Lil Durk’s family blasts federal authorities for using his rap lyrics in his murder-for-hire case.
According to new reports, prosecutors have since backtracked on their plans to use his lyrics in the trial after the Chicago rapper was hit with new charges, including one count of stalking resulting in death.
Despite the new charges, Lil Durk, whose real name is Durk Derrick Banks, received a silver lining after his indictment was updated to remove the references to the use of his rap lyrics in the case. The move came a few days after the rapper’s family spoke out strongly against the Feds using his lyrics and allegedly seizing his music catalog to use against him.
“This is not justice,” the Banks family statement reads. “That’s a violation of the very system that’s supposed to protect all of us… We refuse to stay silent as Black artists continue to be criminalized for their creativity. Rap is art.”
One of the songs in question that have been circulating online is the song “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy,” which has some lyrics like, “Told me they got an addy (gooo) / Got location (gooo) Green light (go, go, go, go, go) / Look on the news and see your son, You screamin’, ‘No, no’.”
Lil Durk’s team has pushed back, saying that the song was released in January 2022 after prosecutors say it was released in December 2022, long after the date of the murder-for-hire incident in Los Angeles. According to law enforcement, Durk sent men to kill Quando Rondo but ended up claiming the life of Rondo’s cousin, Lul Pad, real name Saviay’a Robinson. The victim was killed in a drive-by shooting in California on August 19, 2022.
Prosecutors say the song lyrics were making references to the shooting death of Robinson, but Durk’s team is saying the song was recorded and released long before Robinson’s death.
In another development in the case, Lil Durk’s lawyer, Drew Findling, has also stepped forward to clear up some rumors and misinformation circulating online. In a new interview with DJ VLAD, he says that stories about an unreleased song using audio of Quando Rondo screaming at the scene of his cousin’s death are not true. The attorney says that the song doesn’t exist, calling the rumors “fake.”
Findling also chided prosecutors, suggesting that they are relying on circumstantial evidence for their case against Durk, including social media posts and weaponizing rap songs against the rapper, which threatens to erode the protections of the First Amendment.
In the meantime, Lil Durk’s next bond hearing is set for May 8, 2025. The rapper and his family reportedly put up $1 million in security in hopes of securing his bond and released on house arrest with armed 24/7 security.