Lil Durk And His Team Are Working on His Release

Lil Wayne is headlining Madison Square Garden the same day that Tha Carter VI drops. In other news: 

• Billboard Hot 100 📈 

• Lil Durk’s team makes a play for his freedom 🆓 

• Kevin Gates is in LeBron James’ business 👀

• Industry Insights 🔎 

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Billboard Hot 100

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Kendrick and SZA’s collab “luther” is still keeping the top spot but his other tracks “Not Like Us” and “tv off” have taken a tumble down the charts. Meanwhile, Doechii’s “Anxiety” kept its spot as well, but Drake’s “NOKIA” is now farther away from beating out Lamar.

Why Lil Durk’s Lyrics Might Save Him From a Conviction

Last October, Lil Durk (AKA Durk Davontay Banks) was arrested and formally charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, alongside other members of the Only The Family (OTF) collective. 

The charges stem from an alleged 2022 attempt to murder rapper Quando Rondo—a retaliatory act following the 2020 killing of Durk’s close friend, King Von, by one of Rondo’s associates. While Rondo survived the attempt, his cousin, Lul Pab, was tragically killed during the incident.

Although Durk pleaded not guilty in November, prosecutors added more charges that same month, including one count of conspiracy, one count of using interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and one count of using, carrying, and discharging firearms (including a machine gun) in furtherance of a violent crime resulting in death.

The trial has since been delayed to October with a potential life sentence on the line. However, his legal team has a plan to regain Durk's freedom. 

It’s coming down to lyrics

Durk’s attorneys are arguing that the federal government presented the grand jury with misleading evidence: lyrics from one of Durk’s features, written six months before the attempted murder, were portrayed as a confession.

The lyrics were pulled from the track “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy” with Babyface Ray (officially released three months before the shooting). According to the feds, Durk was “rapping about his revenge.”

“Told me they got an addy (go, go), Got location (go, go), Green light (go, go, go, go, go)/ Look on the news and see your son, You screamin’, ‘No, no’ (p****),” Durk raps on the song. 

However, Durk's legal team has submitted sworn affidavits from producers involved in the track's creation, confirming that it was recorded in January 2022, which was well before the incident occurred.

“The government told the grand jury that Mr. Banks, through specific lyrics in his music, celebrated and profited from a revenge murder that he had ordered,” David Findling, Durk’s lawyer, wrote. “That claim is demonstrably false. Unless the government is prosecuting Banks on a theory of extra-sensory prescience, the lyrics could not have soundly informed the grand jury’s finding of probable cause,”  Durk’s lawyer David Findling said.

Prosecutors also pointed to a specific lyric (“No, no”) which they claim references Quando Rondo’s reaction in a viral news clip where he sees his cousin’s body, but Durk’s team argues that this connection is based on YouTube edits from fans. 

“Mr. Banks did not create these videos, and the government has failed to show any nexus between these manufactured video clips and Mr. Banks…The internet users who posted the videos … are apparent ‘fan pages’ maintained by people with no affiliation to Mr. Banks,” Findling said.

As of now, the court has not issued any ruling on the motion to dismiss the charges. One thing, however, is clear: Lil Durk and his legal team are pushing back hard.

LeBron James Addresses Kevin Gates’ Viral Rant

If there’s one thing Kevin Gates is gonna do, it’s speak recklessly with his whole chest. Whether it’s launching into wild TMI stories mid-interview or turning his concerts into Rated-R re-enactments, Gates has gone viral more times than a TikTok dance challenge. This time, though? He’s trending for the wrong reason: commenting on the marriage of LeBron James.

Don’t piss LeBron off

On April 19, Gates hopped on Instagram and delivered a three-minute bedtime soliloquy straight out of the “What Are You Even Talking About?” book. The narrative of his story focused on LeBron James, his wife Savannah, and…how white women look at James?

“He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game, but I wouldn’t want to trade places with him,” said Gates, re-enacting his response to why he wouldn’t want to be in James’ shoes despite the basketball player’s net worth being much higher than his. 

Why does Gates feel this way? “Because I don’t like the way Savannah look at LeBron. I like the way them white women look at LeBron. As soon he walks out there, they just be like [gawks in amazement],” said Gates, suggesting Savannah should act more like a fan in awe of her husband.

But the rant didn’t end there—Gates had thoughts on James’ teammates not being appreciative enough, either. “I notice, when he go to do the handshake with the main player on his team, you act like I’m bothering you—bitch…I couldn’t do it, bruh. His spirit is so loving and giving. It hurt me to see that. You dive on the floor behind that n****, man.” 

Two days later, James posted pics of him and his wife boo’d up with the caption ““Kings don’t concern themselves with the opinions of peasants.” Where to next Queen?!?! Let’s get it!” Meanwhile, Savannah responded with a simple yet effective Nicki Minaj meme.

Rather than log off like a normal person who could tell their advice was unsolicited, Gates followed up with another IG video from his car (the universal sign that someone’s about to say something they’ll regret).

In a new video posted the same day as James’ post seemingly defending Savannah, Gates said, “The truth hurts, but it heals. Bron, I love you ’cause you my n**** and I already know she was like, ‘You gonna let him say that!’ As long as you being celebrated, that’s all I care about you. I don’t care if I gotta fall out with somebody that I love to get the results.”

Twitter, TikTok, and every group chat with Wi-Fi immediately sided with James (which isn’t a surprise, considering ball fans are diehard). Gates, respectfully, might want to stick to hip thrusts on stage. At the end of the day, you don’t come for LeBron or Savannah James unless you’re ready to get swept worse than the 2018 Cavaliers.

• Druski is working to prove his innocence. New phone records and bank account statements from the comedian allegedly support his denial of any involvement in the Diddy sexual assault lawsuit.

• Cardi B is taking on the WWE. She recently announced that she will be hosting the two-day Summer Slam event in New Jersey this August. 

• Kendrick Lamar has secured another bag. He is officially the newest ambassador for Chanel. 

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