Everybody Shot: Youth, Violence, & Radical Inclusivity

• In Event: Cultural Criminology 1: Youth Subcultures, Identities & Resistance

Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of violence, radical inclusivity, and youth culture, focusing on the role of drill music as both a symptom and a vehicle of urban street conflict. The phrase "Everybody Shot" is employed to highlight how violence, especially in marginalized communities, has become a pervasive and complex expression of inclusion within youth culture. Drill music—a genre born out of urban environments—embodies the tensions between violence, survival, and identity in spaces where young people face systemic disenfranchisement and dispossession. Through its aggressive lyrical content and provocative imagery, drill music reflects and amplifies the daily realities of violence while simultaneously fostering a sense of solidarity and belonging among its creators and listeners. Therefore, this paper interrogates how the rhetoric of violence in drill music serves as a form of "radical inclusivity," where youth, often excluded from mainstream society, turn to music to assert their presence, power, and resistance. However, the paper also examines the ethical and societal consequences of this violent inclusivity, asking whether it truly empowers marginalized youth or perpetuates cycles of harm. Ultimately, while drill music and its violent narratives can be seen as an expression of radical inclusivity, they also raise critical questions about the limits of solidarity and the cost of belonging in a fractured society.

Author

• Calvin John Smiley, Hunter College-CUNY