The Story Behind Lil Durk's Rise To Fame

 Lil Durk is an American singer and rapper who is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). 

Durk began considering music as a career in 2011. He pondered rapping as "a full-time job" after the release of his two singles, "Sneak Dissin'" and "I'ma Hitta," each of which earned generally favorable reviews, after plans to sign with Chief Keef's and French Montana's labels fell through.

Lil Durk also made an appearance on Drake's single Laugh Now Cry Later, which also features appearances from stars like Kevin Durant, Odell Beckham Jr., and Marshawn Lynch, and dropped a verse in the song that suggested 6ix9ine shouldn't play with rats.

He once released a song with the title "Turn myself in," and then really turned himself in to the police the very next day. 

When Lil Durk, an American-born rapper, first gained popularity in the early 2010s, he was still a young adult. He would contribute to laying the groundwork for the Chicago rap movement during the past ten years by fusing pop sensibilities with rap lyrical style.

Lil Durk once found himself in a difficult place in his life. The life of this former basketball player was one route down, working the streets for a living.

It's difficult to resist what's in our DNA, and by the age of 10, Lil Durk had heavily immersed himself in the streets, having taken after his father. but at the age of 17, he found his own route and followed it, launching himself onto the fast track to becoming one of the most well-known rappers in the game.

Durk Derrick Banks, better known as Lil Durk, was born on October 19, 1992 in the gritty Chicago area of Englewood. The worst part of growing up in those streets is that it was difficult growing up in a place where there was a lot of shooting and killing, exactly as folks like Derrick Rose, Chief Keef, and the late Bernie Mac would say.

Along with his mother, two sisters, a brother, and his father, Durk grew up on these streets. Durk was only seven months old when hIs father was detained and locked away. His mother was now left to take care of everyone as a result. She did her best while working as a nurse, but money was scarce. It was diffcult to make this transition because Dante, Durk's father had been a successful street hustler.

He was carrying six bricks of crack cocaine worth about $8 million when he was finally apprehended.

Dante had achieved success in the streets and, considering this, the family was leading a fairly comfortable life. They had everything they needed and lived in a nice house, but when Dante was arrested, he refused to name names and was therefore given a life sentence in prison. After this, the small family had to downgrade right away and move in with Durk's grandmother, living in a three-bedroom house with ten more people. 

Durk continued to see his father as often as he could, but now that the family patriarch was no longer a part of their lives, Durk's family had to fight for survival. Then, food was in short supply, a typical dinner was toast or rice, and that was on a good day. There were several times when there was simply nothing to eat.

Durk initially became interested in basketball in the hopes that a career in the sport may help him escape the streets, but his height never truly caught up with his ability or his passion. Going to school was nearly never an option as he just lacked the grades. By the time he was ten, he had decided that the only way he could potentially earn a reputation for himself was to work the streets like his father had.

Durk began pounding the pavement in search of a way to support himself and his family, but around this time, he also linked up with a group of boyhood pals to create his own rap group, OTF (only the family).

Durk's preferred outlet has always been music as he sought to escape his daily troubles by listening to artists like Rick Ross, Meekville Battle raps, and Bone Thugs in harmony. Durk made the decision to broaden his skill set at the age of 17, when he began creating music for himself, even though he was still very much a part of the south Chicago street scene.

He began by collaborating with two of his boyhood pals, King Louis and Sly Polaroid, and by releasing his debut mixtape, "I'm a Hitta." He then published the song to Myspace, where they received a ton of plays. 

It couldn't have come at a better time for Durk because at the time, his girlfriend Nicole Cavone had just found out she was expecting. Durk was suddenly faced with the prospect of raising his family and getting them off the streets. however, Durk didn't quite make it. He was charged with DUI and fire possession in October 2011 and sentenced to three months in vendela state jail and was later released on bond. He realized that he didn't want his son to experience fatherlessness as he had during his period. 

He could clearly see the opportunities that this new job as a rapper could provide for him and his family. After being freed, Durk immediately got to work. He released a new mixtape with Paris Bueller titled I'm Still a Henna, and he soon established himself as a living legend of the neighborhoods where he grew up. 

He had audiences on Myspace and YouTube, and they were both constantly expanding. Durk celebrated by having yet another child, then another, then another, then yet another. Okay, so perhaps it didn't happen all that quickly, but congratulations to him nonetheless because he truly does have six children.

Even though Rolling Stone listed his 2013 mixtape, Signed to the Streets, as one of the year's 10 finest albums, Durk was busted again that year. This time, he was detained on a $100,000 bond after being accused of using a weapon in a felony. Now, thankfully, his attorney got to work and discovered a witness who said that Durk did not own the gun. 

After being imprisoned for just over a month, Durk was now released, and as per usual, he immediately went back to work. He was included on XXL's list of the freshmen class the following year, and in 2015, he released his debut studio album, Remember My Name, which peaked at number two on the US r&b and rap charts. Durk left Def Jam in 2018 and was quickly signed by Interscope Records.

Over the ensuing years, he continued to toil away while doing his best to stay out of trouble. He would later release four additional studio albums and nearly ten mixtapes, including Love Songs For The Streets in 2019. The following year, he released just because you guys wanted to, which went even further and reached number two. Durk had a little run-in with the authorities once more in 2019 in what seems to be a targeted attack on hip-hop artists.

Although the New York Post revealed that the NYPD's enterprise operations branch had discreetly placed over 20 plainclothes officers to patrol most artist locations, we still cannot say with certainty that there is a worldwide hip-hop police force. And as for the hip-hop police, they are supposedly responsible for many more incidents than just one singular one.

Recently, Durk has also returned to his roots. collaborating with the OTF team once more on the mixtape Family Over Everything, which was released in late 2019. It simply goes to show that no matter how far you go, you can never forget your roots, and little Durk is well aware of this truth.