Lil Durk is one of a slew of prominent figures in hip-hop to give up some of the substances which rappers have been known to partake in pop culture. In a recent interview reported by TMZ, he broke down his motivations for going to rehab to get clean of codeine and Xanax.
He also described his lifestyle prior to rehab as “moving fast, making excuses, letting the drugs take over me. Codeine and everything. Xanax. But it don’t make me. I can see myself just staying on the right track and trying to change a lot of lives.”
Durk explained of going to rehab, “It was tough at first, but it ain’t that tough because I really knew what I wanted. I knew that was holding me back… I wanted better. I wanted to be a better man, a better father, a better leader — but more action, so I gotta make sure that the self is good before anybody else.”
To that end, Durk has focused on helping people in both big ways — giving over $300,000 to scholarship funds — and small ones, such as helping a homeless man get back on his feet. He also embraced a more optimistic outlook in his music, recruiting J. Cole to feature on the uplifting “All My Life” and reflecting on the “Old Days” with a more levelheaded perspective.