Lil Durk
Durk Devontay Banks, known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially successful rapper. He initially garnered local success with the release of his Signed to the Streets mixtape series, which led to him to sign with Def Jam Recordings. The label released his debut studio album, Remember My Name, and its follow-up, Lil Durk 2X, to moderate commercial reception before parting ways with the rapper in 2018.
Following the independent release of his Just Cause Y'all Waited mixtape in March 2018, Banks signed with Alamo Records in July of that year. His 2020 single, "Viral Moment", marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist and foresaw a commercial breakthrough that same year with his singles "3 Headed Goat", "Backdoor," and "The Voice", as well as his guest appearances on Drake's "Laugh Now Cry Later" and Pooh Shiesty's "Back in Blood", the former peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. He closed the year with his sixth album, The Voice, which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. Released the following year, his collaborative album with rapper Lil Baby, The Voice of the Heroes, became his first to debut atop the chart. His seventh album, 7220 became his second to do so, while his eighth album, Almost Healed, peaked at number three and was led by the single "All My Life", which also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, yielding his furthest commercial success.
Banks is a four-time Grammy Award nominee and one-time winner. He founded the Chicago-based collective and record label Only the Family in 2010, which included late rapper King Von. In October 2024, Banks was arrested by federal authorities on a conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charge against rapper Quando Rondo. He is also suspected in another murder-for-hire plot that occurred in 2022.
Early life, family and education
Durk Devontay Banks was born on October 19, 1992, in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His father was incarcerated when Durk was seven months old. He recalled times during his youth when there was not enough food at home.He began to establish a presence on social media channels like Myspace and YouTube; he grew fond of the idea of being a rapper as his online fan base started to expand. Banks started taking his career more seriously after becoming a father at age 17. He quit school at Paul Robeson High School when he joined the Black Disciples, a street gang in Chicago. Soon thereafter, he began having trouble with the law. He served time in October 2011 due to gun charges, including possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated unauthorized use of a weapon, according to court records, and did not serve any additional time.
Career
2010–2014: Early career, rise to popularity, signing to OTF and Def Jam Recordings, and ''Signed to the Streets'' duology
In 2010, Durk released a freestyle over an instrumental version of the song “Wasted”, by Gucci Mane and Plies. Durk's version of the song is titled, "Lamron Wasted". That same year he released "L's Bitch" featuring Lil Reese. After plans to sign with Chief Keef and French Montana's labels fell through, he considered rapping as "a full-time career" after the releases of his two singles, "Sneak Dissin'" and "I'ma Hitta", each of which received generally positive feedback locally. On August 26, 2011, Durk released his debut mixtape: I'm A Hitta, followed by I'm Still A Hitta on April 3, 2012. On October 19, 2012, Durk released his third mixtape, Life Ain't No Joke. As of September 22, 2012, the mixtape has been downloaded over 216,000 times on DatPiff. In December 2012, Durk released the track, called "L's Anthem", which was remixed, featuring French Montana, as a re-release.In 2013, due to the popularity of "L's Anthem" and its follow-up single, "Dis Ain't What U Want", Durk accepted a joint venture deal with his collective Only the Family and Def Jam Recordings. After a small number of delays, Durk's fourth mixtape Signed to the Streets was released on October 14, 2013, exclusively on DatPiff. It features a guest appearance from former Glo Gang affiliate Lil Reese, who appears on two of the mixtape's tracks. The mixtape also features production credits from Paris Bueller and Young Chop, along with others.
Eight music videos were released to promote Signed to the Streets: "Bars Pt. 2", "Oh My God", "100 Rounds", "Dis Ain't What U Want", "Bang Bros", "Traumatized", "Hittaz", and "Times". Signed to the Streets would later be named the eighth best mixtape of 2013 by Rolling Stone. On October 22, 2013, in an interview with XXL, Durk said he was working on his debut album under Def Jam Recordings. In addition to working on his debut album, Durk was named part of the 2014 XXL Freshmen Class and later in the year on July 7, 2014, Durk released his fifth mixtape, Signed to the Streets 2.
2015–2016: ''Remember My Name'' and ''Lil Durk 2X''
On March 25, 2015, Durk announced the title of his debut studio album, Remember My Name; and revealed the album's expected release date, May 12, 2015. On March 31, 2015, the album's lead single, "Like Me", featuring Jeremih, was released and later went on to chart on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 9. Later that year on April 20, 2015, Durk announced that the expected May 12 release date of Remember My Name was delayed; he also revealed the official album cover and announced that its release had been pushed back to June 2, 2015.On June 2, 2015, Durk's debut album, Remember My Name, was released after a few delays. The album became his first project to chart on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 14 with 28,000 equivalent album units;, with the remainder of the album's unit count attributed to streaming activity and track sales. On December 15, 2015, Durk released his sixth mixtape, 300 Days, 300 Nights. The only single released in promotion for the mixtape was "My Beyoncé", which features Detroit rapper Dej Loaf. The single was released on November 20, 2015, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The official music video for "My Beyoncé" was released on January 13, 2016. On June 5, 2017, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for single-equivalent units of over 500,000 copies.
On July 22, 2016, Lil Durk 2X, Durk's second studio album was released. Earlier in 2016, on May 23, he released the lead single from the album, "She Just Wanna", featuring Ty Dolla $ign. The other two singles from the album include: "True", which was released on June 10, 2016, and "Money Walk", which features Yo Gotti and was released on July 22, 2016. The album failed to meet the same standards as his previous studio album, with Lil Durk 2X debuting and peaking at number twenty-nine on the Billboard 200.
Later that November, Durk released his seventh mixtape, They Forgot. The mixtape features guest appearances from Lil Reese, Meek Mill, Mozzy, OTF Ikey, 21 Savage, Hypno Carlito, Dej Loaf, YFN Lucci, and BJ the Chicago Kid. While the production was handled by C-Sick, ChopSquad DJ, Donis Beats, DP Beats, LeekeLeek, Kid Wonder, London on da Track, TY Made It, and Young Chop. The mixtape was supported by the single "Baller". On December 7, 2016, Durk's single, "Like Me", from his debut studio album, Remember My Name, was certified gold by the RIAA.
2017–2019: ''Just Cause Y’all Waited'', ''Signed to the Streets 3'', other projects, and ''Love Songs 4 the Streets 2''
Throughout the year 2017, Durk released several mixtapes; starting with Love Songs for the Streets which was released on February 28, 2017; Supa Vultures, a collaborative mixtape with Lil Reese which was released on August 11, 2017; Signed to the Streets 2.5 which was released on October 19, 2017; and Bloodas, a collaborative mixtape with Tee Grizzley which was released on December 8, 2017. Bloodas was the only mixtape of the four released to chart on the Billboard 200, charting at number 96.On March 29, 2018, Durk announced that his twelfth mixtape would be released the next day at midnight, and his first mixtape was to be released for digital retail, Just Cause Y'all Waited. That same time, he also confirmed that he fulfilled his contract with Def Jam Records. The following day, Durk was a free agent due to fulfilling his contract with Def Jam Records, causing him to release Just Cause Y'all Waited exclusively on Apple Music and the iTunes Store. Just Cause Y'all Waited had since been available for stream or download on other platforms. The mixtape became Durk's second mixtape, and first solo mixtape to chart on any type of Billboard chart. Charting at number 57 on the Billboard 200, 28 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and 22 on the Rap Albums chart, respectively.
Durk also announced a collaborative project with 808 Mafia producer DY, "Durkio Krazy", which still hasn't been released and could possibly be canceled entirely. On May 3, 2019, Durk was featured on the remix of "Crazy Story" by fellow rapper King Von. With a related music video, the remix is called "Crazy Story 2.0" which would later be part of Von's debut mixtape, Grandson, Vol. 1. The song peaked at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
As of July 27, 2018, Durk announced that he signed to Alamo Records and Interscope Records, and released his third studio album Signed to the Streets 3 on November 9, 2018, under Alamo/Interscope. It features guest appearances from Young Dolph, Gunna, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Future, Kevin Gates, Lil Baby, Lil Skies, TK Kravitz, and Ty Dolla Sign.
Love Songs 4 the Streets 2, Lil Durk's fourth studio album, was released on August 2, 2019, serving as a sequel to his 2017 mixtape Love Songs 4 the Streets. It features guest appearances from 21 Savage, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Key Glock, King Von, Meek Mill, and Nicki Minaj. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 in the United States, marking his first top-ten entry on the chart.