Skengdo & AM got their breakthrough in 2017 with the song Crash, and were then some of the first in the UK in the rap genre drill.

But his career, which seemed to be going straight up, with gigs at major festivals such as Reading and Leeds, soon encountered obstacles.

Shortly before a major tour, London police classified their music collective 410 as a criminal street gang, and issued restrictions on members - including the rap duo.

- Drill music is just a genre and an expression, you do not have to be in a gang to do drill.

But in the UK, it is easy to be branded as a gang member, says AM. 

Sold out tour ended in jail

In 2018, Skengdo & AM released the song Attempted 1.0.

The song describes a knife fight and the police in London once again said that it was about real gang conflicts that could lead to an escalation of violence.

The music video was downloaded and the duo was banned from playing the song live.

Later that year, they still chose to perform it at a concert in London. 

- Our tour was sold out because of these songs.

It would have been robbing our fans if we had not played them, says AM.

The fact that they performed the song resulted in the two rappers being sentenced to a nine-month prison sentence which was commuted to a two-year suspended sentence.

The restrictions meant, among other things, that they were not allowed to stay in several areas in London, which made it difficult for them to get to their studio.

They also had to send their texts to both their lawyer and the police before release, to make sure not to break the restrictions again and end up in prison.

- We did not know what we could release and not, which meant that we did not release anything at all for a long period.

It affected us very negatively, says AM.

- In the beginning it was very difficult, because I did not want to go to prison for making music.

That I'm talking about something in a song, it's not even a real crime, says Skengdo.

The rappers: The police have damaged our careers

Today, the music restrictions against them have been released.

However, they believe that the actions of the police have damaged their careers - and that the restrictions are ineffective in stopping gang violence. 

- If you really wanted to make a difference, you would have tried to solve the basic problems.

I will continue to make music that people want to hear.

And if I have to take the consequences for it, so be it, says AM.