''7220'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper
Lil Durk
Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer. He is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). Durk garnered a cult following with the ...
. It was released through
Only the Family
Only the Family, often abbreviated as OTF, is a rap collective from Chicago, Illinois. The group was formed by rapper Lil Durk in 2010. The group is home to recording artists including the late rapper King Von.
Record label
The OTF label was p ...
,
Alamo Records
Todd Moscowitz is a music industry executive. He is currently the founder and CEO of Alamo Records and the manager of Gucci Mane. Previously, Moscowitz co-founded 300 Entertainment, served as a co-president and CEO of Warner Bros. Records and ...
, and
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
on March 11, 2022. The album features guest appearances from
Future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...
,
Gunna,
Summer Walker
Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American R&B singer. In 2017, she signed to Love Renaissance and Interscope Records. The following year, she released the mixtape '' Last Day of Summer,'' which spawned the single " Girls Need ...
, and
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of ''The Voice'', originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated ...
. The reloaded edition was released on March 18, 2022, exactly one week after its release. The deluxe edition of the album was released on June 24, 2022 and features additional appearances from
Moneybagg Yo
DeMario DeWayne White Jr. (born September 22, 1991), known professionally as Moneybagg Yo, is an American rapper. He is signed to fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti's record label, Collective Music Group (CMG), in a joint venture deal with Interscope ...
,
EST Gee
George Albert Stone III (born May 11, 1994), known professionally as EST Gee, is an American rapper. He is signed to Yo Gotti's Collective Music Group (CMG), Interscope Records and Warlike. His fifth mixtape, ''Bigger Than Life or Death'', rele ...
,
Doodie Lo
Only the Family, often abbreviated as OTF, is a rap collective from Chicago, Illinois. The group was formed by rapper Lil Durk in 2010. The group is home to recording artists including the late rapper King Von.
Record label
The OTF label was ...
,
Ella Mai
Ella Mai Howell (born 3 November 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. Her musical career began at London's British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2014, during which time she auditioned as part of a trio on the 11th season of ''The X Fa ...
and
A Boogie wit da Hoodie.
''7220'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. It debuted at number one on the US
''Billboard'' 200 chart, earning 120,500
album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...
s in its first week.
Background
''7220'' refers to Durk's grandmother's address and is also the title of a book that was published by his mother, Lashawnda Woodard, the same year of its release. When he revealed the tracklist of the album, he further explained that it was also a reference to his family house that he grew up in that "made
imthe realist ", on which he promised that the album would have "no skips", a phrase meaning that none of the tracks on the album could be considered of such a low quality that they should be skipped while listening through the album, track-by-track.
Release and promotion
On November 4, 2021, Durk revealed the title of the album through an
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
story. On January 12, 2022, he announced that he will go on tour for ''7220'', with the first show on April 8, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, and the last show on May 2, 2022, in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. On January 31, 2022, he revealed that the title of the album refers to his grandmother's address and revealed that it was completed. Exactly a week later, on February 7, 2022, he announced its release date, and that it would coincide with the release of fellow Chicago rapper and previous collaborator
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
's eleventh studio album, ''
Donda 2
''Donda 2'' is an album by American rapper Kanye West. Although unfinished, it was exclusively released on the Stem Player, with four songs made available on February 23, 2022, and additional songs later included in updates, the first of which ...
''; however, both albums did not drop on the expected date and were delayed.
Singles
The lead single of the album, "
Pissed Me Off
"Pissed Me Off" is a song by American rapper Lil Durk. It was released on October 15, 2021 with an accompanying music video. It is the lead single from his seventh studio album ''7220''.
Content
Jessica McKinney of ''Complex'' described the song ...
", was released on October 15, 2021. The second single, "
Broadway Girls
"Broadway Girls" is a song by American rapper Lil Durk, featuring vocals from American country music singer Morgan Wallen. It was released on December 17, 2021, through Alamo as the second single from Durk's seventh studio album, ''7220'' (202 ...
", which features American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Cole Wallen (born May 13, 1993) is an American country singer and songwriter. He competed in the sixth season of ''The Voice'', originally as a member of Usher's team, but later as a member of Adam Levine's team. After being eliminated ...
, was released on December 17, 2021. The third single, "
AHHH HA
"Ahhh Ha" is a song by American rapper Lil Durk. It was released on February 22, 2022, as the third single from his seventh studio album, ''7220''. The song is a diss track toward fellow rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again, who took shots at Durk ...
", was released on February 22, 2022, the day that the album was originally supposed to be released. The fourth single, "
Golden Child", was released on March 10, 2022, only one day before the album. The fifth single, "
Computer Murderers
"Computer Murderers" is a song by American rapper Lil Durk. It was released through Only the Family, Alamo Records, and Sony Music on March 18, 2022, as the fifth single from his seventh studio album, ''7220'', as the only new addition to the re ...
", was added to the album as the only new track for its reloaded edition on March 18, 2022.The sixth, final, and first single from the deluxe edition, "Did Shit to Me" featuring American rapper
Doodie Lo
Only the Family, often abbreviated as OTF, is a rap collective from Chicago, Illinois. The group was formed by rapper Lil Durk in 2010. The group is home to recording artists including the late rapper King Von.
Record label
The OTF label was ...
was released June 22, 2022, two days ahead of the deluxe edition's release.
Critical reception
''7220'' received generally positive reviews by music critics. Tivo Staff from ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
'' stated that "while the repetitive production moves can make the beats feel somewhat interchangeable, Durk's hyperpersonalized stories of loss, betrayal, grief, and street struggles usually rise above the album's occasionally monotonous sound".
Writing for ''
Clash'', Robin Murray described ''7220'' as "a vastly potent work, one that is unafraid to stare down ugly truths; half-in-love with the world around him, he moves from the elixir of criminality to some of his most profound observations on the art" and felt that the album "pivots between major league production and harsh introversion, with its relentlessly visceral rhymes documenting loss, addiction, and violence – against others, and against the self" and "invites the listener into Lil Durk's world, a realm framed by the spectre of death, chemical abuse, and a suffocating lack of material exits".
Alphonse Pierre of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' addressed Durk melodically rapping about his childhood struggles over piano-heavy production, stating that "there are a lot of singing rappers in a similar lane, but Durk stands out because of his bruised wailing and lyrics so specific that they have to be based on some truth" and "even with the stale sound of the album, Durk is such a complex and colorful writer that it's worth it to stick it out", adding that "Lil Durk has become a huge star because of lyrics that focus in, instead of zoom out", so "for the most part, ''7220'' gets that".
''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' music critic Will Dukes put the album as "a chill trip down memory lane, full of soothing meditations on how he made it out the mud" and "the
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A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'', Craig Jenkins felt that the album "ponders the emotional fallout of a year of big achievements and crushing lows" and referred to themes of gang culture and street violence, stating; "a more eloquent rapper and a more capable vocalist now, Durk uses ''7220'' to show how persistent and deep-rooted these problems are", also praising Durk's rap-singing over the smooth production throughout most of the album. ''Vibe (magazine)">Vibe