Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American rapper Lil Durk.
Last updated on September 11, 2024.
Durk Derrick Banks, known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer. He is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). Durk garnered a cult following with the release of his Signed to the Streets mixtape series (2013–2014), leading to a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. The label would release his debut studio albums, Remember My Name (2015) and Lil Durk 2X (2016), before Durk departed Def Jam in 2018.
I'm always going to be able to touch fans and get new fans because everybody goes through something everyday. I just keep touching different subjects by talking to the streets and reaching out to my fans by telling them a story instead of just giving them music to listen.
I don't throw shade at anybody like, 'You sound like me.'
I grew up without a father, so I have to be on point for my kids.
I rock with Chance, I rock with Kanye, I rock with Common.
I had a bad background just growing up as a child.
Everybody always going to sound like somebody. You got to separate yourself.
Atlanta is just different. It's the music city.
I'm happy with the person I become.
I never thought I would see the outside of Chicago.
I just want to paint that picture of Chicago that everybody's missing, and I just want to rap about it.
You got to want to evolve. It's something you can practice on but it just came to me. I wasn't really sitting there like, 'What can I do to get better?' It just came to me, talking to my people and my crew. They just tell me what my strongest and weakest points are at.
I don't want to try to piggyback off of anybody else.
I want my kids to be able to live comfortable and go to school and to be into sports.
I want to relate. I don't want to just rap and go to the next album.
Growing up in Chicago is hard. I'd say 80 percent of the people ain't really got no daddies. Their household wasn't right. All they know is the streets and getting some money to support each other and support their family.
In Chicago, a lot of people don't really got nothing to live for. Everybody can't ball. Everybody can't rap. Nobody is really doing those activities. There's nothing to do but the streets.
Death can happen anywhere, but kids in Chicago, like 4 years old, can get shot. You don't really hear that in too many places.
I wanna get the streets riled back up. I wanna get super tours and bookings.
I met Jay Z. I don't really care about all that though.
Always read your contract. Know what you're getting yourself into. Know your worth.
It feels good to be in a place now where I can give back to my community.
I let my partners and my DJ listen to my songs and if they say, 'Oh yeah I felt that one' or 'I am feeling that' then I write it down and we just continue building the album from there.
We came from nothing really. One house. Ten people. Even days the lights was off. The worst days was not eating. Surviving off rice and toast.
I don't wish jail on nobody, not even my worst enemies.
Once upon a time, I was really lost. I was 18 going on 19, and I was shy. All I want to do is get money, and the way I was thinking I was going to do that was a negative route.
You got to have a strong mind if you fall back. When you fall back, they going to count you out. So you got to have a strong mind and know your worth. When you come back, you've got to be different and even more better.
I like aiming for the producers who are hungry. I don't chase the wave.
I'll never stick to one sound, I switch it up.
I gotta stay in that light where people will see me and hear me. And not be scared of me, you know?
I listen to different artists. I open my mind to different artists.
My message is just showing people how I came from nothing.
I feel like with '2.5,' I created another style that nobody else is coming with.
I think every artist should go for a Grammy.
I ain't expect it. I just expected to be Chicago famous - 'hood famous. I ain't expect to be outside-of-Chicago famous.
I just wanted to speak to the streets and give them motivation on making it out. Whatever situation they're in, know that they can make do and have a better life.
I was 17 when I first started rapping and 18 before I started taking it seriously - when I really knew I could rap and have fans and be a trendsetter.
I use the studio as my drug. That's where I relieve everything at - the studio.
I just want to be there for my kids.
I have three kids, and that's a big part of staying focused.
Rapping is my dream, but my kids make me happy.
When I do shows, I take pictures and make the fans feel like family. All of that really matters. That's the cheat code if you ain't got a hit.
Moving to Atlanta is one of the best things I did.
I worked with Ty Dolla Sign, YG, Nipsey Hussle, Metro Boomin - I build relationships, and I try to stay afloat with everyone who is hot or cool, period.
I'm my own boss, you know?
There's definitely a lot of responsibility to keep the good energy going.
I'm really living my dream so if I were to change anything up, I probably wouldn't be where I am.
I made 'LS4TS2' for women, my Day 1's, the trenches, and all those that doubted me.
It's either you finna create your own wave, you finna sound like me or you finna sound like G Herbo, you finna sound like Chance The Rapper, you finna sound like Juice Wrld. You ain't gonna get too far 'cause you sound like somebody. So, create your own lane and do your own style.
I just moved to Atlanta so the change of scenery and environment put me in a different mood and a different vibe, both good.
I was 17 and out of school, living with my mom, starving, not eating, getting locked up, no focus, no guidance. When you ain't got no guidance, you can't do too much. But then I had my first son and started working. I got the right people around me.
I would say I grew without a doubt. My whole energy in life - as an artist and as a person - has definitely got me smarter and wiser.
See what I do is I book a studio that's closed down and I go by myself. No one's in there, literally just me and the engineer.
I don't want my kids to be on the streets period. I want my kids to be nerds. I want them to be book smart or playing sports - I don't want them to know nothing about the streets.
I don't think anybody feels safe in Chicago. Bullets ain't got no name on them.
I let my team pick what order the records go. I don't pick my own records. I'm a fan of my music regardless so you have to think outside of the box.
I'm just trying to show people that I ain't gotta ride off no movement. I can ride off myself.
Put your own twist to it. That's how you say relevant. Or things get old and boring.
'Trap House' is one of my favorite songs off '300 Days 300 Nights' mixtape, I sent it to Thug, he loved it and knocked it out on the spot in Atlanta.
I can buy anything I want now. It hasn't changed me personally. It just changed what I can do for myself and my family.
What really broke it down was I had my son while I was locked up, so that really affected me. I can't really have this, knowing my father was locked up when I was small. So that really out of everything - through the fame, the money, everything - that really put the toll on me: 'Oh yeah, I gotta change.'