The scene outside the federal courthouse in Los Angeles looked like a Super Bowl victory. Following Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire acquittal, fans and streamers rejoiced alongside the rapper’s family. Drew Findling, one of Durk’s attorneys, gave a fiery speech recalling his Trumpian pretrial prediction that they would “make history with the greatest verdict,” while another, Brian Steel, left the building to chants of “MVP.”
This kind of spectacle had been taking place since the start of the trial. For three weeks, dozens of protestors, streamers, and fans congregated outside like they were at a concert or Streamer University audition instead of a trial about an alleged assassination attempt that ended in one man’s murder. Though some independent journalists such as Michael Blackshire, Drea Oppan, and Twitter user youvegtMel reported on the case with tact, DJ Akademiks, Trap Lore Ross, and dozens of other daily courthouse streamers thumbed their nose at the gravity of a murder trial. Durk’s friend and OTF member Doodie Lo immortalized the scene with a music video for his track “What You Done 2 Me,” featuring people with Free Durk tees on behind him, popular streamer N3on beside him, and brief cameos by Chuckyy, G Herbo, and Kanye West (it’s unclear if any of the artists realized they were being filmed).
It was a fitting conclusion to a circus that reasserted how exploitative and inhumane hip-hop fandom has become. It was also something the family of Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson, the victim in the case, should never have had to walk by. Pab was killed after gunmen ambushed an SUV escorting him and his cousin, Quando Rondo—the actual alleged target of the murder-for-hire plot—through Beverly Hills. Footage of an agonized Rondo at the scene went viral. Former Durk associates Kavon “OTF Vonnie” Grant, Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester, and Keith “Flacka” Jones later pled guilty to the murder and testified that Durk had ordered them to LA to kill Rondo, only for them to accidentally shoot Pab instead. Prosecutors, as well as the cooperating witnesses, contended that the attempt on Rondo’s life was Durk’s revenge for the 2020 murder of his friend and label signee, King Von in Atlanta. Durk denied any involvement.
While Trap Lore Ross and DJ Akademiks—unbound by editorial standards, ethics, or empathy for their subjects—egged on the beef between Durk’s crew and Rondo for their own benefit, Pab became an afterthought in a trial about his death. Meek Mill and Boosie decried the perceived tragedy of Durk being “snitched on” over the loss of a life. On Twitter, Meek described Durk as “just a innocent kid from Chicago,” with no acknowledgement that this logic also applied to Pab.
It’s not surprising that Durk, boasting 19 million Spotify listeners, would be the focus of the trial. In sensational cases, people are drawn to the more newsworthy side of the docket: the disgraced millionaire, the “perfect victim,” and in this case, the star rapper. Durk became a canonical artist for a catalog full of melodic hits, heartrending introspection, and street tales that admittedly felt more chilling with every testimony in his trial. After leaving Def Jam in 2018, he signed with Alamo and revamped his career with five platinum albums and collaborations with Drake, Kanye West, J. Cole, Cardi B, Lil Baby, and even country star Morgan Wallen. In March of 2022, Durk claimed that Alamo signed him to a $40 million deal. Now, after acquittal, he’s at the precipice of yet another comeback. He’s facing a racketeering trial that starts in October, but two lawyers predict that the Pab acquittal dampens the prosecution’s case.
