Courts and Crime
Prosecutors won’t be able to use lyrics from Durk’s “Hanging With Wolves” track that talk about catching a flight
A federal judge ruled Monday that some of Lil Durk’s rap lyrics will be off-limits as evidence at his upcoming murder-for-hire trial. However, the judge added that the rapper’s request to bar all lyrics and music videos from the proceedings is still being weighed.
Durk’s defense lawyers want to exclude all lyrics from trial, arguing they’re hyperbolic “poetry” that carry an “extraordinary risk” of being misunderstood by jurors. Prosecutors, meanwhile, hope to admit lyrics from 12 songs as they allege Durk “used his money for violence” as the alleged leader of a “gang” dubbed OTF. (Durk’s Chicago-based rap collective and record label, Only the Family, is also known as OTF.)
After hearing arguments from both sides in a Los Angeles courtroom, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ruled that specific lyrics from the song “Hanging With Wolves” would be barred. In the track, Durk raps, “I’m the type to hop on a flight with a warrant, you gotta catch me.” Prosecutors claim the line bolsters their theory that Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, was attempting to flee the country at the time of his arrest. Banks disputes that claim and has pleaded not guilty.
