Lil Uzi Vert - More Than Just a Future Disciple?

I don't remember him doing migos flows but obviously he has other influences and works with other producers (although he also works heavily with Dp beats who made his name producing beats in Keef's mansion)

"Sounds like wiz Khalifa" more like "sounds like the Atlantic records a&r department"

That is entirely what I meant by that statement.

Again, not denying that the guy listens to (and sometimes bites) Keef, or that Keef is hugely important (tho you are the only critic I know who keeps insisting he's this generation's Big Bang). I just think his Keef leanings have little to do with why he's so popular. I guess I don't have great insight into the mind of the average Uzi Vert fan, but I think most people just like the dude because of his pluckiness, and that is not a quality he picked up from Keef.

His entire sonic toolkit is his--flows, melodic approach, Adlibs, etc

I agree that he does things keef doesn't & im not trying to take away from the idea that he's worth listening to. But I do think that he was able to capitalize on the space that opened up when Keef's "bang2" style melodic raps went underground

I know that other critics haven't really come around on this but there was a time when that was true of gucci also

keef is patient. keef is kind. keef does not envy. keef does not boast.

i do wish ilx wd it admit it was more invested in telling me i was wrong than it was taking the actual temperature of what was going on over the last 5 years

I know some of this is in the Keef thread, but I would be legit interested in reading a big-picture piece about Keef's influence. I follow his tapes from time to time and agree they tend to be way underrated. But to me he always seemed less like a Gucci-level pioneer and more like a Soulja Boy figure (no disrespect intended), a figure who had his moment in the limelight then retreated back underground and cultivated a much bigger cult following than most people realize.

https://twitter.com/MustiM17/status/845814776924164096

i do wish ilx wd it admit it was more invested in telling me i was wrong than it was taking the actual temperature of what was going on over the last 5 years

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Wednesday, March 29, 2017 3:18 PM (ten minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

deej you know very well i'm more invested in dumb jokes than the actual temperature of what's going on in hip hop the last five years

How is Soulja boy figure not at some level disrespectful? Lol

Soulja's influence was one dimensional Sosa's was a paradigm shift that changed the way rap sounded & created the world rappers exist in today, he was the bridge between the SoundCloud underground & the streets at a time when most artists were one or the other. And few rappers have negotiated that line since...famous dex comes to mind.

anyway no need to get into this here, uzi vert has some cool songs.

i think its weird he got a rep for being hip-hop pop punk when most of his melodies don't actually stick with you, like "do what i want" felt like an almost-not quite hit

his biggest record are much more subtle: "you was right" & now "xo tour lif3" are both relatively low key and work bc of small hooks that feel finessed rather than bludgeoning.

i don't think hip hop punk pop was about his melodies as much as about the tone of his vocals, the way he whines

the "rock star" thing seems to be largely like he dresses goofy and it's a good line to spout in an interview but unless i've missed something it doesn't seem to have any actual basis in his music

to me i always read uzi vert as like a fairly boring rip off of like swaggy ATL rap... not future or anything like that but yung LA, j futuristic, fabo... but with cool of the moment branding that positioned him in an asap rocky-esque fashionplate context

he does have some songs that i like -- you was right and xo tour life are both very good if not close to being the same song, do what i want was fun too -- but i still can't imagine listening to a full album of his really, don't think there's really enough there

i don't think hip hop punk pop was about his melodies as much as about the tone of his vocals, the way he whines

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, March 29, 2017 3:52 PM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah he has kind of a sneer, i think its also about owning his petulance as a kind of branding thing, hes like calvin peeing on a chevy logo mudflap

yeah def -- it's almost all branding

hes def in the swaggy atl rap lineage but again via keef ... i mean visually thats his whole thing too, the baby dreads

i don't think you can really easily get past the way his style changed dramatically post-love sosa "senor guapo"

real news right now is how playboi carti f/ uzi vert jam is about to be huge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAAl3OPkaKk

Just popping in to note that the overshadowing influence on XO tour lif3 is thuggr, obvs.

real news right now is how playboi carti f/ uzi vert jam is about to be huge

For some reason, I only like Uzi solo, never when he has a guest or when he's giving a feature. "Queso" and "Yamborghini Dream" are lowlights of Luv is Rage for me (and I normally love Thugger); don't care for "Seven Million" off The Perfect LUV Tape either. His "Bad and Boujee" verse is trash. The only guest feature of his that I dig, that comes to mind, is "Carnage."

we rly gotta be more proactive in making threads for new rappers else get stuck with these 2001 ilx-style faux-incredulous thread titles like Are Migos The Thelonious Monk of Nu-Rap or this lmao. tried to make a cupcakke thread the other day but got poxyfule'd halp

i really like Lil Uzi but none of his releases so far are consistent and he has a lot of boring songs. but his best tracks are really good and i have high hopes for Luv Is Rage 2. Keef + Yung LA + Grunge/Pop-Punk affect is original enough for me

in hopes we don't spend the whole thread litigating Sosa's influence here are some Uzi songs i'm partial to

Money Mitch (prod. Zaytoven)
love the wobbly bassline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAeLmXNHw90

Uzi (prod. Charlie Heat)
older song that is no longer representative of his style but bangs regardless
htts://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJUi0AWiL7g

Sideline Watching (prod. Zaytoven)
good hook hold up hold up / let me catch my breath / let me cash these checks / flex on my ex / don't got no respect / break up in a text / pull up in a g / t3 fly off in a jet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIwU-nOueWw

Ronda (Winners) (prod. Metro Boomin)
mostly like this one for the tropical beat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5S9iEnUJeU

Erase Your Social (prod. Don Cannon)
this isn't such a good song but i have a thing for the micro-genre rap songs that are just opinions of social media platforms ('ain't got no snapchat homie/i think it's too personal/that's what i got twitter for/instagram I'll bag ya hoe')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxL2au41cnk

Money Longer (prod. Don Cannon)
prob too obvious to mention but for those unconvinced of the grunge/pop punk influence the way he says "nowadays" in the hook is incontrovertible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eoSanFCU-M

Trunk Got Birdies (prod. Charlie Heat)
another song in the older style of 'Uzi'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atUerTjkoIk

Ps and Qs (prod. Don Cannon)
the vocal harmony in the 'oooh, sing it, he ain't got no money' part of the hook is beautiful. the accordian sample is p funny but works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0fFzqX_Xgo

Queso feat. Wiz Khalifa (prod. TM88)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGOlA87BcRA

Belly (prod. DJ Plugg & Bobby Kritikal)
this beat is like some ungodly mix of looney tunes sfx and musique concrète, i love it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMzOAKvmaLY

Wit My Crew x 1987 (prod. FKI)
love the beat on this, first half is cooler but the backing vocal + guitar sample that enters during the 'it is not nooormaaal' part of the hook of 1987 gives me chills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy-UwSofpwg

obvs a major part of his appeal is just that his tapes are laced with the finest Atlanta production and if someone dismissed him as a workable vessle for metro boomin & co i wouldn't take offence. but imo there's something there. also his fashion and persona are hilarious and great and totally add to his appeal for me ymmv

btw what is/was the 'soundcloud underground'? like what rappers or scenes are you talking about when u say that deej?

(tho you are the only critic I know who keeps insisting he's this generation's Big Bang)

would also like to read a longer defence of this (totally open to it just curious what the evidence is and i don't pay close-enough attention. certainly timeline-wise Finally Rich is at the same distance in the rear-view mirror as all the classic gucci tapes were in the Sunz of Mane era)

He does always manage to get a different kind of beat out of Metro and Zaytoven

but that SideLine Watching song is a straight Migos rip

hes like calvin peeing on a chevy logo mudflap

lmao, perfect

ya lol @ his migos flow on 'Sideline Watching'

Tropical "Ronda (Winners)" is one of my favorite Metro Boomin beats.

1 that hasnt been mentioned -i really like 'enemies' off luv is rage

otherwise flopsons drop & commentary is otm

1 that hasnt been mentioned -i really like 'enemies' off luv is rage

Some of the other hard songs on Luv is Rage—like "All my Chains" and "Safe House"—are also great

btw what is/was the 'soundcloud underground'? like what rappers or scenes are you talking about when u say that deej?

― flopson, Thursday, March 30, 2017 10:03 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

uzi was this but also uno the activist, thouxanban fauni, pollari, young bans, d savage, lil peep, ppl like that

that Keef is hugely important (tho you are the only critic I know who keeps insisting he's this generation's Big Bang)

you might say deej has a...big bang theory

lil yachty was a soundcloud rapper too, it's uzi vert's biggest platform... but when you dig deeper you get to the stuff david is talking about

cool thx. I kind of resisted yachty until late last year and still haven't listened to fauni or others. The only rappers i remember using soundcloud as a platform were, er, cloud rappers c. 2011. sc always seemed like breeding grounds for bedroom electronic producers (which would make sense as a home for clams casino and like Green Ova Underground) but didn't know about this new wave

post lil b there were tons of kids doing bedroom rap but post keef it seemed to draw some kids who were more interested in fame & created a framework for them to market themselves. yachty, playboi carti (whose first song was called "broke boi"), uzi vert are the biggest. And of course now xxxtentacion. 21 savage kind of has this cuz he was put on by Key! but obv also has a more mainline street rap appeal / the murder of bankroll fresh opened up a street rap lane in atlanta.

(bankroll predated keef obv & actually inspired him more than the other way around)

draw some kids who were more interested in fame

this might be the wrong description of the dynamic. but something happened? where something that would have been seen as absurdist marginal was now commercially viable

you don't wanna hear this but--odd future

Didn't they sort of predate Soundcloud as we know it?

yeah they were tumblr, and obv there's no sonic connection to the soundcloud types we're talking about, but in terms of turning cultish and outsidery music into something sustainable and viable, but also uncompromised, i think they're important

also asap rocky, insofar as he showed how powerful being a fashionplate could be, and you see that in playboi carti and of course uzi vert

that tyler and rocky went on a big tour together last year is instructive here, there's a big crossover i would imagine w/ uzi vert's fanbsae

Carti still has some affiliation with A$AP Mob. I like the Rocky/Uzi connection, as they're two Northeasterners obsessed with a) image and b) southern sounds

You misunderstand me--odd future did not cross over in the way yachty or uzi vert have.

no of course not, but tyler has put every album of his in the billboard top 5, and earl had one too

altho actually "yonkers" would have been a big crossover record if streaming was in the charts formula then so i don't buy that assertion exactly

ehh i don't think it was a 'big crossover record' it went viral but not in the huge way 'gucci gucci' did ... like i remember comparing those two at one point when kreayshawn was at 30 mil and earl stalled out at like 3 mil like a year after it came out. that stuff was always super underground & im not convinced seeing it retconned into the uber-viral keef/kreay level

anyway i agree that odd future have had some influence esp in creating a touring/buzz cycle lane for rappers that exists outside of the streets/clubs/etc.

my point was more that keef was the focal point of where those worlds overlapped & was as influential w/ the underground as w/ the more "mainstream" esque dudes ... soundcloud rapper party i was at this weekend i heard 'faneto' but zero future or migos records, u see what i mean

push me to the edge

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41caDQc%2BEXL._SX376_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

That'll go well with Uzi's new parenting book "I Don't Really Care if You Cry"

this song is so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgmvg-zzctI

Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40) at 7:53 30 Mar 17

ehh i don't think it was a 'big crossover record' it went viral but not in the huge way 'gucci gucci' did ... like i remember comparing those two at one point when kreayshawn was at 30 mil and earl stalled out at like 3 mil like a year after it came out. that stuff was always super underground & im not convinced seeing it retconned into the uber-viral keef/kreay level


oddfuture still has a fanbase and I don't get the sense that anyone cares about kreayshawn anymore

Xxxsensation sucks...., right?

(afraid to ask post-Lil Peep)

i dont really identify w it but all signs point to him being one of the biggest new stars of the year & having a strong enough personality to hang a wide range of sounds on a single 'aesthetic'—I think he's gonna end up being influential if being a bad dude cant derail his career (though I don't think it will cuz capitalism)

This song was hard to deny for me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrDxS8yG8OE

I don't really buy into him personally but i wouldn't bet against him

Diplo working with him ... .LOL
https://soundcloud.com/jahseh-onfroy/looking-for-a-star-cant-get-you-out-my-head-prod-diplo

( i think that song sucks because Diplo sucks but I guess it is more evidence of xxx's range )

yes this song is indeed very bad

wub wub wub wub

Huh that Slipknot song is not what I thought he sounded like, that track sound like a Black Moon song

i understand xxx's appeal but i think i prefer guys like wifisfuneral and ski mask the slump god, his fellow south florida scensters who have that xxx-esque dark, violent, death-obsessed aesthetic with some actual bars and without the heinous crimes

Huh that Slipknot song is not what I thought he sounded like, that track sound like a Black Moon song

― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, May 12, 2017 3:01 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"not what i thought he sounded like" is like his whole release strategy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww4EiZNCq7k

I'll take your word for it, I'd only heard that can't keep my dick in my pants song the mom listened to first, which has that really clipping in the red thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh55mUvv788

I mean it's the reason ppl like him

Gamergirl Aria1 day ago
waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait. You're telling me this is the dude that screamed, "can't keep my dick in my pants"?

At first I thought he was gonna be some trashy ass rapper that rapped about the same shit all the time. But damn, this is actually good.
Reply 245

lol what does this sound like to you

i understand xxx's appeal but i think i prefer guys like wifisfuneral and ski mask the slump god, his fellow south florida scensters who have that xxx-esque dark, violent, death-obsessed aesthetic with some actual bars and without the heinous crimes

― meekseeks mill (voodoo chili), Friday, May 12, 2017 3:01 PM (one week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

both those guys are boring to me

So FM radio censors "dead" and "die" in XO Tour Life, what the shit is this?

At least there's an FM radio station that actually plays Uzi wherever you live. So many of them in Vancouver wouldn't touch hip hop that isn't drake with a ten foot poll

cancon

so nobody cares about eternal atake? am i missing the discussion somewhere else? enjoyed first listen a lot, a lot to take in tho

There’s another thread about it, it rules imo

this song was always crying out for an uzi verse and he annihilated it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5FdrOx2aZk

it's funny that in a year where he made like 22 songs with future, uzi answered the thread's question with a very definitive "yes"

i really don't want uzi to die because of this stupid diamond in his head

Lil Uzi Vert's $24 million brain diamond had us wondering https://t.co/zUAWdYIIfm

— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) February 4, 2021

that grosses me out

ehhh yeah that really gives me the willies

dermal implants are fucking weird in general imo but you do you.

Getting Diablo vibes.

I have a phobia/aversion to jewelry and that is so hard for me to look at

i have to say "just wanna rock" is prob the 'weirdest' song that i've heard semi-regularly on the radio in recent memory