Image via Complex Original
The Chicago Drill scene is responsible for some of the most explosive music in rap today. On one hand, it's produced stars like Chief Keef, and street anthems like Keef's "I Don't Like" as well as lesser known hits like Katie Got Bandz' "I Need A Hitta."
On the other, the scene is marred by the inner-city violence that is currently plaguing Chicago. Recently, the violence on the streets spilled into the music, blurring the distinction between art and life, leaving us all to make sense of it.
Despite the rise of a new, street-oriented scene, Chicago has always produced rap stars, and has a very rich hip-hop history. Although it's home to some of the toughest 'hoods in America, the most famous rappers from Chi-Town (Common, Lupe Fiasco, and of course, Kanye West) aren't known for street anthems.
That's why we figured it would be interesting to see what an up-and-coming rapper like Lil Durk has to say about songs from rappers that repped the Chicago in the past along with the ones repping it today. Read on to find out why Lil Durk rocks with Lupe Fiasco, doesn't rock with Common, and whose video had him fighting with his mother for the remote.
As told to Ernest Baker (@newbornrodeo)
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Crucial Conflict "Hay" (1996)
Lil Durk: "I remember this. My mom used to sing this hook. [Laughs.] It’s different. They going crazy in the video. I still ride to this song."
Da Brat f/ Tyrese “What'chu Like” (2000)
Lil Durk: "I rocked with this. I was young, before she looked decent and shit. I like this shit. I used to take the remote control from my momma [just so I can] listen to it."
R. Kelly f/ Jay-Z, Boo & Gotti "Fiesta (Remix)" (2001)
Lil Durk: "I was young as hell [when this came out]. I was eight or nine, but I was into Kells. This is different too. Jay-Z that’s my homie. I’m gonna do a song with him there. I respect a guy from Chicago. I like people who come back to our city. They can’t even sing what they sing, they don’t come out there. You come there, you show other people’s city respect than ours, than the city you from. We don’t stop that the kid’s money. I mean, the kids with bags, you know what I am saying? Everything count. And they don’t do nothing."
3PC "Ooh, Ahh" (2002)
Lil Durk: "The remix was better. I don’t know but this is still one of the songs to this day that still goes. It’s catchy, you know. I rock with this."
Kanye West f/ Twista & Jamie Foxx “Slow Jamz” (2003)
Lil Durk: "My block didn’t listen to this. But this did draw a lot attention of old people. It was like I’ve been rapping, but I see the old ladies, my auntie and shit, they used to always play that shit. Now they be looking like, ‘Hey, I’mma bring it back.’ I got them all now. [Laughs.]"
Kanye West f/ Syleena Johnson “All Falls Down” (2004)
Lil Durk: "I was in middle school then. I rock with this though. That’s when I started really rocking him when he made this. I remember when he first shot the video, I knew he was different. Doing the video scene through the window fields. This video made me want to fuck [Stacey Dash]. [Laughs.]"
Common “The Corner” (2005)
Lil Durk: "The video fit but you ain’t on the corner. My music, I make real rap. I ain’t saying I’m not on the South Beach corner in Florida. Just be yourself. A lot of people saying they like him, I don’t really like Common. I don’t connect with him. He’s versatile, I just can’t see myself riding around listening to Common."
Do Or Die f/ Kanye West "Higher" (2005)
Lil Durk: "I used to fuck with this and ride to it early."
Lupe Fiasco "Kick, Push" (2006)
Lil Durk: "He's cool. It was probably in his hood. In my area, I don’t see anybody skating. I wouldn’t care. That what I say that it’s Chicago, you know, comfortable with a skateboard that shit is crazy. Motherfucker [hate] skateboards but if you come through with a dirt bike or four-wheeler, niggas go, ‘Let me ride! Let me ride!’"
Twista “Wetter” (2009)
Lil Durk: "Twista be sliding. That’s the homie. I be partaking with Twista. He went crazy. Wayne went crazy on it too. He be a lot of our shows. He be at our shows. That shows that you come back. At least you come back. Kanye and them they don’t…
"This the bitches song right here. They didn’t know what 'Wetter' was. They didn’t know nothing. Parties. Clubs. Yeah that bass is just…He did his thing with this though. It caught Wayne’s attention."
Yung Berg f/ Casha “The Business” (2009)
Lil Durk: "I just did a video with them. These are my homies man. Everybody got their own opinion on it man. Some say he weak, some say he a big star. He ain’t never done anything to me. Actually, I talked to him just the other day. He's my homie.
Snatch my chain and you dead.
"We just did a song together too. I just bring it back to who we are in the city. Niggas snapping. Snatch my chain and leave me out you gotta give it to them. We smoking up in the city. Everybody chain get snatched. You gotta be back on it and don’t look. And age don’t mean nothing. But I'ma tell you, snatch my chain and you dead.
"I don’t know. We got more purple so we cool people. Shout out to him for his song too I fucking love this. I fuck with this song. My weakest song could be somebody’s favorite song. Every day of the fucking week I be getting mine so I ain’t worry about that shit."
Shady "Go In" (2011)
Lil Durk: "Shout out to Shady. That’s someone who I call my sister for real. I don’t know but that girl gotta get back on her shit though."
King L "Kush Too Strong / Man Up, Band Up (Remix)" (2011)
Lil Durk: "I was looking up to him because he’s versatile. I fuck with him. The step up for both ourselves. A whole bunch of money for shows. That’s why I say I think we opened up the city for a lot of people.100,000 views is something to us now. It’s like now you got 100,000, you wanna go for a million. But local, you be like, ‘Damn that bitch got 100,’ you know what I’m saying? I know niggas who got no views. It got to be the views. It got to be the buzz."
Katie Got Bandz “I Need A Hitta” (2011)
Lil Durk: "It’s decent. [Laughs.] Make sure you put decent. Make sure you put the last part with a comma. Just decent."
Lupe Fiasco "Bitch, Bad" (2012)
Lil Durk: "We do like Lupe. I can relate to him, not like Common. I fuck with him. I rock with him though, especially 'The Lights.' He’s more interesting than me.
"It’s three ways. It’s bitches that don’t like it, then there’s real girls that like it, then you have them mans, If you call girls bitches through lame means. I don’t know.
"A killer can influence somebody. Wayne can influence somebody. I don’t really feel I influence nobody. My influence is I’m doing something real."
Sasha Go Hard "Why They Mad" (2012)
Lil Durk: "It’s pretty sick. She’s good, she’s decent. I used to be a rapper so I used to be talking to her with stuff like that so we got a cool bond. I rock with her other shit. When everybody rap, they spitting to that one. Niggas be getting on her. God damn, niggas be getting on her. But she hold her own. She don’t go after no boogie dicks. Nah, I don’t look at her like that. [Laughs.]"
Lil Durk "L's Anthem" (2012)
Lil Durk: "Hittas like everybody just be drillin’. We just be drillin’. That’s why we say hittas. Ls could stand for anything, really. Life, Love.That’s why I say, 'Ls up for them hittas.' Some people don’t know what L's is. That’s what L's is. When you say L's, its for them hittas.
"I got a lot of recognition off this, like word of mouth. Just imagine I didn’t have a label to be promotion me, doing these type of numbers without no push. "[King] Louie trying to trend with his own stuff. Keep trying to trend and get big. I do [miss my dreads] but I don’t. It just ended. I don’t like this shit on me. I’m going to see a whole bunch of new people that didn’t even know I had this hairdo."
Lil Reese f/ Lil Durk and Fredo Santana "Beef" (2012)
Lil Durk: "This my favorite song right here. Me, Reesey, Fredo, and Chop was there. 'Chop, start making the beat.' We were fucking with Gucci Mane. We started coming up with the chorus piece by piece. It just took off. This is my favorite song. OTF and GBE. That’s how we was right there."
"OTF is Only The Family. GBE, that’s the main shit. OTF, that was for the streets. I brought attention to it and that’s how we started it. I wanted to make an opportunity for my niggas. Actually, it was originally supposed to be [like] MMG. I rock with Meek Mill. I rock with Wale. They got a label deal just like we wanted to do. But I got a single deal, but we gotta do a label deal. When it work out then we go."
Fredo Santana f/ SD And Gino Marley "War" (2012)
Lil Durk: "I’ve never seen it. I’m still playing catch up though. They hungry. They crazy though. I don’t do that right there. I fuck with it."
Chief Keef f/ Lil Reese "I Don't Like" (2012)
Lil Durk: "We got a lot of respect out here. If you look at this, it’s 300. Us. That’s how we is. I wasn’t in [the video]. I forgot what I was doing, but they didn’t expect the video to take off though.
"I like the regular version. Shout out to them. It ain’t shit change though. There’s no change in your way. That’s how my guy is. Just New York. We used to be in a dirty ass studio, sleeping on the couch, fuck waiting for rent. Everybody did it on the couch."
King L f/ Lil Durk "Want It All" (2012)
Lil Durk: "[I fuck with] that one. I’m putting on a verse on there and I’mma do a [video]. Yeah he’s out there, trying to make this a new single."
Lil Durk f/ Fredo Santana "Wild N***as" (2012)
Lil Durk: “Wild Niggas.” It was about being wild like what you do. He was on his wild side and I was on my wild side. We both have the same mentality. When we came up with the chorus, Like I said, I was on my wild side."
Lil Durk f/ Lil Reese "O.T.F." (2012)
Lil Durk: "We was in the city. I feel like we have a lot of shit to say. Chief, he’s versatile."