Lil Durk’s family calls out prosecutors for using his lyrics against him
Lil Durk is currently jailed in Los Angeles on murder-for-hire charges, with his trial set to begin in October. His family has now blasted prosecutors for using his lyrics against him.
A key piece of evidence against Durk is his verse on Babyface Ray’s ‘Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy’, in which he’s accused of “rapping about his revenge.”
Released three months after the Quando Rondo shooting that resulted in the death of Lul Pab, Durk raps in the song, “Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go)/ Look on the news and see your son/ You screamin’, ‘No, no’ (p*ssy).”
Then, earlier this week, an unreleased song called ‘Scoom His Ass’ was seized, with the government claiming the lyrics “corroborate defendant’s danger.” They cited the lyrics “riding through Beverly Hills with choppers” and Durk referring to himself as a “bounty hunter,” claiming they “have a striking similarity to the modus operandi used to kill [Lul Pab].”
In an Instagram video, Lil Durk’s family wrote, “The recent developments in Durk’s legal case have brought a harsh truth to light: the government presented false evidence to a grand jury to indict him. This isn’t justice. That’s a violation of the very system that’s supposed to protect all of us.
“Durk has always used music to tell stories, to express pain to heal—and yet those same lyrics are now being used against him. We refuse to stay silent as black artists continue to be criminalised for their creativity. Rap is art.”
They added, “As a family, we are asking the public, the fans, and the culture to stand with us. Stand for truth. Stand for fairness. Stand for The Voice.”
Durk’s lawyer, David Findling, said in a filing, “The government told the grand jury that Mr Banks, through specific lyrics in his music, celebrated and profited from a revenge murder that he had ordered. That claim is demonstrably false.
“Unless the government is prosecuting Banks on a theory of extra-sensory prescience, the lyrics could not have soundly informed the grand jury’s finding of probable cause.”