On May 26, Lil Durk released his newest studio album Almost Healed. It is a twenty-one-track album with features from Alicia Keys, J. Cole, Chief Wuk, Future, 21 Savage, Kodak Black, Juice WRLD, Rob49, and Morgan Wallen. Almost Healed is a concept album about pain and tragedy. It touches on the losses and grief he has experienced from losing his brother. The record shows a more reflective side of Lil Durk.
Who is Lil Durk?
Lil Durk is an American rapper from the South Side of Chicago. He started his career in music in 2011 and released several mixtapes between the years 2011 and 2012. Durk gained a huge following from the release of his Signed to the Streets mixtape series in 2013-2014. Lil Durk founded the collective and record label Only the Family, which included many other Chicago based rappers.
He eventually signed to Def Jam Records and continued to release albums. Following this, he gained mainstream success with his album The Voice of the Heroes (2021) with Lil Baby. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200. He followed it up with another number one album 7220 in 2022. These albums cemented him as one of the biggest rappers in the world.
Despite Lil Durk’s huge musical successes, he has faced his fair share of controversies and tragedies in his personal life. His childhood was not an easy one, his father was incarcerated when he was seven months old. His family struggled with poverty when he was a child, and he became a father at the age of 17. He ended up joining a Chicago street gang and was arrested in 2011 for gun charges. In 2014, Durk’s cousin was murdered and in 2015 his manager was also murdered. In 2020, one of his best friends, fellow rapper King Von was also shot dead, and his brother passed away in 2021. He has had a difficult life and many of these situations inspired his new album Almost Healed.
Almost Healed
Lil Durk’s new album Almost Healed features a lot of great tracks. It opens up with “Therapy Sessions,” featuring Alicia Keys. In this track, Keys plays a therapist listing the things that have occurred in Durk’s life. It is a very moving monologue to start off a deep record. Other stand out tracks include the first single, “All My Life (feat. J. Cole)” which has a catchy riff and includes a children’s choir.
The record also includes a track featuring the late Juice WRLD called, “Cross the Globe.” Also, “Never Imagine” is a reflective track featuring Future, which touches on the way the two of them are living now despite tragedies. Despite many great, deep tracks, there are also some radio friendly tracks that are not as strong. Overall, the album is receiving mixed reviews; there are many strong tracks, but the album also contains some weak ones.
