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Research by UCL crime scientists into 'drill music' shows that positive lyrics are more popular

20 November 2019

UCL crime scientists have found that positive lyrics in 'drill music' - a type of hip hop - are more popular than negative ones and attract more views and comments on YouTube.

DJ with turntable in nightclub

. That's the main finding of a piece of research by and , both based in UCL Security and Crime Science. New Scientist magazine picked up the story this week in their technology section, and interviewed both researchers. Drill music is a form of hip hopÌýknown for its gritty lyrics, and . However, this piece of research suggests that fans of the genre are drawn more towards lyrics with a positive tone, and Dr Kleinberg points out that a song can have a positive overall sentiment even when it contains violent language.

Dr Kleinberg and Dr McFarlane analysedÌý550 YouTube videos by 105 London-based drill music artists, using machine learning to investigate how the tone of a song’s lyrics changes. They found that songs with a more positive tone attracted twice as much audience engagement, e.g. comments and views. They are now working with the Metropolitan Police to plan follow-up studies, examining whether drill music does facilitate conflict. To find out more,Ìýread the and the ´Ç²Ô±ô¾±²Ô±ð.Ìý

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