"Smurk Carter" is a song by American rapper

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...

and his record label

Only the Family Only the Family, often abbreviated as OTF, is an American hip hop group and a record label from Chicago, Illinois formed in 2010. The group is composed of Chicago-based rappers, which included late King Von and Lil Durk. Record label The OTF lab ...

. It was released through the label alongside

Empire Distribution Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, EMPIRE has offices in New York, London, ...

as the lead and only single from their collaborative compilation album, ''

Nightmares in the Trenches ''Nightmares in the Trenches'' is a collaborative compilation album by American rapper Lil Durk and his hip-hop group and record label, Only the Family. It was released through the label alongside Alamo Records (a subsidiary of Sony Music) on Nove ...

'', on November 10, 2023. Durk wrote the song with producer Chopsquad DJ and the official music video was released on the same day.

Background

A few days before the song was released, Lil Durk previewed it among other tracks at a

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts. Her other name—inscribed against her figure on a white-ground '' ky ...

Playback event in

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. According to Durk, the song was inspired by rappers

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

. The title of the song references Wayne's surname, Carter, and cover art of the single features Lil Durk adorning Wayne's iconic face tattoos.

Composition

The song opens with a speech about second chances in life from Robert Shipp, a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

man who was sentenced to life in prison for his alleged involvement in a drug conspiracy but reformed and was released after decades. It finds Lil Durk adopting a flow which is similar to that of Lil Wayne's classic style and rapping about street life.

Music video

An official music video was released alongside the single. Directed by Jerry Production, it begins with an appearance from Shipp, who delivers his monologue. The clip sees Lil Durk and his crew in different locations and contains numerous references to Lil Wayne's early career, mainly his " Hustler Musik" video, showing Durk wearing the same

BAPE , also known as BAPE, is a Japanese fashion brand founded by Nigo (Tomoaki Nagao) in Ura-Harajuku in 1993.

outfits and recreating several rooftop scenes. Other references include the video to Wayne's song " Tha Block Is Hot".

Charts

References

{{Lil Durk 2023 singles 2023 songs Lil Durk songs Song recordings produced by Chopsquad DJ Songs written by Lil Durk Songs written by Chopsquad DJ Empire Distribution singles