Looking at Lil Durk Positively

A written piece on the rapper "Lil Durk" and the positivity I find in him.

Durk Banks AKA “Lil Durk” Is a rapper from Chicago Illinois. We all know the stereotype of a Chicago rapper: violence, gangs, and drugs. Lil Durk is known for violence in his music and he gets a lot of flak for it. Unfortunately many of these harsh critics hear only the bad in the music; never the good. Lil Durk grew up in the Englewood area of Chicago’s south side. This area is notorious for gangs, violence and drugs. Numerous rappers who grew up in this area commonly rap about these topics; or matters far worse. When compared, Durk’s message is generally more positive.

Recently, a tragedy struck Chicago. Jonylah Watkines, a 6-month-old little girl, was shot 5 times while in her fathers care. All of Chicago, including Durk, was outraged. Durk took to his Twitter to let everyone know how he felt.

“Killing babies goes against every street code”.

“Repost this shit crazy Lil niggaz go around shooting vans up that all look alike….not knowing it’s a baby in there… Lil mfer that thirsty for a name if you really want a name niggaz graduate from high school go to college get a degree make something of yourself make your family proud”.

“….killing babies goes against every street code you Niggaz out here tweaking str8 up for a lol street cred so the guys can call you shooter…ya’ll not savages for shooting a baby you just dumb with no aim #fuckboyz”.

Lil Durk, a father of two, made very clear that this was not ok with him.

If you listen closely to Lil Durk’s music you will hear a lot of positive messages. He has his own sign that he throws up in the air…and no, it is not a gang sign. He calls this gesture his “L’s” (you see him pictured above “throwing up his L’s”). This represents Live, Love and Loyalty. You hear him talk about his L’s in a lot of his songs . Instead of throwing up the infamous middle finger, Lil Durk would say, “L’s up for my haters face!” meaning, “I don’t care about your hatin’ . I’ve got my life, love and loyalty, I don’t need you.”

Another big positive message -and my personal favourite- is “OTF”. Used by Lil Durk and any other GBE rapper, it means “Only the family in my eyes”. OTF is promoting the love for family and putting them first. As Lil Durk is a teenage father (he has a little boy and is expecting a little girl soon), this is a huge milestone for his fans who are teenage fathers. Young teens who are fathers look up to him, instead of running away from their mistakes, begin to take pride in their child(ren) and be part of their lives.

Instead of judging a song by what is on the surface, take the time do some research, especially if you are doing an interviewing. Research the artist and find out who they are and what their music is about. Not all rappers songs and lives are all about violence, gangs and drugs. Many reviews and interviews of Lil Durk profile his music as being violent: they rarely take in to consideration the meaning “his L’s”  or “OTF”. Rappers and singers are writers and poets; their music is an outlet for their emotions. Rappers are also like actors: they have their character to portray and a ‘brand’ to uphold. If a rapper writes a song about shooting someone, it doesn’t mean they would actually do it. A popular example of this is Eminem. His lyrics and content range from upbeat to violent and even shocking. Consider the differences between an artist singing about committing a murder and an author writing a book about a murder?  No one thinks that an author will act out their work, but audiences are always critical of a rapper’s lyrics. Audiences need to understand that rappers have a persona to uphold and their lyrics are not necessarily about their personal beliefs or views on life.

Thanks for reading!  You can get to know Lil’ Durk more by following him on twitter : @lildurk_ and like him on face book!

-RabBit