Lil Uzi Vert’s rags to rockstar story is unabashedly simple: in high school his friend got popular rapping and he didn’t particularly enjoy the shift in attention. Lil Uzi wanted to stand out. What glam rock is to the classics, Uzi is to his ATL contemporaries. Both Uzi, and another cult hero in his class, Lil Yachty, are derivative artists that manage to sidestep comparisons by focusing on synthesizing their obvious influences into a shiny new sound. Because of this, any similarities you may see between them and the likes of Chief Keef, Young Thug or Future (including, but not limited to, cut-and-pasted ad-libs) ultimately prove inconsequential.
The focus of Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World is aesthetic and, on that front, the production is enthralling. Frequent collaborators Don Cannon and Maaly Raw steal the show with their ear for unique sounds. Off-kilter melodies led by accordions might flare on to the scene at any given moment, while serene synths continuously threatens to overwhelm the canvas. Metro Boomin secures two tracks in the middle and offers up some of his most subtle work in recent memory. However, Metro’s newfound stardom doesn’t stop him from being outshined by the other three composers — the third being Wondagurl on the melancholic closer, “Scott and Ramona.” Even the sequencing is carefully mapped, with Maaly following up his ferocious opener with the quirky drone of “Hi Roller,” before purposefully tripping into the delirious collaborative effort with Cannon, “Money Longer.” It’s a perfect handoff.
Unfortunately, the heavily involved production turns out to be as much of a crutch as it as an asset. The potential is there for Uzi to dip into soaring ballads as well as underground anthems (“Team Rocket” vs “Money Longer”), but as of now his sound has too many bells and whistles to be truly transcendent. When tracks such as “Scott and Ramona” reach for moments of clarity, they drag due to Uzi’s stiff emoting and, more times than not, Uzi comes of as an excitable fan hogging the mic at karaoke night. Verses frequently induce an eyeroll (ironically, Uzi’s trademark move) and empty cuts such as “Baby Are You Home” quickly prove expendable.
The funky “Ps & Qs,” finds a middle ground between his diverging styles and sees Uzi directly taunting his girlfriend’s ex. It’s menacing yet playful, a mix of bravado and nostalgia, and other standouts such as the trio of tracks that open up the tape all sit comfortably in this same groove. Uzi is a caricature living in a cartoon wonderland of lean, love and lust, and he thrives in that niche. By the final two sappy odes to his sweetheart you can almost picture Uzi standing outside Brittany’s window, serenading her with a Beats Pill. He just caught himself a very rare “Mewtwo” and now him and his girl hop from movie to cartoon, cartoon to comic, playing Bonnie and Clyde, Ramona and Scott, and every couple in between.
Luv Is Rage is the more ambitious effort, but Uzi trims the fat to present a more polished package. Flows aren’t as unhinged as on his previous release (see: “Enemies” or “All My Chains”) but the songs are tighter and the direction is more distinctive. On Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World, the 21-year-old self-proclaimed rockstar doubles down on the pop-sensibility found on last year’s breakout tape and continues to take the genre in a divisive new direction.
It’s a 5/5 classic
This is..well.. It’s a start. This seems like writing that would be more suited to someone’s wordpress blog, not an HHDX review. Where is the quality control?
another awful review by narsimha, he clearly knows nothing about hip-hop, stop letting him review projects.
By the way, you missed a typo in the very first sentence. “And didn’t particular enjoy”. Ridiculous for an article on HHDX
I literally stopped taking HipHopDX seriously as a publication when they brought Narsimha on board. I hardly ever come here anymore but today thought, fuck it, why not, until I accidentally stumbled upon this piece of garbage. Low and behold, it turns out to be another article written by the sole reason of the site’s downfall, Mr. Chintaluri himself. If you guys want to have any credibility on Hip-Hop or it’s culture again, I highly recommend firing this idiot.
He has a couple of reviews under his belt and he’s the “sole reason of the site’s downfall?” This sounds personal to me.
Sorry Trent but I have to agree with Lance, Narsimha seems to come off using words that he has no understanding of and makes references that make no sense in hindsight. He really should be given some time off from reviewing major projects like this.
While I can’t attest to the site “having a downfall”, I can definitely see his point regarding how poorly written his work is. Seems to lack perspective and substantive knowledge, I don’t know who this guy is personally but I can say objectively that he’s a poor writer and a poor reviewer.
Alright. Both of your opinions are well appreciated. We’ll regroup and reassess the situation.
That’s cool, and I’m not even trying to tell you guys how to run your site or whatever, and I’m not even suggesting firing him or whatever the arrangement is, but as an outsider looking in I just wanted to say what I saw. The guy might just be starting but HHXD has a reputation to uphold and I don’t think he’s doing the site justice. Appreciate you actually taking the time to reply to people like this, props.
That’s cool, and I’m not even trying to tell you guys how to run your site or whatever, and I’m not even suggesting firing him or whatever the arrangement is, but as an outsider looking in I just wanted to say what I saw. The guy might just be starting but HHXD has a reputation to uphold and I don’t think he’s doing the site justice. Appreciate you actually taking the time to reply to people like this, props.
I don’t know… I kinda like the review. Seems just as wacky as this take that took me weeks to compute
Solid review. I would have given it a 5/5, personally. #2 project this year just behind Lil Boat.
Both the review and the album are trash. fuck Narsimha Chinchilaturi lol get a proper name idiot.
I never used to listen to trap style rap, but this is dope af. In a car driving around or chillin at home with headphones on. I really dig the vibe
Who are these fools and where do they come from? It seems like they are all being manufactured by the same Company. All these wack rappers have on thing in common, they are wack! HipHopDX, please support Hip Hop by NOT giving these wack rappers exposure, or write good reviews on their horrible horrible albums. I just listened to some of Lil Uzi vert songs on youtube, and its just what I suspected. He has no flow, no lyrics, no originality whatsoever and he can’t speak English properly. What does that sound like? That sounds like 90% of the Rap Game right now. I dont understand this sh**…. why are you guys selling out? Dont give wack rappers exposure and thats it. I can go on Soundclikc right now and find underground artist hustling every day, that sound way better that Lil Uzi. Im just saying he can’t flow, which means he can’t rap and his lyrics are on kindergarten level.
Lil Uzi Vert (Vertical) is the greatest rapper/singer of this generation of music. The system in which he raps is mixed with a style of no other in this industry. My personal opinion for Lil Uzi Vert Vs The World is a understatement of 7 out of 5 !
LIl Uzi> Young thug
Strait trash
ur trast
This is children’s play music. Synths are just too much and this project lacks any lyrical or creative ability. Weak.
Please change the name of your website if ya gonna give reviews like this . Where is your review criteria?
This is lit af wtf your guyses problem. Its so chill i can listen to it in every situation. I habe alot of anger issues and whenever i listen to this album i can really cool down.
One of my favorites
So let me get this straight… I was looking at the review of Chris webby’s “Wednesday” which was given a 2.8 out of 5. This garbage was given a 3 out of 5. So you’re telling me that this is a better album than Wednesday? And you’re a legitimate hip hop critic. Lol… Right.
With 0 features uzi kills it this is his best album 5/5 10/10