Lil Durk

2011–2013: Early life, career and rise to popularity

Durk Banks was born on October 19, 1992 in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in Englewood, a neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

In 2011, Banks would start taking music seriously. Banks was affiliated with fellow Chicago-born rapper Chief Keef's label, Glo Gang (formerly called Glory Boyz Entertainment), early in his career, but Durk never signed to them. He considered rap 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. On October 19, 2012, Durk released his third mixtape, Life Ain't No Joke. As of September 22, 2015, 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, which was later being re-released. However, he originally slated other rappers such as Future, Yo Gotti, Juelz Santana and Meek Mill, which neither of them have finalized their decisions.

2013–2015: Signing to OTF and Def Jam Recordings and Signed to the Streets

Due to the popularity of "L's Anthem" and its follow-up single, "Dis Ain't What U Want" (the latter was released on April 22, 2013), Durk signed a joint venture deal with his record label 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 (under French Montana's Coke Boys Records and OTF, his own label). It features two guest appearances from former Glo Gang affiliate Lil Reese, along with production credits from Paris Bueller and Young Chop, among others. 8 music videos have been released for these songs that were included on the aforementioned mixtape: "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, Lil Durk said he was working on his debut album with Def Jam, as well as a compilation album with Coke Boys. He was also planning to release what would've been his fifth mixtape, originally called Fuckery, on January 5, 2014. However, on January 6, 2014, the day after the mixtape's original release date, Lil Durk stated on Twitter that his label, Def Jam, warned him not to release the mixtape. Also, Durk was named part of the 2014 XXL Freshmen Class.

On July 7, 2014, Durk released his fifth mixtape, the sequel to Signed to the Streets.

2015–2016: Remember My Name

On March 25, 2015, Durk announced the title of his debut studio album Remember My Name and revealed its original release date, May 12. On the same day, the album's first single, "Like Me", featuring fellow Chicago music artist and Durk's Def Jam labelmate, Jeremih, was released.

However, on April 20, 2015, Durk announced that the 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.

On June 2, 2015, Durk's debut album, Remember My Name, was released as planned. The album peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard 200 with 28,000 equivalent album units; it sold 24,000 copies in its first week, with the remainder of its unit count attributed to streaming activity and track sales. Despite these sales, the success of the album's single, "Like Me", helped Remember My Name become a sleeper hit. Later that year, Durk released his sixth mixtape, 300 Days, 300 Nights, on December 15, 2015. The only single released in promotion for the mixtape was "My Beyoncé", which features his love interest, Dej Loaf. The single was released on November 20, 2015.

2016: Lil Durk 2X

Lil Durk released his second album, Lil Durk 2X, on July 22, 2016. Previously, he released the first single for the album, "She Just Wanna", featuring Ty Dolla $ign, in May.

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 is supported by the single "Baller".

Durk was in the middle of controversy after a song by J. Cole, "Everybody Dies", was released in late-November, days before his fourth studio album, 4 Your Eyez Only, was released on December 9, 2016. The lyric on the song cited: "Lil whatever. Just another short bus rapper/Fake drug dealers turned tour bus trappers", with many speculating that this could be aimed at Durk, Lil Yachty and Lil Uzi Vert. It is unclear whether if it is a diss or vice versa as neither Durk or Cole responded to the track or one another.

Personal life

On the night of March 27, 2015, Lil Durk's manager, Uchenna Agina, known by his stage names, OTF Chino or Chino Dolla, was shot and killed in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported that at about 1:50 a.m., Agina was shot multiple times while sitting in a car, outside of a restaurant in Avalon Park. According to reports, he was sitting in a car in Stony Island Avenue when a gunman approached him on foot and fired shots into the vehicle, hitting the man repeatedly, but once in his head. The Chicago Sun-Times also reported that he was driven to Advocate Trinity Hospital by a friend, where he was later declared dead at 2:04 a.m. Uchenna Agina was 24 years old. Agina's death occurred less then ten months after the murder of Durk's cousin, McArthur Swindle (known as OTF NuNu) on May 31, 2014, and two days after Durk's announcement of his debut album.

Legal issues

In 2011, Banks was arrested on a weapon charge and sentenced to three months in jail. He was later released on bond, only to be sent back to serve 87 more days. On June 5, 2013, Banks was arrested after allegedly throwing a loaded .40 caliber handgun into his car when police approached him on South Green Street in Chicago. He was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. He was held on $100,000 bond and his lawyer would claim to have nine affidavits from witnesses who confirm Durk's innocence. One witness also admitted the gun was his. Banks was released on July 18, 2013.

In 2014, his house was searched because someone convicted of second-degree murder charged him with having guns. On August 19, 2016, he was cleared of disregarding probation when he was arrested on felony gun charges; the judge dropped the charges.

Discography

Awards and nominations

Underground Interviews