Behind the beats: NYC’s drill rap insiders claim there’s more to the music than violence linked to the genre

NEW YORK — When Angel Reyes helped a friend record his first rap song using a microphone in a cardboard Timberland shoebox, he was just having fun.

“We just were in here playing beats,” he recalled. “Like, it was just natural.”

With a computer and some software, he taught himself to set vocals to background drums, touching up the sound effects electronically.