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Rapper Lil Durk Wants To Help Stop Shootings In Chicago

By Kelly Bauer | August 4, 2016 11:34am
 Chicago-born rapper Lil Durk told WGN he is planning a Stop the Violence concert.
Chicago-born rapper Lil Durk told WGN he is planning a Stop the Violence concert.
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Getty Images/Ilya S. Savenok

CHICAGO — Rapper Lil Durk, who has lost loved ones to Chicago shootings, says he is now working to reduce gun violence.

Durk, who was raised in Englewood and is friends with notorious Chicago rapper Chief Keef, told WGN Radio he wants to help reduce violence in Chicago. He has lost close friends and family to violence, including cousin OTF Nunu, rapper L'A Capone, JMoney and his manager, Uchenna Agina.

Durk has also faced weapons charges several times, but he doesn't glorify violence in his songs, despite what critics have said, he told WGN Radio.

"They don't know what they're talking about," Durk said. "Killing been going on since everybody was born, so don't blame us."

In fact, the rapper is now reaching out to help prevent violence, he said: He's working on a Stop the Violence concert and said he wants to "bring people back together" and speak with teenagers.

Those actions can help make things better, he said, but they can't stop the violence.

"Less violence, more money," he said, laughing, of his views. Another motto: "Live longer."

Durk's father left his family in 1992, he said, and he faced hardships from an early age: "Violence, not eating, lights off, cold water," he said, describing his youth.

Durk didn't become serious about music until he was 17 and his son was born while he was in jail, he said. His son "got me focused," he said, and he decided he would work to "stay out of trouble."

“It was hard growing up. My daddy was gone since ’92 … it made me a man, though," Durk told WGN. "That’s what made me what I am today.”

Listen to Lil Durk's full interview with Justin Kaufmann here.

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