After delaying this highly anticipated album, self-proclaimed "Voice of the Streets" rapper Lil Durk took that role very seriously and gave the fans 7220, Durk's seventh studio album titled after the address of his grandmother.
Making it clear in the album and his other projects, Durk possesses an ability to switch up between his melodic rapping and his hardcore Chicago sound, and with this, he can give his fans the music they know and love. It's the switch up of his sound that splits his listeners into three categories: lovers of drill Durk, lovers of thug-turned-lover Durk, and lovers of both.
The two-sided artist that Lil Durk is uses his tracks to discuss his dangerous risings in the south side of Chicago, his relationship woes, and even addresses rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again following a diss track released weeks prior.
Despite his hard exterior (and explicit lyrics), Durk has always been known to wear his heart on his designer sleeves. In songs like Started From, Durk looks back on his life in Chicago and various other hardships such as his grandmother's battle with Alzheimer's disease, living in a home packed with family members, and dealing with death at a young age.
Durk says, "I hate school, but my granny made me/I couldn't disrespect her 'cause my granny raised me/The funeral home, they know me 'cause I gave 'em payments/The police department, they know you 'cause you gave 'em statements."
This contributes to the raw, emotional feelings that Durk has exposed in all of his music. Durk continues to sing his pain into as many of his tracks as he can.
He never forgets to make his songs for the people he used to be in the trenches with and for the people that are there to this day.
The song AHHH HA, produced by Chicago producer DJ Bandz, was one of the singles off of 7220 packed with direct shots at rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again and his affiliates.
In the track, he says, "I told Von to leave that bitch alone, she post on OnlyFans," as well as, "If you feel some type of way you better slide and get revenge/He said, 'Therapy ain't helping,' he been killing for a cleanse."
Both lines pulled from the song are direct references to the mother of YoungBoy Never Broke Again's child, Jania Meshell, and to many of YoungBoy's songs that mention that he has gone to therapy. This is a perfect fit for the category mentioned above, "lovers of drill Durk," and has gotten over 11 million plays on Spotify and 22 million views on YouTube.
Now on to sentimental Durk.
Lil Durk has never been too shy to show the romantic side of him in previous songs like India and India Pt. 2.
Although we didn't get another installment of the India series, where he sings about his deep love for his fianceé, India Royale, on Blocklist, Durk is laying it all out on the table. On the track, he pleads for the love interest of the song to unblock his phone number.
He says, "Please don't put me on that blocklist 'cause I don't deserve it/I gotta answer the private call 'cause you might call restricted/And I say you my prize possession 'cause I had to earn you."
Durk shows every guy from the hood that there is no shame in wearing your heart on your sleeve, not even when you have to beg her to unblock your number after messing up.
All in all, Lil Durk didn't miss, and he still remains the "Voice of the Streets." He continues to give us a glimpse of the hood and into his mind and feelings, and we can only feel excitement toward what he has coming up next.
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