Drill aka Death

by Kayla Marie Tyler

July 9th, 2022 was a regular NYC hot summer day until news broke out that Ethan Reyes,

known as “Notti Osama,” a Yonkers boy who grew up in Harlem, was stabbed in the abdomen which later killed him. This was due to the fact that he and his friends had caught a rival gang member known as Kelvin Martinez and chased him into the 137th Street City College 1 train station, cornering him then proceeding to threaten him with a broomstick until Kelvin Martinez took out a knife and sliced Ethan Reyes with it.

Ethan Reyes

Jasire, an 18 year old student from Queens that goes to Forsyth Satellite Academy, expresses

his options to us on how he views drill. Jasire was asked “How do you feel about the drill scene in NYC?” Jasire states, “A** people don't listen to it, everyone wants to listen to it but instead I wanna listen to calm a** music, half the n****s are in jail.” While also being asked “How is drill affecting the youth of NYC?” Jasire says, “You got the 12 year olds saying I got the G in my pocket. I’ve literally seen a 12 year old with a geek bar.” For those who may not know what the “G” is, it happens to be a gun. Jasire is telling us how drill affected the youth's ears so badly that they're running around telling people they have guns on them. Lastly, I asked Jasire, “How can we stop the drill scene?” Jasire expressed, “N****s got to put up with peace and come together”.

Zenovia, an 18 year old student born in the Bronx, raised in Harlem, and attending Forsyth Satellite Academy, expresses her options to us on how she views drill. Zenovia was asked “How do you feel about the drill scene in NYC?” Zenovia states, “I like drill, it's a good type of genre.” While next being asked, “Do you feel like drill has a negative effect on the youth? If so, why?” she said, “Yes, because it's promoting a lot of violence and alot of kids are dying because of what they say in their songs.” I then asked Zenovia “Are any of your friends/family a part of the drill?" Zenovia states, “Yes my cousin and brother does drill and it's taking them nowhere and everything is hood fame they are making the block hot.” Zenovia is basically saying that her peoples that are involved with drill are stuck in the hood or their “block”. Lastly, I asked Zenovia for a resolution on “How can we stop drill?” She said “I don’t think you can until it gets played out overtime because it's become its own genre.”

Anji, a 15 year old student born in Bushwick, Brooklyn and raised in Flatbush, attends

Forsyth Satellite Academy, too. She expresses her options to us on how she views drill. Anji was asked “How do you feel about the drill scene in NYC?” Anji states, “I mean it's cool, I guess it's very aggressive.” While then being asked “As someone that lives in NYC Brooklyn what do you know about drill?” she said, “I know that some people beef with and call them "opps.” I then asked Anji “Do you feel like drill has a negative effect on youth?” Anji states, “Yes because a lot of kids our age want to be those who do drill and want gangs, they feel inspired ” Lastly, I asked “How can we stop drill” Anji said, "I don't think we can honestly because people are very invested.”

Young Ethan Reyes (right)

Articles from the NY Post and Lohud explain in detail the incident of the killing of Ethan Reyes due to the drill scene of NYC.

The next step forward that will need to happen in NYC is the need to spread more awareness

about the violence that the drill scene causes to the youth of NYC teens. While historical

information can be looked for on music providers such as SoundCloud and YouTube that provide songs about Ethan Reyes “Notti” opps dissing him dying, also you may find songs about Ethan Reyes dissing others.