Grammy Award-winning American rapper Lil Durk has been arrested on suspicion of murder-for-hire, BBC US partner CBS News reports.
Police records seen by US media show that the star, whose real name is Durk Devontay Banks, was arrested in Broward County, Florida, on Thursday night and is being held without permission. bail.
The arrests come a day after five people with ties to Banks’ hip-hop group Only The Family (OTF) were reportedly charged in Chicago in connection with the 2022 shooting that killed rival rapper Quando Rondo Cousin died.
Since 2019, Lil Durk has had six albums reach the top five on the US Billboard charts and has collaborated on hit singles with top stars like Drake and J Cole.
The 33-year-old singer from Chicago has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning best melodic rap performance in February for “All My Life,” a collaboration with J Cole.
Lil Durk founded OTF in 2010, which is the center of the city’s drill rap scene.
Five men charged on Wednesday organized a shooting in Los Angeles in 2022 as direct retaliation for the 2020 death of rising rapper King Von, who signed with OTF, officials said, according to US media reports.
One of Kuando Londo’s friends was accused of King Von’s murder, but the charges were later dropped. Rondo was not arrested or charged.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a new indictment against the five men alleges that an unnamed co-conspirator offered “money and lucrative music opportunities with OTF” to anyone involved in Quando Rondo’s killing.
In 2022, some of the defendants allegedly opened fire on a car traveling with Quando Rondo, his sister and his cousin Saviay’a Robinson.
Quindo Rondo and his sister were not injured, but Robinson died.
Earlier this month, the mother of another Chicago rapper, FBG Duck, reportedly filed a lawsuit accusing Lil Durk, OTF, and King Von of being involved in his shooting death in 2020.
Meanwhile, two years ago, Lil Durk was cleared of attempted murder and other charges stemming from a non-fatal shooting in Atlanta in 2019.
The BBC has contacted Lil Durk’s representatives for comment.
