Pioneering a melodic and emotional brand of street music, Lil Durk impresses with his impactful songwriting. Reflecting on his rough childhood and contrasting with his blessed present, Durk contemplates his come-up on “Granny Crib.” A highlight from Durk’s Just Cause Y’all Waited EP, “Granny Crib” finds Durk finding a balance between his career and his responsibility as a parent, trying to prevent his children from the hardships he endured as a child and taking a much bigger role in their lives than his father did in his. In the video, Durk stunts alternately in a mansion and in the hood, illustrating just how far he’s come in his 26 years: “Came a long way to a mansion crib/I had roaches out my granny crib/Jumped into the streets on accident/Police snatched me up they better not ask me shit.” “Granny Crib,” which already has over 300k views on YouTube, follows the Complex-premiered video for “Cross Roads,”
His first project since departing Def Jam, Just Cause Y’all Waited is a twelve-track collection of melodic bangers that thrive on Durk’s trademark emotional honesty. Further evidence of the Chicago-bred artist’s seamless fit within the vibrant scene of his new hometown of Atlanta, Just Cause Y’all Waited EP is an important transitional record for Durk. Praised by Pitchfork, who wrote “Lil Durk writes about Chicago the way Joan Didion once captured California,” Just Cause Y’all Waited features tracks such as the DY of 808 Mafia-produced “Durkio Krazy,” which has over 5 million combined plays for its audio on YouTube, the buzzing “1-773 Vulture,” a street remix to Logic’s hit single “1-800-273-8255” that reached the 7 million view mark on YouTube, the Lil Baby-featuring lead single “How I Know,” currently featured on Spotify’s Most Necessary playlist, and the flashy “When I Was Little,” which has 813,000 views since its premiere last week. Featuring additional appearances from PartyNextDoor, Ty Dolla $ign, Gunna, and TK Kravitz, and with production from 808 Mafia and others, Just Cause Y’all Waited EP is a formidable appetizer for Signed to the Streets 3, due later this year. You can catch Lil Durk this weekend at the Rolling Loud Festival in Miami.
