The past two years have been a triumphant time for Lil Durk, from his feature on Drake’s 2020 smash “Laugh Now Cry Later” to his own recent album, ‘7220,’ and the numerous gold and platinum records it has generated. But that time has also been stained by tragedy and controversy.
Durk lost his older brother, Dontay “D-Thang” Banks Jr., to gun violence in 2021, less than a year after losing his protégé King Von the same way. “I’ve been through a lot,” he says. The Chicago rapper faced unimaginable grief on his way to superstardom. Now he wants to stop the violence. “I’m going to start by getting the city together,” he says, “to do my part to slow down the violence.”
Yet he continues to wrestle with the uniquely maddening grief of having lost so many friends and family before turning 30. "Even if you do 99 percent of shit right, you still got 1 percent of the demons with you,” Durk says. “You get angry fast and one reply can fuck up a billion dollars.” We caught up with the "Voice," who opens up about his sold-out show at the United Center, his main motivation and helping end gang violence. Tap the link in our bio to read the full story. 📸 @twoamjo for Rolling Stone
The past two years have been a triumphant time for Lil Durk, from his feature on Drake’s 2020 smash “Laugh Now Cry Later” to his own recent album, ‘7220,’ and the numerous gold and platinum records it has generated. But that time has also been stained by tragedy and controversy.
Durk lost his older brother, Dontay “D-Thang” Banks Jr., to gun violence in 2021, less than a year after losing his protégé King Von the same way. “I’ve been through a lot,” he says. The Chicago rapper faced unimaginable grief on his way to superstardom. Now he wants to stop the violence. “I’m going to start by getting the city together,” he says, “to do my part to slow down the violence.”
Yet he continues to wrestle with the uniquely maddening grief of having lost so many friends and family before turning 30. "Even if you do 99 percent of shit right, you still got 1 percent of the demons with you,” Durk says. “You get angry fast and one reply can fuck up a billion dollars.” We caught up with the "Voice," who opens up about his sold-out show at the United Center, his main motivation and helping end gang violence. Tap the link in our bio to read the full story. 📸 @twoamjo for Rolling Stone