The Jay-Z compliment that shocked Lil Durk: “What the fuck?”
Since being charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in 2024, the success of Lil Durk’s music career has understandably been overlooked. Interest has focused on the dark nature of the accusations against him, but there was a time not so long ago when he was a real star of contemporary rap, receiving praise from plenty of notable sources.
Years before Durk’s life went down this dark path, as he was securing a reputation for himself as drill music’s leading figures, he, too, was more than happy to brag about his own success. He even compared himself to one of rap’s most successful figures in 2020, tweeting that he was the “Chicago Jay-Z.”
Durk clearly admired Jay-Z and he strived to become more like him. He said as much during an interview with XXL in 2023, saying of Jay, “Shit, look what he did. Résumé speak for itself.”
Durk was especially impressed by how Jay overcame his humble beginnings. “He used to be in this position,” he said. “He used to be the underdog. The streets used to take him under. And he bossed up, nah’m sayin’? You ain’t see him post pictures every day tryna fit in.”
Durk has met Jay in the past, and, on one such occasion, Jay apparently paid him a compliment that meant a lot. “I seen him at [businessman] Michael Rubin’s party [in 2022],” Durk explained, “and he like, ‘Man, you motivate me.’ Man, fuck me up.”
Durk admitted that this praise from his idol left him fumbling for words. “I forgot my reply to him, ’cause it was on a walk-by,” he admitted. “The reply ain’t make no damn sense ’cause it shocked me. I’m like, ‘What the fuck? Damn, that’s hard.’”
Clearly delighted with the praise, Durk took an almost mystical view of what had occurred. “Everything happens for a reason,” he said of his encounter with Jay-Z. “It was for a reason I was standing right there when he walked past at the time.”
Elsewhere in this same interview, Durk looked ahead to the future and expressed his desire to follow in Jay’s footsteps by building “an empire outside of music.” At the time, that must have seemed plausible. Now it’s almost impossible to imagine.
In January, Durk’s long-awaited trial was delayed again, for a third time. It is now scheduled to take place this May, where, finally, the long-running saga may reach a resolution. If found guilty, his punishment could be severe.