Lil Durk writes about Chicago the way Joan Didion once captured California. In a generation of drill rappers who detail life in his hometown with righteous anger, brutal narratives, and on-the-ground perspective, Durk has distinguished himself with wicked specificity and cutting turns of phrase. His style utilizes elements of memoir, journalism, and fiction to capture life in what he describes as “the trenches.” Like Didion’s, Durk’s words are a lens into a deeply American brand of chaos.
The surprise release of Just Cause Ya’ll Waited comes with the news that Durk has split with Def Jam after a five-year stint. That’s okay—he never looked particularly comfortable in major-label rap star threads, anyway. Pitched as something to tide fans over before his next marquee mixtape, Signed to the Streets 3, it’s a low-stakes affair, but Durk wins by accentuating the strengths that have set him apart from his contemporaries. This is party music that might make you weep. Durk looks backwards to his childhood, to family, and to fallen comrades. He’s a 25-year-old with more burdens than someone his age should be saddled with.
Durk’s songs rarely sketch out fully functioning narratives. Instead, his writing is loaded with rich flourishes and sobering details. On the chorus of “Public Housing” alone, he drops $50k on new clothes, calls out to Allah for guidance, and connects his come-up to past hardships (“I came from public houses to a mansion/I lost my family I was feelin’ stranded”). It’s a song about one of hip-hop’s great absolutes: staying loyal to your roots while pursuing the almighty dollar. Similarly, “Granny Crib” flickers with diamond-sharp detail as Durk gives thanks for his success while remembering childhood nights spent sleeping among cockroaches and days packing pistols to stop him from “being bullied.”
If Durk sounds reflective, it may be because mortality is on his mind. “Crossroads” offers a penetrating analysis of grief. With its caressed piano chords, the song draws instant parallels with 2pac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha,” T.I.’s “Live in the Sky,” and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony’s own “Crossroads,” but Durk brings his own deft perspective, saying “I don’t wanna be lonely” in the face of constant loss. Elsewhere, “Instigator” references suicide as he admits, “I feel that pain I thought I’d never feel.” The song ends with Durk trading in his gold Rolexes and trying to get a day job driving a bulldozer.
The backdrop to these musings is a set of beats that lean on rattling hi-hats, shadowy synths, and simple key riffs that the rapper sounds comfortable on, allowing him to test the limits of his voice. Though most of Durk’s delivery comes in a bled-dry, Auto-Tuned style, “Just Flow” is a reminder that he can rap with real fury too. Closing track “My Bruddas,” meanwhile, sounds like a potential single, as Durk’s synthetic voice carries a doomed sense of melody that errs towards Future’s modish sound.
If you’re looking for the mixtape’s weak spot, you’ll find it at its soft center. “Breather,” which features Ty Dolla $ign and PARTYNEXTDOOR, and “Home Body” are sleazy sex jams that are totally fine on the ear; just one would have sufficed. It’s the only wasted motion on Just Cause Ya’ll Waited, which will likely go down as a minor release in Durk’s canon. Even so, this mixtape is a reminder that he’s one of his city’s most compelling correspondents.
