Track Review: Still Trappin' by Lil Durk Feat. King Von

 

    Finishing up the year in music Lil Durk dropped The Voice, a surprise release with some decent features and a cautious glimpse into what really makes Lil Durk tick. The album however, is exactly what you would expect from the Chicago based trap artist; hard piano-laced instrumentals and generic trap production combined with his bland, charismatic and jaded vocal abilities. This release is nothing special, but one track sticks out in particular, and does so for all the right reasons.

    “Still Trappin’” is a high energy, street-themed team up by Lil Durk and the late King Von. Both bring their absolute best, and breaking this cut down and highlighting the best elements it contains was a no brainer. Produced by Go Grizzly and Hitmaka, “Still Trappin’” begins with some fast and infectious high-hats and an 808 that is snappy and quite punchy, settling into the beat and helping to steady the track as it progresses. The backbone of this minimalistic instrumental is the synthed out notes that float through the production in a pattern of hitting 4 times then 5, continuously repeating this progression throughout. This pattern makes the beat extremely menacing. The production has minimal echo, combining perfectly with the vocals, creating tones of demise and pure malice as it acts as the bassline. The drums are sparingly utilized in the track, hitting super clean and reinforcing the feelings of dread associated with the production. This lack of textures and depth benefits the track and really lets our MC’s deliver in the perfect way possible.

    King Von appears first on the track, absolutely murdering the beat and delivering his lyrics with no remorse or any afterthoughts at all. He does the hook and has a verse, while Lil Durk adlibs and has his own Verse as well. Von raps on the hook “This ain’t OG, this just smoke and this shit Thrax for real, this that shit that have you chokin’ and it got Tooka killed.” King Von is reinforcing the idea that messing with him or Durk could turn out bad for their rivals, as Thrax was a son of Ares in Greek mythology and is now a slang term for “killer” marijuana. Tooka was a rival gang member who Von has taunted numerous times in his music, and is hinting at the fact that the drug game is what got him killed. He later raps in his verse “Bad bitch posted my bail uh, scream fuck 12, all these bales came from the Cartel.” Not really hard to figure that one out, but his delivery on these words is electrifying and has energy that is unmatched in aggression by any of his contemporaries. The chorus rings in one more time and then Lil Durk begins. While he sounds slightly off-beat at times and struggles to ride the pace of the instrumental, it is refreshing to hear him clean without any auto tune, and his inflections and energy are about on par with the ruthless nature of Von. Durk has some clever bars, rapping “When it comes to paper, my shit come in pages” and some more violent ones such as “Even though we fightin’ cases, keep them guns on stages.” Durk even throws in a line referencing the Covid-19 pandemic,  rapping "He a bitch, just ho his ass, bro slide with a COVID mask" which was a nice spot of dark humor on this track. It is clear to us that Von and Durk are both cautious and wary, especially given the lives they lead, but won’t hesitate to actually represent what they rap about.

    This track is not deep or very conceptual in any way, but is showcases Lil Durk’s and King Von’s abilities they have as rappers, able to ride an instrumental and deliver feelings and messages that are reminiscent of their lifestyles. They offer violent, hard hitting bars and you cannot deny the feelings tracks like this give to fire someone up and make them feel alive with energy. It is deeply sad that Von passed away so young, but cuts like this highlight what he was capable of and give a glimpse into a side of Lil Durk we rarely get to see.

Track Score: 9/10