In a sea of genre-bending so-called “Soundcloud rappers,” Lil Uzi Vert has risen to the top of the heap. He ascended with melodic trap-influenced burners like the triple-platinum XO Tour Llif3. His “444+222” track runs on NBA Live commercials. By any measure, Uzi is doing it big.
The downside of doing it big, however, is that you can become a lightning rod for detractors. It seems like nearly every hip-hop traditionalist who has a gripe with the direction of the genre name checks him or Lil Pump as the chief agents of a perceived artistic devolution.
https://twitter.com/LILUZIVERT/status/954038231342960652
Today, a fan took to Twitter and told Uzi that he misses the style of his older material, saying that while he “used to have a flow,” since then, he’s “sold out.” The fan followed up with “it’s all love, though,” which took a bit of the string out of his harsh remark. Perhaps that’s what caused Uzi to reply not with shade, but by noting, “I know exactly what you mean. I had to chart, buddy.”
It’s rare that an in-demand rapper acknowledges going the Jay-Z route and dumbing down to double the dollars, but Uzi did just that. He also added that he’s planning on approaching his upcoming music differently: “I’m back on my raw talent: f-ck charting.”
I guess we’ll have to wait for his next project to hear what that sounds like.
