For decades, Chicago has been plagued with a reputation for violence. Lil Durk, a proud Chicago native, took to MSNBC’S The Beat With Ari to clear the air with politicians who push their own inaccurate narratives about the city.
Host Ari Melber showed Durk a clip of Donald Trump implying that he was worried about Chicago’s crime rate: “What’s going on in Chicago? I said the other day, what the hell is going on?” he said. Trump also compared the city to Afghanistan back in 2020.
The artist retorted by stating:
“I really don’t pay it no mind because it’s violence everywhere. You can get self-defense everywhere, you can kill anywhere, you can stab anywhere, you can choke anywhere, you can kidnap anywhere. Every city has [its] moment of the rates. Every city has [its] rates. If you look up right now, ‘Who has the most murder rate right now?’ I bet it won’t say Chicago. That’s why I never comment on it because every city has its time of having the highest rates.”
In January, Forbes made a list of the 15 most dangerous cities in the United States and Chicago was noticeably absent. St. Louis, Birmingham (Ala.), Baltimore, Memphis and Detroit rounded out the top five.
Property Club also compiled a list of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the U.S. earlier this month. Chicago was ranked number nine, while the top five consisted of Memphis, St. Louis, Oakland (Calif.), Albuquerque (N.M.) and Baltimore.
Durk has used his platform to provide resources to Chicago with his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation. Its mission is to “empower and collaborate with everyday Heroes who are taking the lead to make a positive difference in the lives of those within under-resourced neighborhoods.”
Unlike the politicians who like to run their mouths to portray the city in a negative light, Durk is using his position to actually show up for the people who live there.