With critical acclaim, pop appeal and the respect of street rap enthusiasts, Lil Durk is a foundational artist in the drill scene. During the dawn of the genre in the early 2010s, he embedded it with a melodic twist, fusing Auto-Tune-soaked vocals with tales of trench warfare and everything that comes with it. Between 2010 and 2012, he unloaded a series of tracks that helped him land a deal with Def Jam. While his 2015 debut album, Remember My Name, failed to make a big commercial impression, Durk continued releasing music at a steady pace, gradually expanding his fan base while collaborating with artists like Future, Young Thug and other staples of modern street rap.

After he left Def Jam and signed with Alamo Records/Interscope in 2018, Durk began putting together a string of releases that put him back on rap’s main stage. His career reached a new plateau when he appeared on Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later” in 2020. The track peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was just a precursor for the feature run that was to come. In 2021, he had 41 appearances on the same chart. While he’s dealt with a series of legal issues, he’s continued to grow more successful as the years have passed, with projects like 7220 (2022) and Almost Healed (2023) debuting at No. 1 and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, respectively, crystallizing his status as a massive force in the world of hip-hop.