Lil Durk Draws Inspiration From Chicago’s Most Violent Neighborhoods

For a kid from the notoriously violent South Side of Chicago, Lil Durk seems to be doing pretty good. He’s signed with Def Jam, co-signed by French Montana and the Coke Boys. He has two lovely children, a son and a daughter. He just propelled himself up the ranks of the tumultuous Chicago drill-hop scene like a heat-seeking missile aimed at the top of the charts. His latest street single, “Dis Ain’t What U Want”, off the mixtape Signed To The Streets, is poised to tip 10 million YouTube views by week’s end. He raps about the same stuff Chief Keef raps about -- Keef being the figure that spearheaded this new wave of hyperactive Chicago drill artists. He woozes (rap-sings) like Future. We asked Durk to fill us in on what he doesn’t have yet, what he’s hungry for and the current status of the Chicago scene.—Peter Marrack

XXL: When did you first hook up with French Montana and the Coke Boys?
Lil Durk: We’ve been in the process, but we just started really making it happen like two months ago.

Did they come to Chicago, to shoot the “L’s Anthem (Remix)”?
Yeah, they came down. We shot it here.

What did French think of your hood?
He liked it. Everything was cool, no violence. We didn’t have to worry.

When they [Coke Boys] heard Signed To The Streets, what was their feedback?
They were going crazy. They really wanted me to hold it, but I wanted to put it out.

You were saying on "Sway In The Morning" that you made some changes, spiffed it up.
I had to keep picking songs and going over them, choosing which ones I like better, which ones I can hold for later.

What was the inspiration for “Dis Ain’t What U Want”?
Just the days we be living in, what we see every day. So I just made a song about what’s going on, instead of just making a song for making a song.

What is going on?
All the violence, what we’re doing, being a Dad. They’re songs people can relate to.

Did you think “Dis Ain’t What U Want” would be the track to pop off?
Yeah, everywhere I go, people know that record, it’s hot. That’s why we got Ross and them [Meek Mill] on the remix.

Why do you think people like that one?
Like I say, I relate to a lot of people. You ain’t got to go through the video in a Ferrari, you ain’t got to do that. AZae shot it so you could really feel it.

Are you actually afraid to perform in Chicago, or is that just a line in the music?
Naw, I ain’t say afraid. I say, ‘they’ terrified.

They terrified. Who’s ‘they’?
With violence, anything can happen, even at shows. It was going on once upon a time, but everything’s cool now.

It’s not like that anymore?
It’s 50/50. It’s probably about relationships right now.

What do you mean relationships?
Everybody is cool with us. They want us to make it happen. But somebody who don’t know us, who hasn’t heard of us, they’ll still go off on us. But nah, we cool. We don’t want no brawls happening.

What changed when you got the Coke Boys co-sign?
I got more recognition, definitely on the East Coast. I was at the BET Awards, Bow Wow shouted me out at the BET Awards. I was there with Gotti and all them on the green carpet, front row seats for the awards, stuff I hadn’t envisioned or seen yet. Everything’s gotten better since Coke Boys. It’s working out.

What do you think is more useful, the major label deal, or a co-sign from the Coke Boys?
The label is just a boost. You have to get yourself hot, and come with some hot records. I think the co-sign is helping me do that, bring traffic to the label. Because the label’s all about helping you. At the end of the day they want to make their money back.

All the pieces are falling together, it seems. What makes your situation unique?
All the things you ain’t seeing. I got major artists hitting me up. Everybody hit me up asking about the mixtape. It’s been a week. It’s only been a week. People still ain’t heard it.

Congrats on the birth of your second child, was that this summer?
Yeah, in July.

What adjustments do you think you’ll have to make, as a performer and raising children?
Just like anything else, you’ve got to spend time with your family. Music is how you support them, though, so you can’t really get between it.

Do you want more kids?
Yeah, lots more.

Big family?
Yeah, like ten.

This might sound ridiculous to you, but where I’m from, Toronto, the mayor always refers to Chicago as a model city. Is that surprising to you?
Ain’t nothing wrong with Chicago at all. We got the best balls games, football games, ain’t nothing wrong with it. It’s just certain areas, neighborhoods. You get a group of people together and they don’t act right. Chicago ain’t bad, but when you’re from out of town you only hear negative things. They try to make it sound bad.

And your music captures the violence in that particular community.
Yeah, at first, that’s how I blast myself off.

Now you’re going to start rapping about other things?
Yeah, that’s why the mixtape consists of only real rap, stuff people can relate to. First you rap about the hood, what’s going on, people’s names around our way, but now it’s bigger, so you hear me singing about what’s going on, people who are locked up, what they’re going through.

Is it cool that the labels end up profiting off the turmoil you’ve experienced?
I don’t care what nobody says, it’s about money at the end of the day. I would rather do it the right way. I’m branching off to do my thing. That’s what French Montana and Coke Boys are helping with, helping me find my own lane.

You said before that a lot of the violence on the South Side comes from people wanting to make a name for themselves. Do you think that attitude existed before social networking?
It just got like this. People go shoot somebody, then they Tweet about it. It’s crazy.

But you’re saying it’s not as bad on the South Side now?
It’s like that. It’s just certain areas. Certain areas people chill with their family and kids, but in others you can’t. The violence in the rap comes from those violent parts, so of course they’re going to say this and that about Chicago and the violence.

What was keeping people in those violent areas?
A lot of people ain’t got nothing to do. A lot of people ain’t finished school, they can’t get a job. All they know is gangbanging. End of the day they’re working off funerals. If someone gets killed they feel a certain way about it, they think about it, consider it, but then go back to gangbang.

Going back to the tape, I enjoyed the Zaytoven beat for “Who is This”, it was a bit of curveball compared to the rest of the tracks. What was the inspiration for that song?
It was just being in the studio being creative. The phone ringing and all that, I did that. I was seeing what I could do, testing myself.

How’d you get connected with Zaytoven, was that a DJ Drama connection?
When I was in Atlanta, people was coming through the studio giving me beats.

You use a lot of localized slang on Signed To The Streets. Anything we should be aware of, if we want to visit the South Side?
Thot. It’s like how you call girls bitches.

Where will you take your sound next? Will you stay in that drill lane?
I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. I created my own sound. I ain’t going to change it for nothing. I can go on any beat. That’s how I meet a lot of producers.

Is there a Def Jam studio album coming?
We working on it now. We just keep working.

Where do you see yourself in the rap game? Do you want to make it like Kanye West?
Just make it, man. The same goes for a lot of people. I see Kendrick doing it. Just do different stuff and do different lanes.

How do you get to be a Kendrick?
He’s got his own style. He thinks. I’ve also got my own style. I can make songs, not just for people on the streets. I can make anything.

Do you mind being clumped in with the rest of Chicago hip-hop, like the drill movement?
The Chicago thing motivates me, because every day I see somebody I can rap about it. I like rapping about that real.

Anything you want to rap about that you haven’t yet?
I want to see more of the world. There are probably cars I haven’t heard of, states I haven’t been to. Fill my head with a variety of stuff and I’m going to rap about it. Stay in a box and you’ll rap about the same stuff.

What’s next with the Coke Boys?
They’re saying do you, and then when it’s time we’ll come together for some music. For now I’m promoting Signed To The Streets. They talking about a Coke Boys album. My brothers keep me motivated.