In 2024, Bronx rapper Cash Cobain released “Dunk Contest” on streaming platforms. Within the next few months, sexy drill found its breakout moment, and one of the biggest artists in Hip Hop, J. Cole, hopped on the remix. In the same year, Cobain’s “Fisherrr (Remix)” with Ice Spice went viral. On both records, he barely raises his voice, instead rapping about sex, designer clothes, and women who know exactly what they want.
Cobain, like many other artists in the genre, didn’t just pop up overnight. He spent years building his reputation behind the boards (you’ve likely heard his tag, “This a beat from Cash, not from YouTube”), producing for Lil Yachty, Central Cee, and — as you might guess — other drill rappers like B-Lovee and Shawny Binladen, before stepping into his own lane. Along the way, Cobain and frequent collaborator Chow Lee laid the foundation for sexy drill with 2 Slizzy 2 Sexy, home to early prototypes like “JHOLIDAY” and “VACANT.”
Cash Cobain and Chow Lee laid the groundwork for sexy drill
That joint project set the template for what sexy drill could sound like: nonchalant delivery, sex-driven punchlines, and perhaps most essential of all, sampling R&B classics of the past. That’s fundamentally what separates the subgenre from drill itself, where, historically, rappers have incriminated themselves, taken aim at their opposition, and even disrespected the dead. Whereas drill — whether from Chicago, New York, or London — gained power through fear, sexy drill instead finds that same influence through lyrical seduction.
“The music is just sexy, the beat is sexy, the sampling is sexy, how we put it together is sexy,” Cobain told Notion. “It makes you want to vibe. It doesn’t make you want to kill somebody. I’m coolin’. I’m not trying to be out here shooting all night. I’m trying to get a girl.”
Aside from Cobain, nobody has played a bigger role in shaping sexy drill than Lee. They worked on the aforementioned 2 Slizzy 2 Sexy together, and many of the Long Island native’s tracks are produced by his “Rump” collaborator. Two of Lee’s biggest hits are “ms. beautiful V,” which (as the title implies) is dedicated to women, and “swag it!” Both appear on his NSFW-fueled album SEX DRIVE.
Other artists that helped popularize the sexy drill subgenre
Lonny Love, another sexy drill pioneer, and Bay Swag come at the sound from different angles, but both bring their own flavor to the formula. Love’s cleaner flows allow him to more or less glide over a sample without drowning it out, as evidenced by the appropriately titled “XXX” and earlier releases like “360 Deals.” Bay Swag, on the other hand, raps with a little more bite. The Queens artist found big success with songs like “Worldwide Snipers” and the Meek Mill-assisted “Seventeen.”
Wolfacejoeyy, meanwhile, holds down his own lane within sexy drill. His breakout single, “cake,” naturally fits the moodier side of the subgenre. He kept the momentum going with songs like “finsta” and the A Boogie wit da Hoodie-assisted “Dallas.” His debut album, Valentino, made a strong case that, when done right, sexy drill can be more than just loosies and scattered tracks on mixtapes.
Rounding out the ever-growing ensemble, Vontee the Singer and Diany Dior give sexy drill its range. Despite the name, Vontee spends most of his time rapping over R&B samples like many of his peers, but with a bit more nuance. Dior is proving women can hold their own and deserve more recognition in the genre. She first went viral with “Favorite Lady,” followed it up with “SEX LOVE DEMONS” featuring Fivio Foreign.
Then there are, of course, the artists who’ve dibbled and dabbled in sexy drill. At the top of that list is Drake, who gave us the Cobain-produced “Calling For Me” from For All The Dogs. You also have Jordan Adetunji’s “KEHLANI,” for which he brilliantly tapped the song’s namesake for its remix. Given how much sexy drill borrows from R&B, it conveniently offers an entry point for singers to experiment. Among those standouts are ilham’s “uhm...ok?” and Girlfriend’s “Tell Me Again” featuring Bay Swag, which samples the classic Lil Jon track “Lovers and Friends.”
Like the larger drill scene it evolved from, sexy drill is taking the time it needs to fully go mainstream, especially thanks to its explicit lyrics and the lingering question of who’s clearing these samples (if anyone’s clearing them in the first place). But make no mistake, the subgenre will not be going anywhere anytime soon.