One of the pre-eminent rappers from the Southside of Chicago, Lil Durk tempers his raw lyricism with pop appeal — an approach that has proven to be influential in his hometown and subsequent distant scenes indebted to the city’s innovative drill movement. Durk set himself apart as a teenager in the early 2010s with numerous mixtapes through his Only the Family label /collective, and has since affiliated with assorted major labels, boosting his commercial exposure with consistently high placements on the Billboard 200. His albums in the latter half of the 2010s ranged from Remember My Name, containing his first RIAA-certified gold single (“Like Me”) to Love Songs 4 the Streets 2, his first Top Ten full-length. In the 2020s, the rapper’s stature has grown with projects such as the chart-toppers The Voice of the Heroes (a collaboration with Lil Baby) and 7220, followed by the 2023 releases Almost Healed and Nightmares in the Trenches (with Only the Family). Almost Healed was highlighted by the J. Cole-

assisted “All My Life,” a number two pop hit that won a Grammy in the category of Best Melodic Rap Performance. The album Deep Thoughts appeared in 2024.

Born Durk Derrick Banks, Lil Durk grew up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago’s South Side. The rapper/singer started issuing mixtapes through his collective OTF (Only the Family) in August 2011 with I’m a Hitta and quickly followed it with I’m Still a Hitta (April 2012) and Life Ain’t No Joke (October 2012), the latter of which came out just after the typically melodic and kicked-back “L’s Anthem,” his debut single for Def Jam. The same year, he was featured on a string of tracks with fellow Chicago natives and close associates like Lil Reese, Fredo Santana, and Chief Keef. Dis Ain’t What U Want,” his second Def Jam single, was was released in May 2013, just before his affiliation with French Montana’s Coke Boys was made official.