Earlier this year I had the opportunity to attend Ty Dolla $ign’s 4/20 show with my mentor and good friend, NBA player Chris Douglas-Roberts. Being big Ty Dolla fans, we were hype to see the performance but as the night wore on we found ourselves sitting in VIP rather bored as opener after opener failed to impress. About two hours into the show,Ty$ still hadn’t performed yet — but an artist smaller in stature appeared on stage and began to introduce himself. I was aware of Lil Uzi Vert, but I had yet to see him perform live. While his set didn’t last long, he did move the Southern California crowd. When he performed WDYW,I went crazy. As we drove to the show that’s one of the songs we played in the car multiple times,even throughout the week the song always got the same reaction from me. Apparently the crowd enjoyed hearing it as much as I did. Uzi ran the track back not once,not twice,not three times, but four times consecutively. The entire crowd from the VIP’s down to the females in the front row were turnt, it felt like the mid-80’s and a thrash band like Slayer or Megadeth was rocking the stage. I’m not sure how tall Lil Uzi is, but he controlled that entire venue for his set. 
Now on October 30th, Lil Uzi Vert drops LUV IS RAGE,a new mixtape featuring Young Thug & Wiz Khalifa with production from Maaly Raw,Don Cannon,Charlie Heat,Slade Da Monsta,DP Beatz,TM88,Sonny Digital,FK1,B Wheezy,Dj Plugg,Bobby Kritikal,and V12 The Hitman. The new project contains 15 tracks including a bonus track, Paradise. The vibe of the mixtape has the potential to dominate your aux cord from the first track until the end. Uzi commands your attention. If you’re a casual listener it won’t take long for Uzi to gain a new fan, similar to Thugger, his melodies combined with his beat selection keeps you anticipating his unique sound. From jump the opening track Safe House teases at Uzi’s creativity as he raps almost acapella, only to a few drums for the first half of the track. As the beat drops you’ll already be a few dabs in while the transition to Banned From Tv,Super Saiyan Trunks, and one of my favorite tracks off the project–7am–really shows Uzi’s understanding of melodies and is one of many that warrants heavy spins. In a time where an artists success is based off one successful single and that same artists can turn around and keep feeding fans an album or mixtape full of the same song 20+ times,it’s refreshing to see up comers like lil Uzi show his range and capability on this mixtape. It would be unfair of me to expect a project full of WDYW offsprings,and at the same time I’m appreciative that Uzi shows progression and let’s his own style take over musically. The rest of the tape contains a lot of wave, quoteables, and tracks filled with dope production. Luv Is Rage doesn’t need any rating,music is subjective either you feel it or you don’t–but if you can’t feel the music off this project I hope nobody’s letting you control the auxcord.
I’m a big fan of Uzi Vert’s and it’s going to be really cool to see his development and what else he brings to the table musically. It’s one thing to have a few good verses, but it’s another to put out a complete project and be able to perform the music live. Check out Luv Is Rage below and let us know which track is your favorite off the project.
Wave provided by: Siete Fđđż
