Lil Durk is giving back to college students in his latest venture. Teaming up with his Neighborhood Heroes foundation, Amazon Music’s Rotation and Howard University, the rapper’s launched his Durk Banks Endowment Fund, which will give two lucky Chicago students $50,000 toward their tuition at the historically black university.
“Change the narrative,” Lil Durk tells Billboard. “It’s stuff we never got a chance to do or somebody never did for us. A lot of people don’t do it as far as the music era that we’re in. In my age range, it’s more toward, ‘Let’s go feed them turkeys, let’s go feed them meals.’ My team came together where we turned it up a notch. I wanted to come up with something that was different and impactful.”
Durk is also donating $250,000 to help Chicago students financially stay on course to graduate via Howard’s Graduation Retention Access to Continued Excellence, or GRACE, Grant. “For me to boost them up and get them to the next level, it was like a no-brainer,” he says. “And this scholarship was a super-no-brainer for me. For me and my team, having my own scholarship is like a Grammy.”
Lil Durk gifted 20 high schoolers with the full Howard University experience earlier this week, pairing them with a student mentor. He’s presenting the scholarships to the lucky recipients Friday, the day he headlines the school’s Springfest 2023.
News of Durk’s endowment fund comes on the heels of reports he partnered with Exceed Talent Capital to give fans an opportunity to invest in the music they listen to. Fans will be able to purchase shares of the future revenues of his upcoming song “Bedtime” starring Doodie Lo. A percentage of the revenues will go toward Durk’s Neighborhood Heroes foundation.
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