The Rise and Trials of Lil Durk: A Journey Through Music and Adversity

The Rise and Trials of Lil Durk: A Journey Through Music and Adversity

A Challenging Upbringing

Born October 9, 1992, Lil Durk (Durk Derrick Banks), grew up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side.[1] [2] Raised by his mother, who worked as a nurse, his father was incarcerated since Durk was just seven months old.[3] Growing up without a father figure, Durk remembers staying out until 4 or 5 a.m. in the fifth grade and often going hungry because food wasn’t always available.[4]

Rise to Fame through Mixtapes

After discovering a passion for hip-hop, he gained a steady following dropping mixtapes through his collective OTF (Only the Family) on YouTube and Myspace and landed a deal with Def Jam in 2012.[5] [6] Shortly after, he dropped his first single “L’s Anthem” and also appeared on tracks with fellow Chicago artists including Lil Reese, Fredo Santana, and Chief Keef.[7] A year later, he released his follow-up single, “Dis Ain’t What U Want,” shortly before officially affiliating with French Montana’s Coke Boys.[8]

Breakthrough and Tragedy

Released in June 2015, his debut studio album, Remember My Name, reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200.[9] Tragedy also struck that year when his manager Uchenna Agina – known as Chino Dolla or OTF Chino – was tragically murdered in Avalon Park after meeting with NBA star Joakim Noah at the Bulls player’s home to discuss an anti-violence event.[10]

Legal Troubles and Resilience

DeJ Loaf, Yo Gotti, and Young Thug made appearances on his 2016 album Lil Durk 2X, which also included the Ty Dolla $ign-assisted track “She Just Wanna.”[11]

In 2017, he dropped collaborative mixtapes Love Songs for the Streets, Supa Vultures with Lil Reese, and Bloodas with Tee Grizzley.[12] In 2018, he released his third studio album, Signed to the Streets 3, which reached the Top 20 of the Billboard 200.[13]

In February 2019, Lil Durk was involved in a shooting in Atlanta, which led to criminal charges.[14] While out on bail that August, he released his fourth studio album, Love Songs 4 the Streets 2, and became his first project to chart in the Top Five.[15]

He dropped mixtape Just Cause Y’all Waited (2018) and his sixth studio album The Voice (2020) before dropping his collaborative project The Voice of the Heroes with Lil Baby (2021).[16] Later that year, Durk featured on both Kanye West’s Donda and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy.[17] In 2022, Durk released his album 7220 and later collaborated with Cardi B and Kanye West on the non-album track “Hot Shit.”[18]

Recent Achievements and Arrest

In 2023, Durk released Almost Healed, which featured “All My Life,” a collaboration with J. Cole that won a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance.[19]

In October 2024, Lil Durk was arrested by federal authorities on a conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charge.[20] The arrest came after five other members of his Only the Family (OTF) group were arrested in connection with the murder of rapper Quando Rondo’s cousin.[21] Rondo was the intended target of a 2022 shooting in which gunfire missed him, but killed his cousin, 24-year-old Saviay’a Robinson.[22] The alleged murder was in retaliation for the murder of Chicago rapper and friend of Durk, King Von.[23]

[1] https://www.billboard.com/artist/lil-durk/

[2]https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lil-durk-mn0002998350#biography

[3]https://www.chicagotribune.com/2015/06/01/interview-lil-durk-on-growing-up-on-the-south-side/

[4] Ibid.

[5]Ibid.

[6]https://www.billboard.com/artist/lil-durk/

[7] https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lil-durk-mn0002998350#biography

[8] Ibid.

[9]https://www.billboard.com/artist/lil-durk/

[10]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3017399/Manager-Chicago-rapper-Lil-Durk-met-Joakim-Noah-shot.html

[11] https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lil-durk-mn0002998350#biography

[12] Ibid.