Assembled around Chicago native Lil Durk’s Only the Family imprint, the collective pulls together rappers rooted in the city’s drill sound. Early mixtapes issued by the label and its fluid lineup throughout the first half of the 2010s gradually gave way to a tighter unit, one that made its Billboard 200 debut with the 2019 project Family Over Everything. Loyal Bros, issued in tribute to murdered Only the Family standout King Von, climbed to number 12. Subsequent installments Loyal Bros 2 and Nightmares in the Trenches, released in 2022 and 2023, spotlighted roster members including Doodie Lo, Chief Wuk, and Lil Zay Osama.
Durk launched the label to give emerging rappers and singers in his circle an outlet for their work. At first it served primarily as a platform for his own mixtapes along with releases from artists such as Lil Reese and Tee Grizzley. The two-volume 2018 set Only the Family Involved shifted the focus toward a traditional rap-crew aesthetic, with Durk’s melodic, half-sung delivery surrounded by gritty verses from King Von, YFN Lucci, Doodie Lo, OTF Ikey, and additional contributors. A revised configuration of the crew resurfaced in December 2019 on the mixtape Family Over Everything, which registered on the Billboard charts.
Only the Family’s next project arrived in March 2021 under the title Only the Family – Lil Durk Presents: Loyal Bros, later shortened to Loyal Bros. Conceived as a memorial to King Von, who had belonged to the collective until his fatal shooting in November 2020, the 23-track album featured posthumous King Von verses alongside appearances by Memo600, Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Mexico, Doodie Lo, and others. It entered the Billboard albums chart at number 12. Loyal Bros 2 arrived the following year and reached the Top 40, while Nightmares in the Trenches surfaced in 2023 and yielded the Hot 100 single “Smurk Carter” from Durk himself.
