Lil Durk Archives - Chicago Reader

Azeez “Laka” Alaka and Brandon Holmes in their future office at No More Heroes headquarters in Little Village

No More Heroes are building the future of Chicago rap

by Jack Riedy July 7, 2021August 18, 2021

Azeez Alaka and Brandon Holmes run a music and video production company with a pipeline to the majors and a headquarters shaping up in Little Village.

Best of Chicago

Last year would’ve been a great one for bangers in Chicago clubs

by Tara C. Mahadevan March 17, 2021August 18, 2021

The pandemic kept us from celebrating the likes of Lil Durk and King Von the way they should’ve been—on a sweaty dance floor.

Music

Lil Zay Osama makes his case to be Chicago’s next rap star on Trench Baby

by Leor Galil March 3, 2021October 14, 2021

Chicago rapper Lil Zay Osama broke out about three years ago with the succinct and sorrowful “Changed Up,” which balances punchy, brutal bars against heart-wrenchingly sweet Auto-Tuned singing. Osama’s rise came during the early flourishing of a new wave of drill focused on melody and indebted to scene pillar Lil Durk; “Changed Up” captures the […]

Music

Chicago drill star in the making King Von dropped his third album a week before his untimely death

by Leor Galil November 13, 2020August 18, 2021

In the early hours of Friday, November 6, 26-year-old Chicago rapper Dayvon Bennett, better known as King Von, was shot and killed outside an Atlanta nightclub. Von emerged a couple years ago as part of a newer generation of locals refashioning drill’s austere, hard-edged aesthetic in their own image. He imbued his tough-as-nails verses with […]

Music

Chicago drill icon Lil Durk leans into his melancholy on Just Cause Y’all Waited 2

by Leor Galil May 15, 2020February 2, 2023

Chicago rapper Lil Durk dropped his debut mixtape nearly nine years ago, and he’s since matured into one of drill’s most consistent, influential, and successful artists. His four previous major-label full-lengths have all peaked in the top 50 of the Billboard 200, including August’s Love Songs 4 the Streets 2, which debuted at number four. […]

Music

Rising drill star King Von refines his storytelling and stunting on Levon James

by Jack Riedy April 10, 2020August 18, 2021

Sharp songwriting and bombastic delivery have made King Von one of fastest-rising stars in drill, the pummeling hip-hop subgenre born in Chicago. Born Dayvon Bennett, the 25-year-old rapper grew up in Englewood, and he’s been filling his verses with crime-fiction narratives at least since his breakout single, 2018’s “Crazy Story.” As he told Genius in […]

Music

First-wave drill producer LeekeLeek dies at 27

by J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil July 31, 2018August 18, 2021

First-wave drill producer LeekeLeek dies at 27, veteran Chicago rapper Longshot celebrates his collaboration with Lazerbeak, and more.

Blogs

Fake Shore Drive founder Andrew Barber on ten years of blogging and the evolution of the Chicago hip-hop scene

by Leor Galil November 2, 2017August 18, 2021

Fake Shore Drive has grown alongside Chicago rap, becoming an institution in its own right—and it celebrates its tenth anniversary by reuniting Big Tymers for a show at the Portage.

Blogs

Dividing Chicago hip-hop into ‘Chance and friends’ and ‘the drill scene’ insults its richness and variety

by Leor Galil July 29, 2016August 18, 2021

Stereogum’s recent survey of Chicago hip-hop gets a lot of things wrong, but it also serves as a reminder of how much there is to discover here.

Blogs

The week in local rap today: Ty Money, Chella H, Lucki Ecks, Giftz, and Noisey’s new Chicago screwup

by Leor Galil March 30, 2016August 18, 2021

Vice’s Noisey: Chicago is supposedly about the local hip-hop scene, but it barely addresses what’s actually happening. Here are a handful of new Chicago rap releases to bring you up to speed.

Blogs