Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire trial is less than a month away, but the opposing sides are still tussling over what evidence will be allowed — and federal prosecutors are now fighting to include one specific song and video of Durk’s: 2021’s “Pissed Me Off.”
On Monday (July 27), prosecutors filed a motion requesting that both the audio and the music video for the track be admissible at trial. Their argument is that both the song and video demonstrate that Durk was ready and willing to enact violent revenge for the killing of his friend and OTF label mate King Von, and was encouraging others to do the same.
Durk is accused of paying for and arranging a hit on rapper Quando Rondo as payback for Von’s death. (Von was killed in November 2020 in what was reportedly a shootout with Rondo’s entourage.) Per prosecutors, the hit Durk ordered missed Rondo but accidentally killed Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson.
Feds summed up the message of “Pissed Me Off” as: “[Durk] affirms his resolve to avenge Von’s death and criticizes those who would rather party in clubs and post on social media than pick up a gun and get revenge or otherwise contribute to the cause.” They quote lyrics (“Grab a gun/If you ain't with it, put up money for a gun/Put up money for a hot car, put up money for a bond/I don't see you on the regular, but I see you screamin' ‘Von'“) to back up their assertion.
Even the idea that it’s OK to kill someone other than the intended target in a revenge effort — as allegedly actually happened — is addressed in the song, prosecutors say, quoting the lyric “If you can’t get the main n***a, then you better get his guys.”
“[T]he government expects co-conspirators to testify that, upon learning that [Robinson] was killed instead of [Quando Rondo], defendant was nevertheless elated, since [Robinson] had a close relationship with [Rondo],” the memo continues.
When it comes to the video, prosecutors mention its use of a King Von look-a-like, Durk’s donning of a “Long Live Von” T-shirt, the use of “gang-related hand signs,” and Durk’s flashing of large amounts of cash. The last of these, they say, is “consistent with allegations of murder for hire and that defendant Banks funded the attempts to murder [Quando Rondo].”
Also on Monday, prosecutors filed a separate motion attempting to exclude four experts who Durk’s side wants to testify during the trial: gang and drill rap expert Dr. Lance Williams; Dr. Erik Nielson, co-author of the book Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America; music management expert Chantal Britt; and entertainment law expert Matthew Buser.
Complex has reached out to Lil Durk’s attorneys for comment on the motions, but they did not immediately respond.
