Lil Uzi Vert - Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World

by Creed Griffiths

Senior Editor

/ RAP

October 5, 2019

Lil Uzi Vert catapults himself into the mainstream with a Soundcloud-era staple.

Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World reflects a young man on a meteoric rise in his career and the struggles that his love life is facing as a result of his new-found money and fame. Uzi is learning how to be famous on the job, he’s barely out of his adolescence, with his career still in its infancy and he has very little in the way of experience or mentors to help him through the start of his career – but it feels as if that’s just how he’d like it. His confidence is almost a front, albeit a convincing one, aided by an eye for extravagant fashion and until recently, a bank account to support it. He constantly drops the names of designer brands such as; Margiela, Goyard, Cartier, Prada, and Balmain throughout the songs on this project and references to having good taste in clothing come thick and fast. On “Grab The Wheel” he raps “I was broke/I was just at home/Now I’m on the road/Talking to Usher at the Grove/Rocking Balmain, these ain’t Joe.” If ever a verse summed up this project, it would be this one. These lines capture how quickly he has gone from being a kid making music to a pop star. Being on the road of course alludes to another claim to success, because only artists in high-demand go on tour. Lil Uzi Vert hanging out with global Pop-R&B superstar Usher is yet another display of how successful he has become.

A theme that Lil Uzi explores in some way or another in most tracks throughout this project is the difference between love and lust and how his rise to stardom has blurred the lines between the two. All of a sudden woman are throwing themselves at him, leading to a feeling of confidence he hasn’t felt in his life before. Multiple references are made to the difference money and fame has made to his success with women and the subsequent way he treats them as a result of so many opportunities afforded by fame. On “Baby Are You Home?” Uzi raps; “Kinda got messy, got rid of my side hoe/I don’t wanna fuck if you a dry hoe” and “Traded in my chocolate, now I got a bright hoe/Man I got my head right/Man I got my bread right/Livin' my life just so right/You can see my diamonds at night/Girl you know I'm higher than a satellite/Can I come over, or are you the playin' type? At this point women are a dime a dozen to him and trying to sleep with them has almost become a game that Uzi always seems to end up winning.

“Team Rocket” is the first mention of Lil Uzi Vert’s long-term girlfriend and fashion consultant, Brittany Byrd. How this relationship has survived in conjunction with the promiscuous lifestyle Uzi glorifies throughout this album seems beyond belief, but it would appear Byrd either didn’t know what her partner was up to, or didn’t care. The song title: Team Rocket, is a metaphor for Uzi and Byrd’s relationship. He compares them to the criminal organisation trio in Pokémon of the same name. Uzi often dyes his hair blue or purple, much like the character James, while Byrd’s hair colour is often pink much like that of Jessie’s from the popular animated T.V. show.

The comparisons of his own relationship to those within pop-culture do not stop there. On “Scott And Ramona” he pays homage to the popular comic book series and movie: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – inspiring both the name of this final track and title for this mixtape. Uzi relates his love for girlfriend, Brittany Byrd to that shared between Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. On the hook Uzi croons; “I can’t go a day if I don’t talk to my baby”, suggesting an intense and deep love as well as perhaps a slightly unhealthy obsession for his girlfriend. Uzi ties in his own narrative with the love story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers, who has many evil ex-lovers trying to win her back and it appears Uzi may be having the same problem. “When I’m not around I don’t know what she sayin’/Say she single but she know she really taken”

The bottom line to take from all of these songs is just how toxic his relationship is. Uzi is happy to brag about the women he parties with on tour, take the track; “Money Longer” for example where lines such as; “Turned to a savage, pocket got fatter, she call/Me daddy/Smokin’ that gas, gone off that Xanny, she on/The powder” and “Yah, my lil’ bitch so spoiled/ Yah, I rub her down in oil”, and even has the tenacity to say “Yah, Chris Brown said these hoes ain’t loyal/None of these hoes got no morals.” Uzi is introspective enough to reflect on how money and fame has changed his life for the better. He appreciates where he has come from and is grateful of the position he is in as a result of his music. But his immaturity comes through in his depiction and reflection on his love life and how he interprets the world around him in that sense. He’s happy to party with multiple woman, do drugs and live without consequence, all the while a part of him is worrying about what his girlfriend is doing when he’s on tour. He’s quick to hold Byrd to account when she has done the wrong thing and committing dishonest acts behind his back, but never stops to critique himself for the way he behaves within the relationship.

Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World is an important and memorable release that stands out from its counterparts within the “emo rap” landscape as it is one of the earliest attempts of a successful project that mixes genres to the point where a new one is almost created. Uzi’s love for rock and punk are clear and his execution on the topic of love and heartbreak are delivered with such passion and emotion that the listener can’t help being sucked into his world, even if his views seem somewhat hypocritical. He takes the audience on an emotional rollercoaster and even in the same song can show both supreme confidence and extreme fragility, indicative of how young he really is. Growing from a teenager into an adult is hard enough, let alone having to do it with the world watching, millions of dollars in your bank account, fast cars, drugs and countless women throwing themselves at you. Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World paints a picture but doesn’t provide a solution or resolution to any problems. Reading between the lines and analysing Lil Uzi from afar is where the most can be learned about who this young man is. He certainly doesn’t have any answers to his problems, in the same way that anybody listening doesn’t.

As Uzi says on "Grab The Wheel"; "Look I'm only 21 I don't know."

The image used in this post is a reproduction of the original album art work. This property is owned by Atlantic Recording Company for the United States and WEA International Inc © 2016.