Durk Devontay Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially successful rapper. He initially garnered local success with the release of his Signed to the Streets mixtape series (2013–2014), which led to him to sign with Def Jam Recordings. The label released his debut studio album, Remember My Name (2015), and its follow-up, Lil Durk 2X (2016), to moderate commercial reception before parting ways with the rapper in 2018.

Following the independent release of his Just Cause Y'all Waited mixtape in March 2018, Banks signed with Alamo Records in July of that year. His 2020 single, "Viral Moment", marked his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist and foresaw a commercial breakthrough that same year with his singles "3 Headed Goat" (featuring Polo G and Lil Baby), "Backdoor," and "The Voice", as well as his guest appearances on Drake's "Laugh Now Cry Later" and Pooh Shiesty's "Back in Blood", the former peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. He closed the year with his sixth album, The Voice (2020), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. Released the following year, his collaborative album with rapper Lil Baby, The Voice of the Heroes (2021), became his first to debut atop the chart. His seventh album, 7220 (2022) became his second to do so, while his eighth album, Almost Healed (2023), peaked at number three and was led by the single "All My Life" (featuring J. Cole), which also peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and won Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, yielding his furthest commercial success.

Banks is a four-time Grammy Award nominee and one-time winner. He founded the Chicago-based collective and record label Only the Family (OTF) in 2010, which included late rapper King Von. In October 2024, Banks was arrested by federal authorities on a conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire charge against rapper Quando Rondo. He is also suspected in another murder-for-hire plot that occurred in 2022.

Durk Devontay Banks was born on October 19, 1992, in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His father was incarcerated when Durk was seven months old. He recalled times during his youth when there was not enough food at home.

He began to establish a presence on social media channels like Myspace and YouTube; he grew fond of the idea of being a rapper as his online fan base started to expand. Banks started taking his career more seriously after becoming a father at age 17. He quit school at Paul Robeson High School when he joined the Black Disciples, a street gang in Chicago. Soon thereafter, he began having trouble with the law. He served time in October 2011 due to gun charges, including possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of aggravated unauthorized use of a weapon, according to court records, and did not serve any additional time.

In 2010, Durk released a freestyle over an instrumental version of the song “Wasted”, by Gucci Mane and Plies. Durk's version of the song is titled, "Lamron Wasted". That same year he released "L's Bitch" featuring Lil Reese. After plans to sign with Chief Keef and French Montana's labels fell through, he considered rapping as "a full-time career" after the releases of his two singles, "Sneak Dissin'" and "I'ma Hitta", each of which received generally positive feedback locally. On August 26, 2011, Durk released his debut mixtape: I'm A Hitta, followed by I'm Still A Hitta on April 3, 2012. On October 19, 2012, Durk released his third mixtape, Life Ain't No Joke. As of September 22, 2012, the mixtape has been downloaded over 216,000 times on DatPiff. In December 2012, Durk released the track, called "L's Anthem", which was remixed, featuring French Montana, as a re-release.

In 2013, due to the popularity of "L's Anthem" and its follow-up single, "Dis Ain't What U Want", Durk accepted a joint venture deal with his collective Only the Family and Def Jam Recordings. After a small number of delays, Durk's fourth mixtape Signed to the Streets was released on October 14, 2013, exclusively on DatPiff. It features a guest appearance from former Glo Gang affiliate Lil Reese, who appears on two of the mixtape's tracks. The mixtape also features production credits from Paris Bueller and Young Chop, along with others.

Eight music videos were released to promote Signed to the Streets: "Bars Pt. 2", "Oh My God", "100 Rounds", "Dis Ain't What U Want", "Bang Bros", "Traumatized", "Hittaz", and "Times". Signed to the Streets would later be named the eighth best mixtape of 2013 by Rolling Stone. On October 22, 2013, in an interview with XXL, Durk said he was working on his debut album under Def Jam Recordings. In addition to working on his debut album, Durk was named part of the 2014 XXL Freshmen Class and later in the year on July 7, 2014, Durk released his fifth mixtape, Signed to the Streets 2.