Lil Durk

Durk Banks^[1] (born October 19, 1992), better known by his stage name Lil Durk is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He is signed to the major record label Def Jam and French Montana's Coke Boys imprint.

Early life

Banks was raised in Englewood, a neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. He is also a member of the Black Disciples ^[2]

Musical career

Durk was affiliated with Glory Boyz Entertainment early in his career but never signed. He considered rap as a full-time career after the release of his two singles, "Sneak Dissin" and "Ima Hitta", which received generally positive feedback.^[3] In December 2012, Durk released a remix to his song "L's Anthem" featuring French Montana^[4] On May 21, 2013, Lil Durk inked a deal on French Montana's label, Coke Boys.^[5]

After a couple of delays, on October 10, 2013, his fourth mixtape Signed To the Streets was released on DatPiff under his own label OTF and Coke Boys. It features two guest appearances from Lil Reese and production credits from Paris Bueller, Young Chop and more.^[6] 8 music videos have been released for the 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 be named the eighth best mixtape of 2013 by Rolling Stone.^[7] On October 22, 2013, in an interview with XXL Lil Durk said he was working on his debut album with Def Jam and the Coke Boys collaboration album.^[8] He was planning to release his fifth mixtape, Fuckery, on January 5, 2014. However, on January 6, 2014, Lil Durk stated on Twitter that Def Jam told him not to release the free mixtape.^[9] Durk was named part of the 2014 XXL Freshmen Class.^[10]

On March 27, 2015, Durk's manager Uchenna "Chino" Agina was shot and killed in Chicago's Avalon Park neighborhood.^[11] This shooting death came just two days after Durk announced his forthcoming debut album Remember My Name would be released on May 12, 2015 and the release of the album's first single "Like Me".

However, on April 20, 2015, Durk revealed the official album cover for Remember My Name and announced a new release date of June 2, 2015.^[12] The album was slotted 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.^[13] Following the "sleeper" success of Remember My Name, Durk released his sixth mixtape, 300 Days, 300 Nights on December 15, 2015.^[14] The only single released in promotion for the mixtape was "My Beyoncé", which features Dej Loaf.^[15]

Personal life

On the night of March 27, 2015, Lil Durk's Manager OTF Chino(real name Uchenna Agina), was shot and killed in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune reported that at about 1:50 a.m., Chino was shot multiple times while sitting in a car outside a restaurant in Avalon Park. According to reports,he was sitting in a car in the 8400 block of South Stony Island Avenue when a man/ gunman approached on foot and fired shots into the vehicle, hitting the man repeatedly including once in his head. The Chicago Sun Times reports that he was driven to Advocate Trinity Hospital by a friend, where he was declared dead at 2:04 a.m. Chino was aged 24.^[16] Agina's death came after the 2014 shooting death of Durk's cousin OTF NuNu (real name Mcarthur Swindle)

Legal issues

In 2011, Banks was arrested on a weapons charge and sentenced to three months in jail. He was later released on bond, only to be sent back to serve 87 more days. ^[17][18]

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.^[19] 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.^[20] Banks was released on July 18, 2013.^[18]

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

• Lil Durk at Last.fm