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Days after federal prosecutors dropped Lil Durk’s rap lyrics from his murder-for-hire case, his lawyers say the new “watered-down” charges support his push to be released from jail ahead of trial.

In a court filing Tuesday (May 6), attorneys for the Chicago drill star (Durk Banks) argue that last week’s superseding indictment — which removed not just Durk’s lyrics but also allegations that he ordered a “bounty” payment — has dramatically weakened the case against him.

By removing those elements of the case, Durk’s lawyers say the feds have “effectively conceded” that they presented “false and/or misleading information” in court — both to get the rapper charged in the first place, and to persuade the judge to deny bail.

“With the issues of the lyrics and the payout of a ‘bounty’ altogether abandoned, what remains of the indictment is a weak patchwork of unsupported and non-specific allegations against Mr. Banks,” writes defense attorney Drew Findling. “This watered-down new indictment, coupled with the robust bond package proposed here, tips the balance in favor of Mr. Banks’ release pending trial.”

Durk was arrested in October on murder-for-hire and gun charges over allegations that he ordered members of his Only the Family (OTF) crew to carry out a 2022 attack on rival rapper Quando Rondo that left another man dead.

To back up that claim, the indictment cited lyrics from a song called “Wonderful Wayne & Jackie Boy” in which Durk allegedly referenced the shooting: “Told me they got an addy (go, go)/ Got location (go, go)/ Green light (go, go, go, go, go),” Durk raps in the track. “Look on the news and see your son/You screamin’, ‘No, no’ (pu–y).”

But Durk’s lawyers sharply pushed back, arguing that “Wonderful Wayne” could not have referenced the Rondo shooting for a simple reason: That the rapper wrote and recorded those verses “seven months before the incident even happened.”  Though prosecutors defended the inclusion of the lyrics, an updated version of the indictment released Thursday (May 1) removed them entirely.

In Tuesday’s new court filing, Findling says the lyrics were a “hotly contested” issue at a December hearing in which the judge denied to release him on bail. Now that they’ve been removed entirely, he says the judge must reconsider whether Durk can be released.

“The government absolutely intended that section to illustrate direct involvement in the alleged murder-for-hire and more importantly, the knowledge of Mr. Banks of the alleged offense through some sort of musical confession,” Findling says. “The government has now been proven wrong and has removed the reference, substantially depreciating the weight of the allegations.”

The removal of the bounty claim presents an “even greater” blow to the government’s case, Durk’s lawyers say, and should also help persuade the judge that bail can now be granted: “With the payment of the ‘bounty’ allegation withdrawn from the indictment, the foundation for this court’s conclusions has been materially undercut.”

In previous court filings, prosecutors denied that the removal of elements from the new indictment had weakened or substantially altered the case against Durk: “Just like every iteration of the indictment before it, the [new indictment] contains significant allegations that show defendant’s alleged role in the execution-style murder of [the victim] on a busy street corner in Los Angeles.”

The judge will decide whether to reconsider Durk’s bail in the weeks ahead, potentially holding a court hearing next month. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday (May 7).