Tavares Lamont Taylor (born January 6, 1993), known professionally as Lil Reese, is an American rapper. Hailing from Chicago's drill scene in the early 2010s, he is known for his collaborations with Chief Keef, Fredo Santana, and Lil Durk. In 2012, Taylor was featured on Chief Keef's single "I Don't Like", which peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaked at number 20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and peaked at number 15 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. His debut mixtape, ‘Don't Like’ was released later that year. Since the first mixtape release, Taylor has gone on to release six mixtapes in total, including the 2013 ‘Supa Savage’ mixtape, as well as three EPs, including the 2017 collaborative project ‘Supa Vultures’ EP with Lil Durk.
Early life
Taylor was raised in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago to a large family. During his formative years growing up in a notorious 16-story high-rise housing project called “Calumet Building”, he became affiliated with the Black Disciples gang as early as age five, becoming a member by his preteens after relocating to "64th and Normal" in Englewood where he became close friends with gang member Lil Durk.
Career
Taylor gained recognition when he was featured on Chief Keef's hit "I Don't Like", which garnered widespread international attention. He then began to receive popularity through his music videos, including "Us" and "Beef". He then caught the eye of producer No I.D., who had produced albums or tracks for artists such as Common, Kanye West, and others, which led Taylor to sign with hip hop label Def Jam.[4]
In November 2012, he released a remix for his song "Us" with Rick Ross and Drake which later appeared on Rick Ross' mixtape The Black Bar Mitzvah.[5] Taylor also created many songs with up-and-coming music producers, such as Young Chop. He is also featured on Juelz Santana's song "Bodies". In January 2013, Taylor released a remix to his song "Traffic" featuring Young Jeezy and Twista. On September 2, 2013, Taylor released his second solo mixtape Supa Savage, featuring guest appearances from Chief Keef, Lil Durk, Fredo Santana, Wale and Waka Flocka Flame.[6]
Legal issues
In May 2010, Taylor pleaded guilty to burglary charges and was given two years of probation.[7]
On October 24, 2012, a video allegedly showing Taylor assaulting a woman was posted to the internet.[2] On April 28, 2013, Taylor was arrested by Chicago Police on a warrant issued two days earlier, based on criminal trespass to a residence with persons present, battery, and mob action from the video incident from February 2012.[1][7]
On June 23, 2013, Taylor was arrested in Chicago and charged with motor vehicle theft after an incident on April 13, 2013, where he was not able to provide proof of ownership for a BMW 750Li.[8] However, the charge was later dropped. On July 13, 2013, Taylor was arrested again in Chicago for marijuana possession, which violated his probation.[9]
On October 16, 2024, Taylor was sentenced to five years in prison on his aggravated assault charge.[12][13]
Personal life
2019 shooting
On November 11, 2019, Taylor was shot in the neck and critically wounded[14] at a busy intersection in the area of Markham and Country Club Hills. Country Club Hills police responded to 167th Street and Pulaski Road around 2:30 p.m. Witnesses told police Taylor was pursued by a driver of another car during a chase. Witnesses reported hearing as many as 12 gunshots during the chase. The driver of that vehicle got out of his car and shot the man with what witnesses called a small rifle and then fled the scene.[15]
On November 18, Taylor sent out information about being released from the hospital and that he survived the shooting and is "Alive and Well".[16] A day after leaving the hospital, he released a new song "Come Outside".[17]
Twitter racism controversy
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Taylor posted a controversial message on Twitter: "Chinese people nasty asl man got the whole [world] fuck up".[18] Many condemned him, calling his tweets racist. Taylor faced immediate backlash for his comment; many asked him to delete the tweet. After his Twitter account was suspended, he went on Instagram to post a screenshot of the official violation notification from Twitter with the captions, "Lol Look how the Chinese people did my Twitter".[19][better source needed]
2021 shooting
On May 15, 2021, Taylor and two other men were injured in a shootout at a parking garage in Chicago and were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.[20] His eye was grazed by a gunshot; he and another one of the men, who was shot in the knee, were later listed in fair to good condition, and the third in critical condition with multiple wounds to the torso.[14] The shooting was reportedly over a stolen Dodge Durango.[21]
