Image via Complex Original
Chicago's Lil Durk isn't as famous as Chief Keef, and he's not as prolific as King L, but he is just as talented as either, carving out his own niche in the city's drill scene with a unique, creative, melodic flow and an extremely consistent catalog.
A Def Jam signee and member of the Glory Boyz Entertainment (GBE) clique, Durk's I'm Still A Hitta and Life Ain't No Joke mixtapes are two of the better hip-hop releases this year. The former, in particular, is a tight, focused, and singular document of Chicago rap in 2012.
But who is this 19-year-old Englewood native? We spoke with Lil Durk about where he grew up, his discography, his experience signing with a major record label, and the stresses of success.
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Growing Up in Chicago and Getting Noticed
Lil Durk: “Chicago, Englewood. It was hard growing up. [There wasn’t] a lot of money around. [There was] a lot of shooting and killing and all that. It’s worse now. There was a lot of killing going on as a kid. Took a lot of stuff out of me growing up. A lot of shootings going on. It was hard growing up, but I made it. But it’s even worse right now.
"I'm 100 with my family. Everybody’s all cool. No problems. I have two sisters and a brother. Everybody was close.
"I was bad at school. [I had] bad grades, all that. I ain’t gonna lie. [I decided to get into music] when I first made “Sneak Dissin.” It was like '07, '08. [Before that] I was actually playing basketball. Once I made the “Sneak Dissin” video, got great feedback from it, started taking it serious.
"That was when “drill” first got hot. Everyone kept saying “drill, drill.” So I just put up “sneak dissin.” That’s when I said, “sneak dissin’ on your status/Facebook get you damaged,” stuff like that. Caught a lot of people’s attention, people put it on Facebook with my name with it. And people looked it up. That’s how people found out about me."
Musical Influences
Lil Durk: "I always used to listen to Meek [Mill]. I liked [Rick] Ross. I liked Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. ‘Crossroads.’ I used to listen to a lot of Bone Thugs. I don’t know how old I was. I knew I was real young because that’s when the video for 'Crossroads' first came out.
"[I first got into Meek because] he was a battle rapper. He was on YouTube, DVDs, and stuff. He was young and just rapping. I used to see him battle and I was like, ‘I like this cat.’ It’s crazy when I see him now because he was a battle rapper and now he makes songs.
"I was trying to trend. What everyone was doing back then, I was trying to do the opposite. Everybody’s saying drill, and that’s when I made 'I’m A Hitta.' The opposite will make you fans out of everybody else.
"When I started rapping, probably—I wasn’t hearing too many Chicago rappers. There weren’t none when we started making 'Sneak Dissin.' There wasn’t none but King Louie and Bump. And they had a whole totally different type of sound.
“After ‘I’m A Hitta,’ I kind of figured [it would blow up] but not like [what] it is now. After ‘Sneak Dissin’ I thought I’d do something different. I made ‘I’m A Hitta’ and it got to 300,000 views. I’m like, 'Damn, I could take off.'
"Sly [Polaroid], [King] Louie. It was the three of us. I been knew Sly. He’s been in the family. We all know each other. He’ll go to mine or my grandma’s house. And Louie, we’re all from the same block."
Recording His Mixtapes
Lil Durk: "Actually, I recorded my first mixtape with DGainz. He recorded my whole first mixtape. It was bogus—all the songs leaked. I just put it together to put it out. And then I made I’m Still A Hitta. I got a lot of feedback. And now I’ve got Life Ain’t No Joke.
"I like ‘Rob Who’ with me and Lil Reese. I did [videos] for all the songs. Even for all the songs I don’t like—I still made them. [With ‘227k,’] We were just bored in the house. There’s a hallway scene, house scene, outdoor scene. [‘Fly Wit Me’ was about] one of my homies who died.
"I'm Still a Hitta was when I first got into it with Paris Bueller. I used to know Paris Bueller back then when I first made ‘Sneak Dissin.’ I used to record a third of the songs at his house. They moved and that was that. I forgot about him completely. Then when I had gotten with a guy named Focus. He had told me, ‘Bueller said what’s up.’ I’m like, ‘Who’s Bueller?’
“He’s like, man, he used to quarrel with him on Emerald [Street]. So I went over there, it clicked in my head a little bit, like he looks familiar. He was making beats. I asked him to make something from scratch. He made ‘L’s Anthem.’ That’s the first song I made with him. I’m like, "Brother, this is a hit right here." We made a chorus, chopped the chorus up and went from there. I didn’t even think it would do what it did, though.
“[With ‘I Get Paid’], [King] Louie got all types of different ways and styles. He said, ‘Let’s do something different.’ I already knew it was going to be something crazy. When the beat came on, it already came with a chorus. He was like, ‘Repeat this.’ And we went in on it.
“[With ‘Right Here,’] again, I was at Bueller’s house. [Young] Chop was like, ‘Let me make you a crazy beat.’ I said, ‘Go ahead.’ He made it. I made ‘Right Here.’ At first, I was like, ‘It’s alright. It ain’t going to do good.’ But when I made the video, that’s when the views starting going everywhere and everybody’s listening to the same song. But now I got Meek Mill on it. He hit me yesterday. Actually, I had sent it to the wrong email at first. I was like, ‘No wonder.’ I’m checking it all day and [he didn’t] send it back. He hit me on Twitter yesterday and told me to send the track. I told him I had already given it to him. Then he inboxed me and said I sent it to [his booking] email.
“[On Life Ain't No Joke] I’m more versatile, more organized. It had different songs, and the names just stand out by themselves.
“[On 'Disappearing,'], I was in Atlanta when I recorded it. Paris Bueller sent me the beat through gmail. He told me it was a beat nobody really liked. He wondered if I could do it, so I rapped over it and he chopped it up. That turned out to be one of the best songs. Yeah, he said nobody was messing with it. I listened to it and was like, ‘Alright.’ The only thing I told him to add was the snares. I told him to add some snares to the beat to make it more head-nodding. He did it his own way so I’m like, ‘Alright.’ When I got done with it, it was hot. I give him advice sometimes and he will give me some.
“[For ‘All White,’] I met Yo Gotti. [We didn’t record together because] he was working on CM7. He hit me on Twitter wanting to work. I know he like white, so I thought it would work. [Whether I use it as a single], I’m going to listen to that. I would listen to the Yo Gotti and the one with Meek and see which is better radio-wise.
“[The song I like the most on the new tape] is ‘Life Ain’t No Joke,’ the outro. I was trying to be like, real life stuff. I try to make the outro and the intro the best two songs.”
The GBE and OTF Crews
Lil Durk: “We all the same. Only The Family and Glory Boyz Entertainment. Everybody’s family with two different names. Everybody says GBE and OTF. Everybody grew up together from the same block. Everybody knew each other since they were kids. We grew up with each other and everyone’s just got different music styles right now, doing their own thing.
“[We still hang out] but everybody is usually ain’t in their city. I’ll be in Atlanta, Reese will be in L.A., Fredo will be in Connecticut, and Keef will be in Minnesota, somewhere like that. Everybody’s in different places and got different shows. Everybody’s still cool though.
"When our buzz was getting big, everybody was doing the same shows. It was crazy."
Signing to Def Jam
Lil Durk: “The A&R called me when I made I’m Still A Hitta. He told me to send it over to him so I did and Jay Boogie wanted to see me. You never go to the first label that come to you. In my head, I liked Def Jam. I didn’t need to raise no bargain—nothing. I’ll do it myself.
"We built myself up and that’s what we’re doing now. All these features and everything—I got here through word of mouth—just music, period. I ain’t got to go out and talk, be like ‘Let me pay you for this.’ Everybody reached out to me.
“[When i got signed], I was in L.A. I was recording. It was me and Lil Reese. We got signed at the same time. We was in L.A. calling everybody, everybody calling us. It was all over the Internet, the radio—I was feeling good. I’m like, 'Man...it’s different now.'
"We went out to the club—I don’t remember which club. Everybody was celebrating. We were feeling good. Everybody went out."
Returning to Jail
Lil Durk: "I got caught with a gun. Police rolled up. There was a lot of us standing out there. They grabbed me and got the gun. Tossed the gun and I was through. I had to do three months in the county. Bonded out. I went back to jail to do 87 days. They made me cut my hair so I couldn’t hide weapons. They were talking crazy. All types of B.S."
The Violence in Chicago
Lil Durk: "A lot of people criticize everybody nowadays. You gotta be careful of what you say. If it’s something I feel that I should say, I’m gonna say it. I’m not trying to be one of those guys who try to say anything about what happened or what’s going on, what’s gonna happen. I ain’t got time for that.
"[I want people outside Chicago to hear] how I live. That this is what’s going on. It ain’t hard [to adjust to having money] because we’ve been living that way growing up. Its been like that but it’s much bigger now. At the same time, I have to to be wiser than when I was a kid and everybody’s not your friend. Don’t trust everybody. Know those two and you’ll be cool."
The Future
Lil Durk: "[I’m doing songs with] Yo Gotti, French Montana, Meek Mill. I’d do a song with Rick Ross. I’d do a song with Drake, Future, Gucci Mane. I like them type of artists. [As far as local artists], Lil Mouse, [King] Louie, Sly [Polaroid], Bump J.
“Everything is a process. You can’t go to someone and be like, ‘How did you do that?’ You have to see my process step-by-step. What songs I did, what shows I did to do this—I like the process. My buzz is big enough for me to go through a process.
"I’m way happier now. I used to walk around with five dollars in my pocket and now I have $5,000 in my pocket.
"Family is the most important thing right now. Everything I do is for them. You’ll see me doing TV, studios, video—everything is for them."