THE DRILL GENERATION

19 Artists Who Define the New York Scene Portfolio by Ashley Peña

- Camille Squires

KENZO B

The 18-year-old from the Bronx may be new to rap, but she has already earned the respect of industry peers including Fivio Foreign, Maino, and her friend Young Devyn.

THERE ARE OTHER good female rappers, right? But you're not going to find a female rapper who sounds like Kenzo B. I don't like taking a lot of breaths; I want to fill every gap in the beat. If I'm mad, I write. I just make good music when I'm upset.

22Gz

The 24-year-old from Flatbush is credited with helping bring the U.K. scene’s dancier style to Brooklyn. With a long history of police run-ins dating back to 2014, he has felt the NYPD’s crackdown on drill more than most. In 2019, he was scheduled to perform at the Rolling Loud festival in Queens when he was shut out at the last minute by police, who said he was associated with “public-safety concerns.” This June, as he arrived at JFK to perform at Hot 97’s Summer Jam festival, he was arrested on attempted-murder charges for a March shooting at a Brooklyn club where three people suffered gunshot wounds. A month after that arrest, 22Gz released a new single, “Sniper Gang Freestyle Pt. 2.”