PAC MAN: An Unknown Founding Father Of Drill Music

Whats the difference between Drill Music and Gangster Rap? Was Gangster Rap even a real genre? When I think of terms like Gangster Rap I think of artist like NWA and not neccesarily what hip hop has been dislplaying the whole 40+ years it’s been thriving. When I think of Gangster Rap I think of studio gangsters which was never a good term. Not to say that all rappers from the gangster Rap era are studio gangsters but the two terms just seem to coincide. I can remember rap being oversaturated with overexaggerated tales of street culture. I can remember when rappers used to brag about getting shot. When rappers didn’t  rap about real murders of rivals they were beefing with. Back when you could make a song about your dead homies and the opps dont respond with a song entilted “New Pack”. Back when teeange artist basically went commerical from the jump and the goal was to be a corny sensation in a way. So how could a bunch of kids from my city make most of the industry look like the WWE?

Growing up in Chicago we had a different view of what hip hop was. We were barely in the game. Lets face it we were in the nosebleeds. Before Drill Music there was never a major music scene in Chicago. When it came to hip hop history it wasn’t much that we were contributing. We didnt see our neighborhoods in music videos. We didn’t hear most of our slang terms in records. Yes we were grateful for the few legendary acts we did produce over the years such as Kanye West, Twista, Do or Die and Crucial Conflict but none of the artist of that nature seem anything like the type of artist we see coming out of Chicago today. Not even making it out in most cases. Back then no one was capable of painting a picture of what Chicago was really like. We watched movies like “Barbershop” knowing damn well that shxt dont feel like Chicago. Showtimes “The Chi” doesn’t even paint a clear accurate picture. The closest thing I’ve ever seen to Chicago on tv was “The Wire” and that wasnt even based in Chicago.

Its no secret that Chief Keef is the face of Drill music. In the same way that Gucci Mane could be considered the face of Trap Music. In actuality Jeezy was the one who introduced the term trap to me. Trap didnt become apart of my vocabulary until 2005 when TM101 was taking the world by storm. But two years earlier than that T.I. actually  released an album in 2003 entitled “Trap Muzik”. So why are people so flabbergasted when others add TIP to the conversation. Its because T.I. may have coin the phrase in form of an album but he did not create the sound we all know and love as Trap Music. Young  Jeezy made it popular. But Gucci Mane and Atlanta producer Zaytoven elevated it and are credited with producing  more Trap Music than any other artist and producer combined.

Before Sosa even blew up Chicago had experinced a small wave of indepedent music from rappers such as Bump J, LEP, Parkay, Global Gangsters and King Louie. Most King Louie fans know Louie is from a south side neighborhood called Dro City. The Dro City rappers included not only King Louie but Boss Woo, the late Snow Boy and the late Pac Man. I didn’t get a chance to meet Pac Man. Like most Chicsgo rappers he was already dead before his music reached me.  As for Snow Boy I remember meeting him at the same studio I met Mikey Dollaz at in Dro City back in 2008.

DirtyPThirty better known as Kilo ran a home studio that was right on 64th and Ingleside. Not only did he record most of these rappers but he also shot they music videos. He is the director of Pac Mans Dro Style video. The “Dro Style” video shoot was released 5 months after it was shot because Pac Man was killed during the video shoot. This is an undocumented part of Drill Music history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-NllYMt3p8

Director of the “Dro Style” by Pacman says Packman died during the video shoot.
by inChiraqology

 

So lets get to the point. King Louie coined the term Chiraq. Even going as far as adding Drillanoiz. But the Drill term was introduced to us by Pac Man. Even more specifically the term “Its A Drill” came from the title of one of his songs. And whats wild is it wasn’t  really used in a violent manner. He seemd to be referencing a female the majority of the song. At least up until the second verse where he mentions the drill team and running drills. But back then a drill could mean anything. From going on a hit to a party. It really depended on how you were using it.

Pac Man born Larry Johnson but better known as Larro to his affiliates was an up and coming rapper gunned down in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood on June 21st, 2010. A weekend that left 10 dead and 44 wounded. Right before his death Pac Man seemed to be closely affiliated with the LEP Bogus Boyz. It was rumors circulating that Pac was now signed with  LEP and was now taking a major role with the group. But sadly Pac was gunned down months before the release of Dont Feed The Killaz 3. He was 25 years old.

Pac Man is an unknown legend to those outside of the South Side of Chicago, who still more than likely influenced many of your favorite Drill Music artist. Even Rico Recklezz admited that Pac Man is the orignator of the term drill. He was addressing Waka Flocka agreeing that he actually influened Drill music.

Waka Flocka recently sat down with Drea O and was asked his thoughts on influencing drill music in Chicago.

“I like it. I love it,” he said. “I just wanna see them make some dollars and not just make a body count. Make some business out of it.”

Waka says he doesn’t consider himself drill, but rather an entertainer.

“I just express myself. Music was like anger management to me. It still is. It’s just fun. I use the s**t to party, have fun and express myself.”

Waka’s comments didn’t sit right with Chiraq drill rapper Rico Reckless.

“I F*K WIT FLOCKA HEAVY DATS BIG BRO,,BUT MFZ KNO HE AINT START NO F*CKIN DRILL 2 MY KNOWLEDGE PACMAN DID RIP PAC GO LISTEN 2 PAC MIXTAPE,” Recklezz wrote on Twitter.

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbdXCny4wHw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5n5DRUvKg8