Chicago Rappers don’t just talk about things they saw in the past.
They rap about real situations going down in the streets,
including stabbings, kidnappings, murders, and other crimes.
Here is a closer look at some Chicago drill lyrics that really happened.
G Herbo – Crazy
“That night we lost Kobe on the 8 block,
had that Glock beside him”
G Herbo is one of the most respected rappers to make it out of Chiraq.
With hits like PTSD and Cry No More,
Herb has made it pretty far in the industry while staying true to his roots.
But that don’t mean his come-up was easy
and Herb has lost multiple people close to him to gun violence growing up.
In this bar, Herb is rapping about his close friend Jacoby Herron aka Kobe.
Kobe was killed back in 2013 after leaving a party that Herb was at too.
Kobe was killed around 4 am on August 10th, 2013
after being shot several times outside of Mcdonald's on the 2400 block of East 79th Street.
Before walking by McDonald’s, Kobe was at a party with Herb
and Lil Bibby celebrating Bibby’s brother’s birthday.
They were on the block shooting dice, but Kobe suddenly wanted to go home.
They tried to give him a ride,
but he said he’d rather walk cause it was only a few blocks.
Just minutes after leaving,
Kobe was shot several times in the face and body while he was walking by McDonalds.
Herb and the rest of his crew ran over to see what happened
and found Kobe dead on the street.
Kobe was one of Herb’s closest friends and the murder hit him hard.
He would later shout him out in songs and named one of his mixtapes after him
called Ballin’ Like I’m Kobe.
No one was ever arrested for Kobe’s murder.
But it’s rumored that he was killed by a rival gang called KTS.
Kobe was a member of No Limit Muskegon Boys, same as Herb and Bibby.
They were known to beef with a set of the GDs’ called Kill to Survive.
It’s rumored that dudes from KTS saw Kobe walking by himself that night and took him out.
KTS Von and his brother Dre,
the gang’s two main rappers often dissed Kobe in records
and on social media, leading many to believe they were involved.
But Herb ain’t the only one to rap about real shootings in Chicago.
Lil Durk also dissed one of his opps
who was shot in the head outside a funeral but survived.
Lil Durk – 248
“An O-P-P got hit in his T-O-P
and he ain’t even die”
Lil Durk is one of the biggest stars to make it out of Chicago.
Even though his career has had some ups and downs,
he’s managed to keep a loyal fanbase and has outlasted many of his peers in the industry.
After 10 years, he’s still topping charts
and was recently featured on some of 2021s biggest albums.
But Durk came from the trenches
and is known to rap about opps from his old neighborhood.
One of his main opps is another rapper from the Southside named FBG Wooski.
Wooski is a GD rapper from the Fly Boy Gang founded by FBG Duck.
He was part of STL/EBT who are known to beef with O’Block and OTF.
Durk and Wooski have been trading shots back and forth for years.
But Wooski’s rap career was slowed down
after he got shot in the head outside a funeral in 2018.
In October 2018,
Wooski went to the funeral of a MOB member named Dooski The Man.
Dooski had got shot a few days before and it was rumored that the BDs were behind it.
O’Block and 600 were trying to catch Wooski lackin
ever since he dropped the track Computers Remix, where he dissed several dead BDs.
Right after the funeral service ended,
Wooski stepped out to smoke a cigarette
when a car pulled up and shot up the front of the church.
Five other people who were walking out of the building were also hit
and Wooski suffered a gunshot to the head.
He was rushed to the hospital and miraculously survived.
He suffered minor brain damage and had to relearn how to walk and talk.
Eventually, he made a full recovery and has even returned to rapping.
FBG Wooski ain’t the only GD to send disses at the opps.
In this next track, Rooga took several shots at a dead member from 600.
FBG Duck x Rooga – Exposing Me Remix
“Ayy baldy got smoked by a tree
Run up on him with the stick and smoked him like a leaf
Now they chalkin’ up the street”
FBG Duck was one of the most popular GD rappers from Chicago
before he got killed back in 2020.
Now his cousin Rooga has picked up the torch and made major moves in the industry.
His song GD Anthem has racked up millions of views
and he was featured on the track Ok Ok from Kanye West’s Donda album.
But many fans first heard about Rooga on the Exposin' Me Remix
alongside his cousin FBG Duck.
Exposin Me was a song by King Von and Memo 600
that dissed Duck’s brother FBG Brick who was killed in 2017.
So, Duck and Rooga made a remix of the song and went twice as hard.
In this bar, Rooga is talking about a dead 600 member named Baldy
who was killed in 2011.
Marcus London aka Baldy
was a respected member from 600 and Front Street
who was close with dudes like Fredo Santana and Edai.
On Sunday, July 17th, 2011,
Baldy was walking with a friend on the 6000 block of South Prairie Avenue
when a car pulled up and started letting off shots.
Baldy was hit in the head and his friend was hit in the ankle.
The friend survived but Baldy was pronounced dead at the hospital.
After Baldy died, 600 started going by the name Baldy World in his honor.
So Rooga had to even the score for dissing his dead cousin,
by getting at one of 600’s most respected fallen soldiers.
But Rooga ain’t the only Chicago rapper to talk about real situations.
This next artist
rapped about all the people he lost to gun violence while he was growing up
"Tim Tim Died We Threw Up T’s
Twin 'nem died, we bangin' L's,
I wish that thеy ain't never leave
For Killa, K's to the brain,
I'm scorin' if I catch the G's
Forever stuntin like I’m Durb,
I keep a few tricks up my sleeve.”
– Polo G Painting Pictures
Polo G is one of the hottest rappers in the game right now.
With hits like Rap Star and Finer Things,
he’s made himself one of the leading artists of this new generation.
But the rapper still comes from humble beginnings and growing up on the North Side of Chicago,
Polo also experienced a lot of losses.
The rapper grew up on the 1300 Block of Hudson Ave
and Sedgewick Street in the Cabrini Green District.
The rapper is allegedly from the 1300 set of the Vice Lords.
In this bar, he shouts out his dead homies that he lost during his come-up.
Tim Tim is the nickname of a dude named Devonshay Lofton,
a close friend of the rapper who was killed in 2014.
Tim Tim was murdered at just 16 years old
after a shooter on a bike shot him several times
in the parking lot of the Ever-Green Terrace Apartments in the 1300 Block of North Cleveland Avenue.
Tim Tim was loved in the neighborhood and was close to Polo.
After he died, the 1300 Vice Lords went by the name Tim Tim Gang in his honor.
But, Polo lost two more friends to gun violence just a few years later,
which are the next two people he raps about in this song.
In October 2016,
Edwin and Edward Bryant were killed in a drive-by
while standing on the 1300 Block of North Hudson Avenue.
Edward was a star basketball player at Marshall High School
and the twins were both popular and well known in their hood.
They were the brothers of Polo G’s close friend Lil Wooski
- not to be confused with FBG Wooski.
So in this bar, Polo claims that he and his gang
are known to throw up L’s to pay tribute to the Bryant Twins,
who were taken too soon.
The next person Polo shouts out is his homie Killa.
Nacurvie Smith aka Killa
was shot and killed in November 2014.
He was found in a car in the 400 block of West Evergreen Ave
with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was shot while he was driving,
and his whip crashed into several other parked cars before coming to a stop.
Three men were later arrested and charged with Killa’s murder.
In this bar, it sounds like Polo is saying that the dudes who murdered Killa
were from the Gangster Disciples.
The rapper has claimed GDK in the past
and the gang is known to beef with the 1300 Vice Lords.
In this next bar, Polo shouts out his uncle Mike Jones aka Mike Durb,
who died in a car accident in 2018 at the age of 36.
Polo has shouted out Mike Durb in other songs
and in a Genius breakdown for the song Deep Wounds, Polo said
“Mike Durb, that’s my uncle.
He passed away in a car crash right before I made it big.
Often times, I think about what life would’ve been like if he was still here.
I remember him telling me he got me no matter what,
and to call him if I need him,
any situation.
And he knew I was gonna make it big off this rap thing.”
Mike Durb ain’t the only uncle Polo rapped about on this track.
Earlier in the song, he also shouts out his uncle Lamp rapping
“They killed Lamp, he took three with him they all know what your name about”.
So in this bar, Polo suggests that his uncle was a true gangsta and when he was killed,
he took out three people with him.
Polo once shared a picture of himself with his uncle when he was a baby,
right before he was killed.
He also wrote
“That’s the 1st pic I eva seen w me & Lamp.
My uncle was a real Gangsta.
Ik I done said that shit before but this shit fr.
He died in a shoot out & sent n***** up [with him].
He was A GD from the Greens & one of The only ones I’ll ever have respect fa
cuz yk……
but long live lamp G🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤”
So even though he’s still pretty young
Polo G has seen a lot.
At least now he has stories to put in his raps that fans know are for real.
But Polo G ain’t the only Chicago rapper to talk about his losses in the streets.
This next artist rapped about a few people close to him
who either passed away or went to jail before they could see him succeed.
Lil Durk – Try Me (Remix)
"Free RondoNumbaNine he just caught a body
RIP to Nuski, my cousin called me
I seen my cousin bleeding I damn near lost it
That's why I gotta ride through all the opp shit"
Lil Durk is known to diss his opps in his music.
But sometimes he also pays tribute to some of the people he lost coming up as a rapper.
In one of Durk’s early songs, he shouts out his homie Rondonumbanine,
who is currently serving a 39-year sentence for murder,
along with his cousin Nuski who was killed in 2013.
Rondonumbanine was one of the most promising rappers from 600
during the early days of the Chicago drill.
With hit tracks like Play for Keeps and Taliban
racking up millions of views on YouTube,
many thought he was the next rapper from Chicago to make it out.
But before he could reach his full potential, the rapper was arrested
and charged with first-degree murder for the killing of a cab driver named Javan Boyd.
According to prosecutors, Rondo and another 600member named Cdai
killed the cab driver after a party on the night of February 21st, 2014.
Boyd was killed while waiting to pick up a customer.
Rondo and Cdai were at a party with some girls and their friends.
After they left, the girls stuck around
and someone ended up firing shots after a fight started over the music.
According to the prosecutors,
Rondo and Cdai came back looking for the men who fired the shots
and ended up killing Boyd cause they thought he was somehow involved.
They were both convicted of first-degree murder in 2016
and sentenced to 38 and 39 years in prison.
In the next bar,
Durk raps about his cousin Nuski who got killed in 2014.
Nuski was an up-and-coming rapper signed to OTF
who started building a buzz with the track OC.
But before he could make it out of the streets completely, Nuski was killed
while sitting in a parked car on the 700 block of East 87th Street.
A shooter walked up to the SUV
that Nuski was sitting in and fired multiple shots, killing him.
Nuski’s killer was never arrested,
but many say he was murdered by a member of 051 Money Gang
named 051 Melly, the gravedigger of Chiraq.
A rapper from 051 Money gang named Lil Marc
had been killed earlier that year after dissing Durk and other rappers from 600 and O'Block.
Then Durk released a video where he made fun of Lil Marc at the spot he was killed.
So many think that Nuski was murdered as payback.
But that’s how it is in Chicago.
One murder leads to disses which only leads to more violence.
Hopefully, Durk has learned his lesson
and will stop dissing opps in his music
and on social media so he don’t lose any more people close to him.