genre hiphop

Flashback to Oct. 19, 2024: Lil Durk was celebrating his 32nd birthday and hosted his first Birthday Bash concert a day later, taking over the United Center in Chicago, and left inspired to revamp what became his Deep Thoughts album.

However, less than a week later, the Chitown rapper’s universe was flipped upside down when he was arrested in South Florida on federal murder for hire charges tied to a 2022 shooting allegedly targeting Quando Rondo that left another individual dead at a Los Angeles gas station. 

Enter Cedrick “SB” Earsery and Kelvin Sherman, Durk’s managers, who were left picking up the pieces and tasked with delivering Deep Thoughts while having limited communication with the OTF leader behind bars in MDC Los Angeles.

“[Lil Durk] was at a space in life where he was just ready for elevation and transitioning,” Earsery tells Billboard. “He was getting toward religion more. He got married last year on Father’s Day. He was in a new place. He had went to rehab and [was] bettering himself.”

Earsery has known Durk since he was about nine years old and was the rapper’s first manager while returning to the role close to two years ago. Sherman came into the team’s mix around the time Durk was rolling out his 2023 album, Almost Healed. 

The duo worked in collaboration with in-house A&R DJ Bandz, Durk’s engineer Justin (Jusvibes) and Fred Foster on the creative direction side to execute Durk’s vision to the fullest extent for Deep Thoughts, which arrived on Friday (March 28) – about five months after the rapper’s arrest.

“Everything was with [Durk’s], blessing so we were definitely making sure he was present in all of this with phone calls,” Sherman says. “Even though we tweaked some things, the bulk of this is really Durk. We wanted to make sure it sat in the intention he went when he set out.”

What started off as the next installment of Durk’s fan-favorite Love Songs for the Streets series developed into what eventually became Deep Thoughts. Durk seemed to be intentional with every couplet while showcasing his entire artistic repertoire. The rapper’s latest includes wistful trap anthems ruminating on his trials and tribulations, as well as menacing drill tracks and more melodic songs tapping into his romantic side to cater to his female fan base — all of which were run by Durk’s legal team before heading to streaming services.   

“We went into the hard drive and listened to the stuff that might fit the direction that we’re going and we pieced a masterpiece together,” SB proclaims. 

Guest appearances from Future, Lil Baby, Jhené Aiko and Hunxho are sprinkled in throughout Deep Thoughts, and were all completed prior to Durk’s arrest. Sherman recalls Durk being ecstatic when Aiko’s celestial vocals came in as he bumped the duet “1,000 times” on repeat at the studio around his birthday last year. 

“I feel [the] weight of responsibility because fans are gonna cook us,” Sherman adds of the pressure to nail the project. “They gonna be like, ‘It’s y’all fault! Y’all should’ve been communicating with him the best.’”

The Recording Industry Association of America quelled Sherman and SB’s worries heading into release day when the RIAA announced on Thursday (March 27) that Durk collected another 53 plaques, giving him the most certifications of any rapper in 2025 and placing him among the top 50 artists of all-time with 52.5 million units. 

SB spoke with Durk a day before our interview and claims the rapper’s “mindset is good, very positive” from behind bars. “He’s happy with how things are going,” he adds. 

With plenty of heat in the stash, a deluxe for Deep Thoughts is in the works. While nothing is confirmed on that front, Durk’s management team wants to keep his name alive heading into his trial, which has been pushed back to October. Durk has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him.  

“A lot of people miss him in the marketplace,” Earsery states. “We got his career in our hands, and he’s trusting us to [tend to] that.”

Lil Nas X has been on a tear lately. Since November, the rapper has dropped a series of songs, beginning with the dance-y “Light Again,” and the propulsive “Need Dat Boy” in late 2024. Then, this month he’s kicked things up a notch with a string of single releases in the lead-up to the as-yet-unscheduled release of Dreamboy LP, the anticipated follow-up to his 2021 debut full-length album Montero.

The flurry of activity has resulted in the surprise drop on Friday morning (March 28) of the 8-track EP, Days Before Dreamboy. The mini album collects all of Lil Nas’ recent output, including “Dreamboy,” the hard-hitting apparent title track on which he warns, “B–ch, I’m back like J. Christ,” the latter a seeming reference to his failure-to-launch 2024 single “J. Christ,” which created more controversy than chart action.

Just two days later, he was back with the no-games-played “Big Dummy,” on which he rapped “I’ma send this to the group chat/ They gon’ be like ‘who’s that?’/ I’ma be like, ‘Big X, dummy,’ now y’all know I’m comin’.” The next day (March 12), LNX hit us again with the more low-key “Swish,” the basketball metaphor-twisting ballad where he sings, “Swish, they gotta make this shot, gonna make this hot/ Swish, they gotta make this shot, gotta hit this/ I won’t miss/ Another one in, another one in.”

He wasn’t nearly done, though, dropping the bass-thumping party jam “Right There!” on March 13, a chronicle of a wild night out, as well as a broadside against those who thought he was done. “Last year, a n–ga went missin’/ This year, I’m washin’ these n–gas like I was just doin’ the dishes/ My b–ches is n–gas, these n–gas is b–ches/ I’m drunk as f–k, what is the difference?,” he spits over gospel-like backing vocals and a crisp beat.

He capped off his frenzied release week with the Neptunes-like banger “Hotbox” and the take no mess “Lean on My Body.” They’re all collected now in one place as fans wait for news on the Dreamboy album; at press time it was not clear if all the songs on the EP will also appear on that full-length release.

Listen to Days Before Dreamboy EP below.

Sauce Walka mourned the death of his friend and artist Sayso P in a lengthy Instagram post after both rappers were shot in Memphis last week.

“Words or tears can’t explain the loss I feel!” he began. “Splatt, I wish your fat ahh listened to me and stayed in the room. I told you we could smoke that blunt after security and the rest of our familia pull up.. Sosaman told you, ‘F dat weed, wait til we leave an hit Superior first.’ You always so hardheaded blood, but you know I’ma ride wit you regardless. We come together, we leave together. Wish you just went [to] DR with Shimmy and shot off, and skipped this trip to Memphis, but you was to excited I finally agreed to come to da ‘M.’”

He continued, “It’s been 4 years since @tsf1punch_10100 brought you to the familia. Did everything I could to help you change your lifestyle. From Miami to all 50 states, we been mashing and splashing together. I learned a lot from you, young spilla and [I’m] thankful for all the loyalty and support city to city, hood to hood with them sticks rap hustling! You left earth as a rich young boss, you left this earth happy and successful. I’ma make sure the world knows who you really are.”

He added, “But unfortunately, most our kings and bosses are at war with each other. I hope one day we all stop taking lives from our communities and actually start to enjoy and build better futures for our cultures. But the streets are the streets, so I accept what came with being your big brother. I love you, Splatt.”

Rumors swirled that Sayso P was targeted because he allegedly ran off with $200K; however, his mother tried to clear things up on Facebook. “This is the type of lies and sh– that keep mothers losing our sons,” she wrote. “My son never stole anything. Never ran off with anything. Didn’t have to. Haters set him up but not because he stole a dime. He would give you his last before he stole anything. Please stop spreading rumors.”

Adding, “Let me repeat that, he did not have to take sh– from anyone. Money wasn’t a factor. He was too loyal. Too loyal to the wrong people was his biggest downfall. Haters who were envious killed my baby but I won’t let y’all steal his legacy. People see him with a stack and say anything. That was his norm.”

Sayso P, born Latorian Hunt, was 27 years old.