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One of the hottest rap songs this year is “All My Life,” a song-child-chorus collaboration between Chicago rap veteran Lil Durk and superstar J. Cole. It is the most successful song of Durk’s career, which has also included groundbreaking collaborations with Drake, Lil Baby and Morgan Wallen over the past three years.
And yet throughout this spotlight era, Durk has remained something of a cipher – not a household name, and even more of a cult favorite. How he’s courted new collaborators and listeners while retaining his creative center is something like the model of contemporary rap stardom, in which staying true to your core audience is no longer the constraint it was once thought to be.
In this week’s Popcast, we talk about Lil Durk’s early days in the Chicago drill scene, how he reinvented himself after major record labels’ fascination with drill waned, and how he became one of the biggest rap stars, largely in the shadows.
Guest:
Connect to Popcast. Join the Popcast Community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in and tell us what you think at popcast.. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.
