Lil Durk’s own words about “hunting” his opps are now front and center in the government’s murder-for-hire case against the chart-topping rap star.

A federal judge just cleared prosecutors to use a message to help paint him as OTF’s shot-caller in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that could keep him in prison for life.

In a newly unsealed ruling on pretrial evidence, the judge said jurors will be allowed to see an Instagram DM where Lil Durk allegedly told a rival, “I got them hunting you up ads better have 3 ski mask on.”

Prosecutors say the April 2023 message shows Lil Durk bragging about having OTF associates “hunting” an enemy, and then sending a screenshot of that threat to an alleged co-conspirator by text as a way to flex his control over members willing to slide at his command.

The court agreed the real power of the DM isn’t just the grim language, but how Durk allegedly used it to demonstrate that he, not anyone else, had soldiers ready to move when he said so.

The ruling is a major win for the feds as they gear up for trial in Los Angeles, where Durk is charged in a sprawling conspiracy to use interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, a federal offense that carries a potential life sentence.

Prosecutors allege Lil Durk placed a monetary bounty on rival rapper Quando Rondo after King Von was shot and killed outside an Atlanta nightclub in 2020.

According to charging documents, Lil Durk tapped his Only The Family crew, financed travel, cars, masks and guns, and greenlit a California mission in August 2022 to hunt down Quando Rondo at a Los Angeles gas station.

The ambush missed Quando Rondo but killed his cousin Lul Pab when shooters fired at least 18 rounds into their vehicle.

The judge’s order lays out a roadmap for what the jury will and won’t hear about the alleged operation, and most of it favors the government.

Jurors will hear surveillance footage and witness testimony about King Von’s killing in Atlanta, which the court said is “plainly relevant” to Durk’s motive for putting a bounty on Quando Rondo.

They will also see social media comments from fans telling Durk to “slide for Von,” plus a podcast clip in which he acknowledges the pressure while brushing it off, evidence the judge said helps explain why prosecutors believe Durk wanted revenge.

On top of that, jurors will hear select lyrics from Lil Durk and OTF that prosecutors say echo the alleged plot.

The court ruled that those lyrics can be admitted to show motive, the nature of OTF as more than just a rap label, and Durk’s alleged leadership role.

They did block more graphic lines about shootings that the judge found too prejudicial or not specific enough.

Where the government didn’t get a full green light is on some of the most explosive “bounty” lyrics, lines where Durk raps about paying shooters’ rent, wanting only the person he “paid for,” moving through Beverly Hills with “bounty hunter” energy, and buying “50k in guns.”

The judge said those bars might still come in if prosecutors can better explain exactly how they plan to tie the lyrics to the LA murder-for-hire plot and avoid turning the trial into a referendum on rap in general.