Lil Durk

Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer from Chicago, Illinois.

Dirk Derrick Banks was born on October 19, 1992, in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.

He grew up with a great deal of responsibility at home, as his father was incarcerated when he was seven months old.

He recalled that there were times when he did not have enough food at home when he was younger.

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 took his career more seriously after becoming a father at 19 and dropping out of school at Paul Robeson High School in order to join the Black Disciples, a street gang in Chicago.

Dirk founded the Chicago-based collective and record label Only the Family (OTF) in 2010, for which he serves as the lead member.

The group, having released six albums, included slain rapper King Von.

In 2010, Durk released a freestyle to Gucci Mane & Plies’ "Wasted" 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.

Soon after joining, he began to get into trouble with the law and 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 served no time at all.

On October 19, 2012, Durk released his third mixtape, Life Ain't No Joke.

In December 2012, Durk released the track, called "L's Anthem", which was remixed, featuring French Montana, as a re-release.

He first garnered a regional following with the release of his Signed to the Streets mixtape series (2013–2014), which led to his signing of a recording contract from Def Jam Recordings.

Due to the popularity of "L's Anthem" and its follow-up single, "Dis Ain't What U Want" in 2013, 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 two guest appearances from former Glo Gang affiliate Lil Reese, along with production credits from Paris Bueller and Young Chop, among others.

Eight music videos were released to promote 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 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 under Def Jam.

In addition, Durk was named part of the 2014 XXL Freshmen Class.

On July 7, 2014, Durk released his fifth mixtape, Signed to the Streets 2.

The label released his debut studio album, Remember My Name (2015) and its follow up, Lil Durk 2X (2016) to moderate commercial reception before parting ways with the artist in 2018.

As of September 22, 2015, the mixtape has been downloaded over 216,000 times on DatPiff.

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 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.

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 Detroit rapper Dej Loaf.

The single was released on November 20, 2015.

A music video for "My Beyoncé" had been released in early 2016.

Following the independent release of his Just Cause Y'all Waited mixtape in March 2018, Dirk signed with Alamo Records in July of that year.

In April 2020, Dirk made his first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist with his single "Viral Moment."

He gained further chart success throughout that year with his singles "3 Headed Goat" (featuring Polo G and Lil Baby), "Backdoor," and "The Voice"; his features on Drake's "Laugh Now Cry Later" and Pooh Shiesty's "Back in Blood", and closed the year with his sixth album, The Voice (2020).

The following year, his collaborative album with Georgia rapper Lil Baby, The Voice of the Heroes (2021) became his first to debut atop the Billboard 200.

His seventh album, 7220 (2022) became his second to do so, while his eighth album, Almost Healed (2023) was led by the single "All My Life" (featuring J. Cole), which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, won a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance, and remains his most commercially successful release.