Lil Durk's Real Name: Durk Banks

Quick answer: The rapper is known professionally as Lil Durk. The Associated Press, The Guardian, and Biography.com independently give the name Durk Banks. Biography.com dates his birth to October 19, 1992, in Chicago. A federal jury in Los Angeles acquitted him in September 2026 of murder-for-hire and related charges in that case (Associated Press; The Guardian; Biography.com).

Real name and early life

Independent publishers support the documented name Durk Banks. The Associated Press calls it his legal name, and The Guardian says he was born Durk Banks. Biography.com independently uses that legal name and dates the birth to October 19, 1992, in Chicago, a date not independently repeated in the other sources cited here. Those sources all identify him as a Chicago rapper. Biography.com says he was signed to Def Jam in 2012, left in 2018, and helped found Only the Family, or OTF.

Career highlights

Biography.com lists his first album as Remember My Name and a 2024 Grammy for Best Melodic Rap Performance for All My Life. The Associated Press independently records that Grammy and names the 2023 hit All My Life, featuring J. Cole. The BBC says he has had seven albums in the U.S. Billboard chart's top five since 2019.

Legal matters

The Associated Press, updated September 12, 2026, says a federal jury in Los Angeles on Friday found him not guilty of conspiracy, stalking resulting in death, and murder for hire, in a case tied to a 2022 Los Angeles shooting in which, prosecutors alleged, the intended target was rival rapper Quando Rondo and in which Rondo's cousin, Saviay'a Robinson, was killed. The Guardian independently says he was acquitted of all charges in that case on September 11, 2026. The BBC and The Guardian differ on Rondo's legal name, using Tyquian Bowman and Tayquian Bowman respectively.

The AP says he remained in custody pending a forthcoming trial on a racketeering count severed from that case, and that he has been jailed since his 2024 arrest. The BBC and The Guardian, in September 2026, said a separate trial was scheduled for October 5. Biography.com (October 6, 2026) and Complex (November 4, 2026) later date that trial to August 30, 2027, and Complex says a November 4, 2026, bond hearing ended without a ruling.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Lil Durk or Durk Banks are looking for the same Chicago rapper. The BBC, attributing a defense lawyer, gives the longer form Durk Devontay Banks, which is not independently repeated here.