Tavares Lamont Taylor, better known by his stage name Lil Reese, is an American rapper from Chicago. Hailing from Chicago's drill scene in the early 2010s, he became known for his collaborations with the likes of Chief Keef and Fredo Santana. In 2012, Taylor was featured on Keef's single "I Don't Like", which peaked at #73 on the Billboard Hot 100, #20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and #15 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. His debut mixtape, Don't Like, was released later that year. Since his first mixtape, Lil Reese has gone on to release 6 mixtapes in total, including 2013's Supa Savage, as well as 2 EPs, including the collaborative EP Supa Vultures with Lil Durk.
Career
Lil Reese 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 like Common, Kanye West, and others, which led to Lil Reese signing with hip hop label Def Jam. 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. Lil Reese 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, Lil Reese released a remix to his song "Traffic" featuring Young Jeezy and Twista. On September 2, 2013, Lil Reese released his second solo mixtape Supa Savage, featuring guest appearances from Chief Keef, Lil Durk, Fredo Santana, Wale and Waka Flocka Flame.
Legal issues
In May 2010, Lil Reese pleaded guilty to burglary charges and was given two years of probation. On October 24, 2012, a video allegedly showing Lil Reese assaulting a woman was posted to the internet. On April 28, 2013, Lil Reese 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. On June 23, 2013, Lil Reese 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. However, the charge was later dropped. On July 13, 2013, Lil Reese was arrested again in Chicago for marijuana possession, a violation of his probation.
Personal life
Shooting
On November 11, 2019, Lil Reese was critically wounded in a shooting 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 Reese 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. On November 18, Reese sent out information about being released from the hospital and that he survived the shooting and he is "Alive and Well". A day after leaving the hospital, he released a new song "Come Outside".
Twitter controversy
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lil Reese posted a controversial message on Twitter: "Chinese people nasty asl man got the whole fuck up". While some supported his statement, others condemned him for racism. Reese 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".
