Durk Devontay Banks, known professionally as
Lil Durk, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is regarded as a preeminent artist in the Chicago-based hip hop subgenre drill music, and he has been cited as one of drill music’s pioneers. Durk has achieved three top-ten hits on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100 chart, along with a total of over ninety charted songs. In addition to being a four-time Grammy Award nominee, Durk won a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023 for his single “All My Life”, and has also won a NAACP Award for an Outstanding Hip Hop/Rap Song, “Laugh Now Cry Later” whom is by Drake and he is featured on. He initially garnered local success with the release of his
Signed to the Streets mixtape series (2013–2014), which led to him signing with Def Jam Recordings. The label released Durk’s debut studio album,
Remember My Name (2015), and its follow-up,
Lil Durk 2X (2016), each to chart in the top-40 of the U.S.
Billboard 200 and receive moderate commercial success before parting ways with Durk in 2018.