Ballad of the Bullet

How poor urban youth in Chicago use social media to profit from portrayals of gang violence, and the questions this raises about poverty, opportunities, and public voyeurism

Amid increasing hardship and limited employment options, poor urban youth are developing creative online strategies to make ends meet. Using such social media platforms as YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, they’re capitalizing on the public’s fascination with the ghetto and gang violence. But with what consequences? Ballad of the Bullet follows the Corner Boys, a group of thirty or so young men on Chicago’s South Side who have hitched their dreams of success to the creation of “drill music” (slang for “shooting music”). Drillers disseminate this competitive genre of hyperviolent, hyperlocal, DIY-style gangsta rap digitally, hoping to amass millions of clicks, views, and followers—and a ticket out of poverty. But in this perverse system of benefits, where online popularity can convert into offline rewards, the risks can be too great.

Drawing on extensive fieldwork and countless interviews compiled from daily, close interactions with the Corner Boys, as well as time spent with their families, friends, music producers, and followers, Forrest Stuart looks at the lives and motivations of these young men. Stuart examines why drillers choose to embrace rather than distance themselves from negative stereotypes, using the web to assert their supposed superior criminality over rival gangs. While these virtual displays of ghetto authenticity—the saturation of social media with images of guns, drugs, and urban warfare—can lead to online notoriety and actual resources, including cash, housing, guns, sex, and, for a select few, upward mobility, drillers frequently end up behind bars, seriously injured, or dead.

Raising questions about online celebrity, public voyeurism, and the commodification of the ghetto, Ballad of the Bullet offers a singular look at what happens when the digital economy and urban poverty collide.

"The book completely reshaped the way I thought about micro-celebrity and youth culture, and it opened my eyes to how discussions of the internet have been largely oblivious to the worlds of those who are not class-privileged, white and female. As people have been sucked ever deeper into their digital worlds in 2020, Stuart shines a light on how social media offer both hope and danger for some of our cities' most disadvantaged young."---Ashley Mears, Times Higher Education

"Mr Stuart’s recent book, Ballad of the Bullet, is an often gripping account of what he learned from his association with teenage members of an up-and-coming drill group—he dubs them the Corner Boys—desperate to win fame, status and money from rapping. He shows how their musical and lyrical talent is only a minor part of what determines success."---Adam Roberts, The Economist

"The global cross-pollination of drill music is not a coincidence. Young people suffering from inequality and violence are harnessing social media to be heard and valued. Ballad of the Bullet is a detailed, sensitive toolkit for understanding cultural production in the modern city; essential reading for educators, community workers and music fans alike."---Ciaran Thapar, youth worker and writer, speaking on BBC Radio

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Cultural Anthropology & Sociology, Association of American Publishers"

"Honorable Mention for the Outstanding Book Award, Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Section of the American Sociological Association"

"Winner of the CITAMS Book Award, Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association"

"Forrest Stuart, Winner of a MacArthur fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation"

"Ballad of the Bullet is an intimate and honest portrait of the drill rap scene in Chicago. In this remarkable book, Forrest Stuart introduces us to these young, ambitious artists who upend what we think we know, both about urban violence and about those who rap about it."—Alex Kotlowitz, author of An American Summer

"In this pathbreaking book, Forrest Stuart blends classic ethnographic reporting on gangs and urban violence with cutting-edge observations of how actions in social media reverberate in real life. Ballad of the Bullet is the single best study we have on the interplay between the street and the screen, and an unforgettable account of culture and conflict in the twenty-first-century city."—Eric Klinenberg, author of Palaces for the People and Heat Wave

"Ballad of the Bullet strikes the perfect balance between presenting rich data with judicious theory and background research. The organization, argumentation, and writing are excellent."—Mary Pattillo, author of Black on the Block

"With persuasive analysis and an engaging narrative, Ballad of the Bullet presents a compelling account of young men in Chicago who are actively engaged in the production of music and online videos that revolve around violent rivalries in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods of the city. It will be difficult for readers to avoid feeling invested in the lives of the people featured in this book."—Patrick Sharkey, author of Uneasy Peace