Not everyone celebrated the sudden, unexpected, and probably slightly illegal return of Lil Uzi Vert yesterday with the leak of his new, rapid-fire track, “Free Uzi.” In fact, the high-velocity cadence the Philly rapper uses on the song is a point of contention for DC rapper Goldlink, who railed on Lil Uzi for “stealing the DMV flow” on his Instagram story after its release. Rap Current captured a screenshot before the video self-destructed, which you can see below.
“Lil Uzi really stealing the DMV flow and is finna make millions,” he grumpily wrote. “While the lil n—-s here starve for their originality.” While there’s a slim sliver of truth to his statement, Goldlink’s failure to explain just what the “DMV flow” is may hurt his case. Aside from the fact that he is one of a few DC, Maryland, Virginia-area artists to really break out of the region, including Fat Trel, Logic, Oddisee, Rico Nasty, Shy Glizzy, Tabi Bonney, Q Da Fool, Wale, and YBN Cordae, he’s correct in pointing out that there hasn’t really been a formal movement from the area, which may be a function of the disparate styles each rapper embraces. Also, most of the rappers I just listed are relative newcomers, still sort of scrapping their way into the mainstream.
However, he does have a point about the DMV’s vibrant and eclectic underground scene being largely ignored by the rest of the country. This list of Best DMV Rap Songs and Albums of 2018 from The Washington Post includes some entries that barely got any coverage outside of local outlets. However, considering all those rappers use different flows and that the flow Uzi used on “Free Uzi” doesn’t seem all that similar to, say, Wale or Logic, maybe Goldlink just has a case of frustration that his local acts aren’t getting the recognition he feels they deserve.
