In 2011, Lil Durk took his hobby more seriously and started collaborating with French Montana and Chief Keef’s sponsored label named Glo Gang. However, he was never signed into the record and owing to that, Durk chose to make his name and reputation in the music industry.
At the beginning of his career, he dropped two tracks Sneak Dissin, and I’ma Hitta, followed up with the release of a mixtape entitled Life Ain’t No Joke. The project became successful on social media platforms and was downloaded more than 216,000 times on DatPiff.
Lil Durk linked up with a group of childhood mates to start his rap collective called Only The Family. Growing up, music had always been Durk’s outlet of choice. He tried to escape the daily problems of his life by listening to the likes of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Rick Ross.
At 17, he started recording music for himself and published his first mixtape I’ma Hitta. Shortly after the mixtape release, he was arrested for a DUI and a Fire possession, and after a few months in jail, he was released.
After that, Durk got to work and dropped the new mixtape I was Still a Hitta in 2012. The mixtape went viral, and his tune Sneak Dissin rapidly grabbed the attention of other artists. He subsequently got an opportunity to guest to perform on other rappers’ singles, including Fredo Santana, King Louie, Chief Keef, and Lil Reese.
Durk’s 2013 mixtape dubbed Signed to the Streets became even more successful and was included in the magazine Rolling Stone’s 8th Best Mixtape of the Year. The mixtape has guest performances from musicians including Jim Jonez, Trae da Truth, Chinx Drugz, etc.
But that same year, Durk got caught again. This time he was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and he was imprisoned on a $100,000 bond. Thanks to his lawyer, he set to work, and he located a witness that attested to the gun not being Durk’s. After spending a little over a month Durk was freed from the prison and got right back to work.
In the very next year, Durk made the XXL Freshmen Class list. In 2015, Lil Durk released his debut studio album, Remember My Name. The album peaked at the number 2 slot on the US Rap and US R&B/Hip-Hop charts and 14 on the Billboard 200 chart. Around the same time as the album’s release, he inked a deal with the popular label Def Jam Recordings.
In 2016, Lil Durk published his second studio album called Lil Durk 2x, which peaked at the number 4 slot on the US Rap chart and number 5 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop chart. The album also includes the breakout tune My Beyonce (ft Dej Loaf), which reached spot number 21 on the US Rap chart. He then gained the attention of various rappers and collaborated with French Montana, Travi$ Scott, will.i.among others, Young Thug, Boosie Badazz, RiFF RaFF, and Meek Mill. That time he also received the Best Rapper of 2016 nomination.
In 2018 Durk would leave Def Jam Records and swiftly get picked up by Interscope Records and drop his third studio album, Signed to the Streets 3. In April 2020, Durk Billboard Hot 100 by making his debut entry with the release of his smash tune “Viral Moment” off his fifth studio album, Just Cause Y’all Waited 2. The record moved even higher to the number 2 place.
The rapper received additional popularity in the industry with the release of hits like 3 Headed Goat ft Lil Baby and Polo G, Backdoor, and The Voice. Lil Durk joined with fellow rapper Lil Baby to create the 2021 joint studio album The Voice of the Heroes, which proved a commercial success as well as becoming his first release to debut at the top of the Billboard 200 rankings.
On the 29th of August 2021, Lil Durk also made his cameo appearance on famous Kanye West’s 10th studio album entitled Donda on the track Jonah. The rapper launched his most recent song Ahhh Ha in February 2022, and the single gained more than 40 million views within a month of its release. After then, he launched his seventh studio album, 7220, which comprises 17 tracks, including guest arrivals from rappers Future, Gunna, Morgan Wallen, and Summer Walker.