestyle and a block cypher at the Cowley blocks, featuring Skengdo, AM, Rendo, Syikes and Blackz:

On the same day, 410 also filmed two music videos:

Return of Sparkz

In late 2017, Sparkz return to music dropping ‘That’s Funny’, filmed in the Cowley blocks:

410 also had their fourth Westwood Crib Session, featuring younger members Jayslapit, Blackz, Young AM and Sparkz:

Skengdo & AM drop debut mixtape

Skengdo & AM finished the year by releasing their debut mixtape, ‘2 Bunny‘ and their debut ‘Fire In The Booth‘ freestyle on BBC 1Xtra. This was accompanied with multiple video releases, including:

BT & Rendo release ‘Boom Bow’ mixtape

In 2017, BT & Rendo released the ‘Boom Bow’ mixtape. Unfortunately it’s been removed from YouTube and all streaming sites (which is a shame, because it’s one of the best mixtapes in drill). In February, BT dropped a video for the mixtape’s intro track:

In summer, a video was released for track 6: ‘2 Man Step’. The modern background in the music video demonstrates how much regeneration has changed the Myatts Field area:

In the autumn a music video was dropped for track 16: ‘CR4SH£RS’. It’s the first appearance by Tiny Syikes since he returned from a brief stint in prison:

After Skengdo & AM’s ‘Mad About Bars’ freestyle in April 2017, fans were demanding a freestyle involving BT, Rendo and Tiny Syikes. 410 ended the year by dropping it for Christmas:

2018

In January, 410 dropped a Radar Radio freestyle with Peckham’s Zone 2. The freestyle is notable for the shots AM takes at Harlem Spartans and Moscow17. Those bars are later used in his track ‘Attempted 1.0‘:

‘WDYM’

In March 2018, Oboy (a member of Kennington’s Kuku gang) released ‘WDYM’. The track takes direct shots at 410 members including AM, Skengdo, Young AM, Blackz and Syikes:

  • Oboy (Kuku) in WDYM: “AM’s a f*cking neek, Skengdo’s a f*cking tramp, Young AM ran from man, Blackz did too…”

410 members responded directly with ‘Attempted 2.0’ and their own ‘WDYM’, taking shots at Kuku and Harlem members:

The rise and fall of of JaySlapit

Young 410 member Jayslapit made his music entrance in 2017 with ‘J.T.F.I‘ and the Westwood Crib Session alongside Young AM and Blackz. In 2018, JaySlapit raised his profile with more song releases and two acclaimed solo freestyles. JaySlapit’s rise was halted after being imprisoned for 11 years on firearm and drugs charges:

Negative media spotlight on UK Drill affects 410

Moscow17 is a gang based on the Brandon Estate in Walworth (SE17). They are enemies of 410, and they border 410’s territory. In 2018, two prominent Moscow members and drill rappers were murdered: 17-year old GB was shot dead May 2018, and 23 year-old Incognito was stabbed to death in August 2018.

Prominent 410 member Tiny Syikes was shot in Myatts Field in May 2018. Incidents like these put an intense media spotlight on the gang violence in the area, and wider events in London whipped up a media frenzy over UK Drill music:

In 2018, London’s Metropolitan Police responded by increasingly censoring and banning UK Drill. This included deleting popular UK Drill videos and forcing new content to be censored. Skengdo & AM were hit with a gang injunction, banning them from performing ‘gang-related’ music at their December tour.

Skengdo & AM tours and new mixtape

Skengdo & AM were signed by the label Finesse Foreva (FF). In March and April they took part in their first tour, with three dates in Birmingham, Manchester and London:

In September, Skengdo & AM released their second mixtape, ‘Greener On The Other Side‘. The mixtape is notable for the track ‘Pitbulls’ featuring Chief Keef, a landmark UK-US drill collaboration:

The duo ended 2018 with a December tour, with five dates in Manchester, London, Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham:

2019

Legal trouble for Skengdo & AM

In January 2019, Skengdo & AM were nearly sent to prison after violating their police gang injunction. During their December 2018 tour they performed material that had been banned by the police, so they were given suspended prison sentences:

In April 2019, Skengdo & AM had an interview with BBC Radio 1Xtra, in which they discussed their gang injunction and police censorship:

Skengdo & AM maintain consistency

Despite their January legal troubles, Skengdo & AM continued releasing music. The duo dropped two tracks early in the year:

In July, AM released a highly rated solo track:

BT, Rendo, Tiny Syikes and YS return to music

In 2019, legendary 410 duo BT & Rendo returned to music for the first time in over a year. They dropped ‘Longtime’ in February, referring to how long it’s been since they last released material:

Tiny Syikes (now also known as TrapStack) also returned to music in 2019, for the first time since being shot in May 2018:

YS also returned to music in 2019 under the name SMoney. After releasing a solo track, this collaboration with Rendo was their first visual release together in four years:

Alongside the return of several older 410 members, younger members including Sparkz, Lil Rass, Young AM and Blackz kept up 410’s relevance in 2019:

Skengdo & AM drop the ‘Back Like We Never Left’ mixtape

From August, Skengdo & AM started dropping material from their new mixtape. The young member JaySlapit had sent to prison for 11 years, so the duo released ‘3 JaySlapit’ in his honour:

In September the duo released ‘Crash x GBG’, a collaboration with Angell Town artists M24 and Stickz, as well as the more mellow ‘Tugg’:

In October, the ‘Back Like We Never Left‘ mixtape was released. Two more music videos from the project dropped:

Skengdo & AM finished the year by dropping a Daily Duppy freestyle on GRM Daily, and Skengdo’s hotspot freestyle on Pacman TV:

2020

AM and Syikes started the year with individual Hotspot freestyles:

In January, a music video for ‘No Love’ was also released. The track is a collaboration with 17/TOG (Wandsworth Road) and was recorded before JaySlapit went to prison: