It can be safe to assume that most who have listened to UK drill sometime within their lives have heard of the name “Active Gxng” or one of its members. Like most other groups, it raps about the violence that has occurred within the streets of Camden — its home borough — as well as numerous disses sent to opponents.
There has been content surrounding the group — an article written by Ben Lim in 2020 describes them as “setting the underground alight for the past few months with a slew of vicious tracks…” — but not much has been posted regarding the history of the group.
Before discussing the history of this group, it should be worth giving some context. According to the UK drill community, the group is located on the Agar Grove estate within Camden Town and is predominantly Somali; also referred to as AGB, it is involved in a beef with 51st, a gang comprised of 3 sets (Peckwater, Cumbo, and QC).
Alongside nearby gang NRB — located on the Market Estate — Active Gxng forms the 71st alliance. Besides this, however, the group has a variety of alliances, including those with FSG, CT1, and HRB, the latter being located in nearby West Kilburn.
A 2020 YouTube video provides the beginning of Active Gxng’s history as early 2018, when Lewis Blackman, aka Dottz, was stabbed to death in Kensington; according to the video, Boogie B — a member of the Original Farm Boys in Tottenham — was behind the attack. The former would be mentioned in later Peckwater songs (“Disrespect Dottz then you’re meeting B”), as well those as Active Gxng (“So don’t chat smack to me, if Dottz was alive he’ll vouch for me”).
Following Dottz’s death, Peckwater and Cumbo affiliates allegedly went to the Agar Grove estate in order to retaliate. This would result in several stabbings on 20 February, including the deaths of Sadiq Adan Mohamed and Abdikarim Hassan (going under the names S45 and AK, respectively).
In September the same year, Mohamed Aadam Mohamed— also known as Mitch and allegedly Active Gxng’s boss — was stabbed to death with a 12-inch knife on Hampstead Road in Camden Town. Erick Ekam — his attacker — was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 17 years on 21 December 2018. The murder was mentioned within “What a Mess” by Creepz (“Flipz [Erick Ekam?] hit necks now Mitch is dead”).
Not much would be heard regarding the beef between AG and 51st until 2019.
On 1 April 2019, Calvin Bungisa, also known as CeeMizz or CMizz, was stabbed to death in Gospel Oak. According to the Evening Standard, the group that stabbed him would flee in a Volkswagen Bora, which would later be found burnt; Crimestoppers UK — a charity dedicated to stopping crime — would offer £10,000 to find his murderers. Similar to Dottz, CeeMizz would be mentioned various times within Active Gxng songs.
Following this, on 6 August, Alex Smith — also known as Culprit and an affiliate of Cumbo — was killed in the Regent’s Park estate in Camden Town. Two people would be convicted in March 2020— Yusuf Yusuf and Arif Biomy, identified by the UK drill community as Y.Alert and Armed Response, respectively — with a third, Abdirahman Ibrahim, convicted in 2021. According to the BBC, “the men who carried out the physical knifing, and another who was driving one of the cars, left the country within days of the killing.”
Afterwards, Culprit’s case would go cold until 26 January 2022, when Tariq K. Monteiro, also known as Suspect, and Mohamud S. Abdihakim, aka SWavey, were arrested in Nairobi, Kenya, for their involvement in his murder. The arrest would be followed the day after by a statement from the two’s lawyers and family, stating that they have not received any proof of life of them from Kenyan police.
On 29 and 30 January, the two were extradited to the UK; the two would appear in court on 31 January. On 1 February, Broadday Assassin was allegedly arrested in Dubai alongside Lil Dotz, a member of HRB, one of Active Gxng’s allies.
Given the numerous amounts of arrests of Active Gxng members — as well as those that have quit producing music (i.e 2Smokeyy, who quit in July 2021, citing religious reasons) — the question now is: who shall continue to lead the collective?
As of present, it can be assumed that there is one person that is a partof Active Gxng not currently in prison; that is T.Scam, who had an attempted murder charge dropped in November the same year. Following his case getting dropped, he would release several singles, including “The Cold Room” alongside Suspect.
The only thing that can be sure for now is to wait for the future and to see what it brings. Perhaps it could signal the end of Active Gxng, perhaps not; only time will tell.
