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SEXY DRILL EXPLODES 569% YOY

By Chief Editor | 2/11/2026

Sexy drill has emerged as the fastest-growing music genre with 569% year-over-year growth on Splice, led by Cash Cobain who replaced drill's violent themes with sensual R&B-influenced production. The subgenre's success is driven by viral hits like Jordan Adetunji's Grammy-nominated 'KEHLANI' and collaborations with mainstream artists including Drake and J. Cole.

Key Points

## The Beat Switch That Changed Everything Sexy drill searches exploded 569%, making it the fastest-growing genre search on Splice. Cash Cobain popularized the style, keeping drill's core sound, but swapping violence for sensuality. This amorous subgenre comes in right at the top of Spotify's list of the fastest-growing global scenes, seeing a 1460% increase in UK streams. While traditional drill faced legal crackdowns and cultural exhaustion, Cash Cobain was building something different in New York studios. "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." The sexy drill sound began to crystallize with the release of Cobain and Chow Lee's club-friendly 2 Slizzy 2 Sexy in 2022. 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. ## From Bronx Studios to Grammy Nominations Cobain's single "Fisherrr" (with Bay Swag) was released in a remix featuring Ice Spice, and Cobain's single "Dunk Contest" was given an extra verse by J. Cole and retitled "Grippy." The full-length Play Cash Cobain was issued in August, and it reached number 113 on the Billboard 200. Meanwhile, Jordan Adetunji's 'Kehlani', his biggest single to date, recently went platinum, having racked up over 370 million Spotify streams and spawned a remix featuring the US pop star it was named after. The "KEHLANI" remix is up for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 2025 GRAMMYs, a feat that's even more remarkable considering the rising alt hip-hop star only just released his first full project a mere 13 months before earning the nomination. Artists like Ice Spice and Jordan Adetunji ("KEHLANI") rode the wave to global audiences. Though sexy drill was born out of New York, spearheaded by artists like Ice Spice, Bay Swag and Chow Lee, the genre has been taken to new heights by Texan rapper Don Toliver and even adapted by UK-based artists. ## The Economics of Sensuality Cobain 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 other drill rappers like B-Lovee and Shawny Binladen, before stepping into his own lane. Additionally, Cobain guested on A Boogie wit da Hoodie's "Body" and Don Toliver's "Attitude" (also featuring Charlie Wilson). The genre's growth comes as traditional drill faces industry resistance. Mayor Eric Adams described drill as a "devilish bargain", while Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez stated that drill rap videos were "causing young people to lose their lives." By 2025, even hip hop veterans were done with it. The LOX's Jadakiss called drill "the worst rap genre of all time." Sexy drill offers labels and platforms a safer alternative. Replacing the raspy flow and over-the-top disses for lighthearted jabs and bold sexual advances, Sexy Drill is about creating fun, female-friendly party tracks often sampled from beloved R&B hits of yesteryear. The result is music that drives streams without driving controversies, positioning sexy drill as drill's commercial evolution rather than its replacement.

Topics: sexy-drill, cash-cobain, jordan-adetunji, drill-music, streaming-growth, focus-46-25

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