Lil Durkâs career has been a slow-burner to say the least. Riding in on the undertow of Chicagoâs drill wave back in 2012, Lil Durk has managed to achieve moderate success over the past few years by putting out consistent projects and adapting to the times. Unlike a few of his Chi-Town cohorts, Durk has evolved his sound from gun bars and goons to popping bottles and Auto-Tune. However, since inking with Def Jam and the Coke Boys back in 2013, Durk has hovered in and out of rap relevancy with no real peaks or valleys. His 2015 single âLike Meâ with Jeremih crept up to number 43 on Billboardâs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts but couldnât totally catapult him into the bracket of success he aimed for, which is where his sophomore album LILDURK2X, picks up at.
After one play through of the 13-track LP, itâs clear that itâll be another round before the OTF captain can breach mainstream success. Lil Durk can punch and flow, proving it with lines like âShark in the water on the deep end/House in the hills like the Weeknd/Only like to party on the weekendâ but other than a couple quotables here and there, the album is ultimately boring. Nearly every song is insanely alike pulling from a small arsenal of lyrical content and recycling them throughout. There are only two songs on the entire album that donât mention the word âmoneyâ and those are âGlock Upâ and âMy Beyonceâ. The former is too busy warning enemies that Durk and friends are âglocked up [for] homicideâ and the latter is Durkâs serenade to girlfriend Dej Loaf. To make matters even worse, even though each track has a different set of producers (Zaytoven, Sonny Digital, Young Chop), the albumâs beats sound dangerously similar to each other, following nearly identical drum patterns and digital drill bass kicks.
Unfortunately for Durk, he gets outshined by the features heâs placed on this album. Future out-croons him on âHated On Meâ, Young Thug somehow out-raps him on âSo Whatâ and Ty Dolla $ign steals the entire show on âShe Just Wannaâ. The latter may garner Durk some serious spins and buzz but for all the wrong reasons; Tyâs chorus and ChopsquadDJâs instrumental carry the momentum. Durk does, however, save face on the Dej Loaf inspired âMy BeyoncĂ©â, where we see Durk put down the rifle and pick up a rose. The track even features an equally as affectionate verse from Dej Loaf herself. It isnât exactly the most traditionally romantic track as Durk raps âWe flirted for a minute, Dej, thatâs my baby/I ainât trippinâ, Iâm like Henny, yeah Iâm in her kidneysâ but Dej responds with the equally as explicit âI let him get it when he want it, knock it down and push up on it.â Who doesnât love a good âol fashioned gangster romance?
A crossover single aside, LILDURK2X, at its core, really lacks any unique personality. From song to song we just get served disappointingly mediocre aggressive rap music that is hard to hate but also challenging to love. There isnât much here that separates a Lil Durk from the other 95% of Hip Hop currently doing that style. Hopefully on his junior album, Durk will be able to pull from other inspirations rather than money and haters, as his life has undoubtedly changed since coming up on Chicagoâs Southside.