Prosecutors Push to Use Lil Durk’s Lyrics, Videos at Trial

Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to deny Lil Durk’s request to bar his lyrics, music videos, and related imagery from being used as evidence at his upcoming federal murder-for-hire trial, pushing back against claims that the material would unfairly prejudice a jury.

According to documents obtained by Rolling Stone and VIBE, the prosecution argues that excluding the rapper’s own words and visual content would improperly limit jurors’ ability to evaluate relevant evidence tied directly to the charges he faces.

Durk, born Durk Devontay Banks, is accused of orchestrating a bounty on rap rival Quando Rondo that allegedly culminated in the 2022 shooting in Los Angeles that killed Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a “Luh Pab” Robinson.

Prosecutors contend that the alleged plot was motivated by retaliation for the November 2020 killing of Durk’s close friend and Only the Family (OTF) artist King Von, who died following a physical altercation with Quando Rondo outside an Atlanta lounge.

As part of their case, federal prosecutors have presented multiple music videos and audio files that they say demonstrate Durk’s intent, motive, and leadership role within OTF.

These visuals include the music video for “Risky,” which was released two months after Robinson’s murder, as well as lyrics from the Durk songs “AHHH HA,” “Rumors” featuring Gucci Mane, and “Hanging with Wolves.”

In addition, several Durk tracks featuring codefendant Deandre Dontrell Wilson, who raps under the name Deeski, were submitted as evidence by the prosecution.

According to court documents, several of Durk’s lyrics are alleged to reference the underlying violence and his purported involvement in funding or directing acts against rivals. Among the material cited is Durk’s opening lines from his appearance on Nardo Wick’s “Who Want Smoke?? (Remix).”

“They be on my page like ‘Slide for Von’, I know they trollin me/Got it back in blood, y’all just don’t know, that’s how it ‘posed to be,” Durk rhymes on the charged-up posse cut, which also features 21 Savage and G Herbo.

Prosecutors argue that lyrics such as these bolster their contention that Durk “was the leader of OTF who funded his co-conspirators’ violence against rivals, including by placing bounties.”

Prosecutors also point to an unreleased track featuring Boonie Mo allegedly found on a co-defendant’s cell phone titled “Scoom His Ass,” which they say references the events surrounding Robinson’s killing.

The lyrics include: “Popping traffic, we in Cali’, ride through Beverly Hills with choppers/Bounty hunter.” Federal authorities have noted that Beverly Hills is in close proximity to the Beverly Grove gas station where Robinson was fatally shot.

In opposing the defense’s motion, prosecutors maintain that preventing jurors from hearing or seeing this material would undermine the judicial process. They argue that granting the request would “diminish the jury’s role to weigh defendants’ own words,” particularly when the government believes those words are directly connected to the charged conspiracy.

Durk’s legal team initially filed its motion in January, asserting that the proposed evidence “carries an extraordinary risk of unfair prejudice.” The defense further argued that the government failed to adequately contextualize the music it seeks to introduce.

“The notices [of which musical evidence is being used] do not identify who authored the lyrics, when they were created, whether the defendants adopted them, or how the government connects each specific excerpt to any particular fact in dispute,” the brief reads. “Without this basic information, the Court cannot determine whether the music evidence is temporally connected to the charged conspiracy or ‘too temporally distant’ to qualify as part of the same transaction.”

Durk remains incarcerated after his October 2024 arrest in Florida. He was taken into custody near Miami International Airport after authorities said he had booked multiple international flights, prompting concerns that he may have been attempting to flee the country. He is currently being held without bond as he awaits trial.

This story was originally published on VIBE.