It wasn't until half a decade after Lil Durk first signed to a major that he enjoyed his most prolific year in music, and during an interview with Complex, this week, the OTF rapper let fans know exactly why that was.
According to Durk, throughout that dormant period he had plenty of music on deck for his following, but in Def Jam he would find himself jammed up on a label that wasn't very supportive of him. "From 2012 until a couple of months ago, I was still with them. And it was like, they wanted me to be this, and be this, and be this," Durk told hosts Nadeska, DJ Akademiks, and Wayno of Everyday Struggle. "If I would've gave up it would've been a wrap," he said.
To his credit, Durk would stay in the studio in spite of his contractual arrangements, and as a result, he was able to record enough material to drop four mixtapes in 2017 (Love Songs for the Streets, Supa Vultures, Signed to the Streets 2.5, and Bloodas). The run would give him the momentum necessary to have the momentum behind him when one year later he dropped Just Cause Y'all Waited, which was the first project he dropped after leaving the Def Jam label.
These days, Durk chaulks the lost time up to a learning experience so that he knows what not to commit himself to in the future. The same goes for those who come after him and have the benefit of learning first hand about the trappings of the industry.
