Lil Durk Faces Backlash For Receiving Two Keys To The City Near Chicago

BYGabriel Bras Nevares9.6K Views
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Lil Durk In Concert - Atlanta, GA
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 20: Rapper Lil Durk performs onstage during his "The 7220" tour at Coca-Cola Roxy on April 20, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
Some folks think rappers shouldn't get these honors so frequently, or even at all.

Lil Durk has done a lot for his community, but some folks have an issue with folks giving him credit for his efforts while perhaps downplaying others. If you hadn't heard, he recently received the keys to the city in both Broadview and Bellwood, two villages a few miles outside of the downtown Chicago area, his home city. This is for Smurk's philanthropic efforts through his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation and other initiatives to foster community betterment and impact its citizens in a positive way. While many fans supported and applauded this decision regarding the Deep Thoughts MC, others were more critical of the decision.

"Yall give any rappers a key… why not a teacher, firefighter, doctor and etc…?" one fan posited under the comments section of the Instagram post below. Others criticized the content matter of Lil Durk's more violent or street-centric material, arguing that no city should champion messages like those. This debate isn't exclusive to him, but it does represent the different views about the intersection between hip-hop, the industry, and larger society. In fact, it's part of what's surrounding the lawsuit against Durk and various others from FBG Duck's mother. Check out the comments under the IG post below to see more reactions to these keys to the city.

Lil Durk Gets New Keys To The City: See Comments For Reactions

Nevertheless, Lil Durk fans have a lot to look forward to in the near future, regardless of their thoughts on this matter. His aforementioned album Deep Thoughts may have been delayed, but at least he gave fans the "Opportunist" single to hold them over. Hopefully the LP drops sooner rather than later, and there's plenty of time left in 2024 to work out a release before the year's end.

Meanwhile, Lil Durk has a lot of other career endeavors to expand his resumé through beyond his philanthropic efforts. One of them was his acting debut on Power Book II: Ghost, which some fans clowned. Others, like Durk's costar LaToya Tonodeo, had nothing but nice things to say, and hope that he considers participating in more productions. We'll see whether that pans out, and whether his community engagement continues to positively impact lives.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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