Lil Durk is gearing up to release his next project, and it’s not Love Songs 4 the Streets 3 like fans initially speculated. On Friday (Oct. 4), the Chicago rapper announced that Deep Thoughts will hit streaming services on Oct. 18.
“For the people, for the trenches, Smurk [is] back,” he captioned an Instagram post alongside the black-and-white artwork. So far, the only confirmed tracks are “Turn Up A Notch” and “Monitoring Me,” the latter of which arrived at midnight.
“I was a Jeezy fan, but I was seein' red, ain't build me a snowman/ You put a switch on a new Glock, bet the lil' b**ch'll start jammin'/ I don't even got to pay a n**ga to do none, I got killers, all my friends,” Durk spat on the Southside-produced cut.
Deep Thoughts will be a much-awaited follow-up to 2023’s Almost Healed. The 21-song effort housed guest appearances from Morgan Wallen, the late Juice WRLD, Rob49, Kodak Black, and Future, to name a few. Among the standout cuts were the Alicia Keys-assisted “Therapy Session” and “All My Life,” which won Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
“I was getting dressed, and when they [announced that I won], the whole house started screaming. I said, ‘Yep. I know what that means.’ I texted [J. Cole]. He’s excited. You know he’s on the road. So, shout out to J. Cole. Shout out to Dr. Luke,” Durk told the Recording Academy regarding his collaboration with the Dreamville Records founder on “All My Life.”
“I actually did the song, and I held it for a year just to get [J. Cole] on it. If I ain’t get ‘em, I probably wouldn’t have put it out,” he added. “I said, ‘This a Grammy.’ That’s what I said. For me and him together, more songs, tour, just great energy and learning from him. He’s the GOAT.”