Lil Durk‘s family have taken aim at the government for using the rapper’s lyrics against him in his murder-for-hire case.
In a statement on Instagram, the drill star’s family hit out at the actions of the prosecution.
They said: “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.”
The statement continues: “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 criminalized for their creativity. Rap is art.”
The family also called on fans to show support for Durk while he remains behind bars ahead of his trial later this year: “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.”
Though the prosecution are using Durk’s lyrics against him, they could also be used to help free him from jail.
According to Durk’s attorneys, prosecutors’ claim that the rapper details the alleged attack on Babyface Ray‘s song “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy” is wrong and that it was written months before the shooting took place.
The government’s misrepresentation in the Superseding Indictment, whether knowing or reckless, undermines the integrity of the grand jury’s true bill against Mr. Banks,” they argue in a new filing. “The Court should dismiss the Superseding Indictment against him as a result.”
In a separate filing asking for Durk to be released from jail ahead of trial, his lawyers claim that prosecutors have “attempted to hold Mr. Banks [Lil Durk] responsible for video clips that YouTubers and Instagram users have edited, produced, and posted to social media, but with whom Mr. Banks has no affiliation.”
The motion specifically mentions a fan-made video which “showing defendant’s [Lil Durk’s] rival [Quando Rondo] screaming, ‘No, no’ that was placed over these lyrics [from ‘Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy’],” which prosecutors then “speculated that perhaps [the song] could be a reference to some other uncharged murder.”
His legal team goes on to say: “It is unfair, misleading, and just flat-out wrong for the government to suggest that Mr. Banks is responsible for these video/audio edits or that they evidence his purported commercialization of a murder that he supposedly ordered.”
Ezra Furman has announced a new headline tour of the UK and Europe to take place early in 2026 – see all the dates below.
The Chicago-born singer-songwriter released her 10th studio album ‘Goodbye Small Head’ in May via Bella Union and is already set to take the record on the road around North America in August and October this year.
Now, she has added a slew of dates on the other side of the Atlantic, kicking off in Vienna, Austria on January 19 and taking in dates in Graz, Linz, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Paris.
The tour rounds off with four UK dates – Glasgow, Manchester and Bristol are followed by a huge final show at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London on February 4. Tickets are on sale now and you can find yours here.
JANUARY
19 – Vienna, Arena Wien
20 – Graz, Dom Im Berg
21 -Linz, Posthof
22 – Munich, Strom
24 – Prague, Cargo Gallery
25 – Berlin, Columbia Theater
26 – Hamburg, Molotow
27 – Amsterdam, Paradiso Tolhuisten
28 – Antwerp, Trix Club
29 – Paris, Le Cabaret Sauvage
FEBRUARY
1 – Glasgow, The Art School
2 – Manchester, New Century Hall
3 – Bristol, Electric
4 – London, O2 Forum Kentish Town
Furman described ‘Goodbye Small Head’ as being “vivid with overwhelm”, adding: “They’re not about someone going off the rails, they are inside that person’s heart. The songwriting here is a revision to William Wordsworth’s famous proclamation that ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity’. I can agree with that, except for the tranquillity part.”
Furman continued: “This poetry, my poetry, arrived in the midst of the storm. It was written as I teetered toward the edge. (I did the edits once I was safe again).”
