Zone 2 is a British

hip hop collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collegjthk ctive Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from th ...

based in

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The group has gained millions of views and streams through their music on YouTube and streaming platforms. The group is noteworthy for its rivalry with Moscow17. The rivalry began around 2016 and has resulted in various

diss tracks A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

between the two groups, as well as physical violence.

History

In December 2017, Zone 2 released the ''Known Zoo'' mixtape, later dubbed a 'classic' by DJ Mag. In August 2021, Kwengface released his debut mixtape, ''YPB: Tha Come Up''. In June 2022, Kwengface released his second solo mixtape, ''YPB: The Archive'', featuring CB,

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, Squeeks and 26ar.

Current members

The list below includes confirmed members of Zone 2: *Karma (or Karmakayos) *Karnage *Kiz *Kwengface (formerly Narsty) *PS Hitsquad (or simply PS; formerly P and P Savage) *RmSav *Skully *Snoop (or Snoopy) *Teej *Trizzac *Unruly Bad (or Shay Squeeze)

Former members

*LrBabyOrBoo (or simply LR)

Legal issues

In 2017, two members of Moscow17, Incognito (real name Sidique Kamara) and Jet Black or JB (real name Kevin Aka-Kadjo) were charged of the murder of Abdirahman Mohamed, a brother to a Zone 2 member, but later cleared of murder. Incognito was later stabbed to death in August 2018. Moscow17 rapper, GB (real name Ryhiem Ainsworth Barton), was allegedly shot by a Zone 2 member. Although he survived the attack, he was later shot and killed in May 2018. In August 2018, a fight occurred in a

children's playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

in the Elmington Estate,

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

. The fight involved around 30 teenagers, some armed with knives. A 15-year old was 'disembowelled' during the event after being stabbed with a long-bladed knife, causing 'massive internal-bleeding'. The boy who was stabbed was alleged to be a member of Moscow17, and the fight was allegedly between Moscow17 members and Zone 2 members. In 2022, PS Hitsquad (real name Alieu Koroma) was sentenced to a total of 3 years and 7 months for being concerned with the supply of heroin and cocaine, as well as possession of a knife. According to the ''

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'', he was found following a Metropolitan Police investigation into a missing 14-year old.

Controversy

The group is notable for its rivalry with Moscow17 (based in the Brandon Estate, in

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

). These rivalries are expressed in the form of

, such as "Zone 2 Step" in response to Moscow17's "Moscow March", and sometimes physical violence. The group, and drill music in general, faced increased scrutiny by authorities following an increase in violence in 2018. Artists within the group, such as Kwengface, were given 'rap injunctions', restricting the topics they could rap about. In a 2021 interview, Kwengface explained:

The authorities interfered a lot, you know? Shows was getting locked off. We were doing things with
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
and then they stopped working with us. A lot of artists didn't wanna work with us, labels wouldn't work with us .We were kind of just stuck. We were blacklisted, basically. I even took time out. I stopped releasing music for a while.

Following the lifting of rap injunctions against the group, in December 2019, Zone 2 released a song titled "No Censor!". The song gained notoriety and became infamous on social media due to the uncensored nature of the song, with various claims of murders committed by the group as well as dead rivals being named outright and mocked throughout the song. Drill artists typically allude to people they are dissing as opposed to naming them outright. The song was taken off of YouTube in less than 24 hours of its release, but has since been reuploaded. Kwengface stated the song was a reaction to previously being censored.

Discography

Mixtapes

* ''Known Zoo'' (2017) * ''Hillside Zoo'' (2018) * Karma - ''Anger Management'' (2019) * Karma & Trizzac - ''Demented'' (2020) * Kwengface - ''YPB: Tha Come Up'' (2021) * Kwengface - ''YPB: The Archive'' (2022) * Kwengface - ''The Memoir'' (2023) * PS Hitsquad - ''Community Service'' (2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zone 2 Hip hop collectives English hip hop groups UK drill musicians Rappers from London Peckham