The Voice

December 2020’s <i>The Voice</i> should have been a moment for Lil Durk. The album marked a tipping point for the once under-heralded Chicago MC, Durk finally getting his due after years of toiling in the margins and, of course, that “Laugh Now Cry Later” guest appearance. But the milestone was marred by the murder of close friend and OTF labelmate King Von. Five weeks after the release of the original, Durk delivered <i>The Voice (Deluxe)</i>, a project that serves as both a tribute to his fallen comrade and a do-over for that arrival moment.<br /> With the addition of 12 new songs (and a handful of music videos), <i>The Voice (Deluxe)</i> includes an entire album’s worth of new material. In step with any Durk project, it’s packed with quotables that could only have come from an artist like Durkio, someone who keeps it realer than most in the instances of courtship (“Every Freakin Day”: “Told her I can’t lack, but I’ll do it all for the pussy”), street life (“Switched Up”: “All my n***as went to jail, I had to fuck with different n***as”) or mental health (there’s a song called “Kanye Krazy”). Guests on the new set of songs include Lil Baby, Chicago singer Sydny August and rising Memphis talent and increasingly frequent Durk collaborator Pooh Shiesty.