Lil Uzi Vert
Symere Bysil Woods, known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Known for their eclectic fashion style and genre-blending music, they are considered an influential figure in contemporary hip-hop. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commercial mixtape Luv Is Rage, which led to a recording contract with Atlantic Records, to whom they signed under DJ Drama's Generation Now imprint.
Lil Uzi Vert attracted mainstream attention following the release of their 2016 debut single "Money Longer". The song served as lead single for their third mixtape Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World, which spawned the rapper's first Billboard Hot 100-top 40 single, "You Was Right". After releasing an additional mixtape and EP, Lil Uzi Vert guest appeared on Migos' 2016 single "Bad and Boujee", which peaked atop the chart. They later secured their first top ten single as a lead artist with their 2017 single "XO Tour Llif3", which won the MTV Video Music Award for Song of Summer.
"XO Tour Llif3" also served as lead single for Lil Uzi Vert's debut studio album Luv Is Rage 2, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. At the 2018 Grammy Awards, they were nominated for Best New Artist. Following several delays, their second studio album, Eternal Atake, became their second project to debut atop the Billboard 200. That same year, they released Pluto × Baby Pluto, a collaborative album with Future, and spent the next three years teasing their third solo album, Pink Tape. Upon release, it became their third consecutive solo project to debut atop the Billboard 200, and included the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single "Just Wanna Rock".
Early life
Symere Bysil Woods was born on July 31, 1995, in the Francisville neighborhood of North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They grew up listening to Mike Jones and Ying Yang Twins; Jones' 2005 debut album was the first album they purchased. Woods later began listening to Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill, who influenced their future style. They also began listening to Marilyn Manson, Paramore, Smash Mouth, the Rocket Summer, Simian, My Chemical Romance, and the All-American Rejects when they were 13 years old.Woods dropped out of school and soon started working at a Bottom Dollar store, but quit after four days and was kicked out of their home by their mother. The situation led to Woods getting their first face tattoo, the word "Faith" under their hairline, which provoked them to take their rap career seriously.
Career
2010–2015: Career beginnings
Woods began to rap in tenth grade after hearing classmate William Aston freestyle over a remade Chris Brown instrumental. Woods referred to themself at that point in their life as a "regular kid", claiming that they "didn't really want to rap" at that time. Woods, Aston, and another friend created the musical group Steaktown and in what they say was "just for money" under the name "Sealab Vertical". They later changed this name to Lil Uzi Vert inspired by the way someone described their rap "flow" as "Fast, like a machine gun."Woods' first project, an EP titled Purple Thoughtz Vol. 1 was released on January 19, 2014. The project, which was described as "phonk" and having cloud rap beats from The Guardian due to its psychedelic and "trippy" production and was released with the single "White Shit" which included a video. The track, which was produced by SpaceGhostPurrp, went viral in 2017 within hip-hop circles following Wood's entry into the mainstream. Shortly after the release of Purple Thoughtz Vol. 1, Woods caught the attention of then industry-mainstays like the ASAP Mob.
The project and following features caught the attention of producer and Def Jam A&R Don Cannon after DJ Diamond Kuts played one of Woods' songs on a local radio station, who signed Woods to their The Academy imprint and produced their first mixtape, The Real Uzi which was released on August 5, 2014. After the release of The Real Uzi, Woods signed a record deal with Atlantic Records through DJ Drama, Don Cannon's and Leighton Morrison's imprint, Generation Now.
Following their signing to Atlantic Records, Woods was featured alongside Rich the Kid and ASAP Ferg on Carnage's single "WDYW". They also released several songs on SoundCloud including the Metro Boomin produced "No Wait", "Pressure" which is a collaboration with Lil Durk and "Dej Loaf". They were featured on Fall Out Boy and Wiz Khalifa's "Boys of Zummer" tour in August 2015. Woods released their second mixtape, Luv Is Rage on October 30, 2015. The project, which features production from then-bubbling producers Sonny Digital, TM88 and Maaly Raw with features from Billboard charting rappers Wiz Khalifa and Young Thug, was received positively and was featured on numerous music blogs such as The Fader, XXL, and Vibe. They were called a "breakout artist of 2015" by HotNewHipHop.
2016: Breakthrough
In January 2016, Woods appeared at an ASAP Mob show in New York City to honor the deceased ASAP Yams, and in February, released the single "Money Longer" on their SoundCloud following a radio debut on Shade 45. Controversy arose in March 2016 after a riot broke out on the final day of South by Southwest during a Woods set, caused by a fight in the crowd. On April 15, 2016, Woods released their third mixtape and first commercial mixtape Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World. The mixtape debuted at number 37 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it Woods' first entry on the chart. The project spent 55 weeks on the Billboard 200 album chart, eventually being certified double platinum. Woods and Kodak Black embarked on a joint tour in May 2016, titled the "Parental Advisory" tour.In June 2016, Lil Uzi Vert appeared in XXL magazine as part of their 2016 Freshman Class. As part of this appearance, Woods performed in a 'freshman cypher', a group of underground rappers, alongside Denzel Curry, Lil Yachty, 21 Savage, and Kodak Black. Riding the wave of recognition the XXL Freshman list gave them, Woods released the video for "Money Longer". The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 the following week at number 92, their first entry on the chart. The song later peaked at number 54 and is currently certified seven-times platinum in the United States. Another single from Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World, Metro Boomin produced "You Was Right", became Woods second entry on the chart, debuting at number 89 and peaking at number 40.
On July 31, 2016, Woods released their fourth mixtape, The Perfect LUV Tape, on their 22nd birthday. The mixtape featured the singles "Seven Million", featuring Future, and "Erase Your Social", both of which failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The mixtape debuted at number 55 on the Billboard 200 album chart and is certified gold by the RIAA. In October 2016, Woods was announced to be an additional artist on Canadian singer the Weeknd's tour.
Woods announced a collaboration mixtape with Gucci Mane, 1017 vs. the World, which was released on November 23, 2016. Four days later, Woods announced Luv Is Rage 2 which eventually went through a series of delays.
2017: ''Luv Is Rage 2''
Woods featured on the hip-hop trio Migos' single "Bad and Boujee". The single was released on October 28, 2016, and is from the trio's second studio album, Culture. In January 2017, around the time the album released, the single peaked atop the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Woods' first number 1 single as a lead or featured artist, and their highest-charting single overall. On February 27, 2017, Woods released the EP Luv Is Rage 1.5 while on tour with the Weeknd. The EP was positively received for its "nerdy" nature, with Kingdom Hearts themed instrumentals and lyrics referring to anime, Steven Universe and hentai. The EP was also credited as the start of Woods' affiliation with the "emo rapper" label due to the heartbreak-associated lyrics on the song "Luv Scars K.o 1600" and references to threats of suicide and depression on the stand-out track "XO Tour Llif3"."XO Tour Llif3"'s significant popularity on SoundCloud resulted in Woods playing it live on the European leg of the Weeknd's tour and was subsequently released as an official single. On April 4, 2017, "XO Tour Llif3" debuted on Billboard Hot 100 at number 49 and peaked at number seven, becoming the rapper's highest-charting song, being certified fourteen-times platinum as of December 2024.
Luv Is Rage 2 was delayed from an unspecified due date on April 2, 2017, with Woods blaming it on DJ Drama. On April 9, Don Cannon confirmed the project would not be released "any time soon" but confirmed that "XO Tour Llif3" would appear on the album. Woods was featured on fellow rapper Playboi Carti's single "Wokeuplikethis". It was released on April 7, 2017, and is from Carti's debut commercial mixtape, Playboi Carti. The single was performed by the pair at Coachella 2017.
Woods was featured alongside ASAP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Quavo and Frank Ocean on ASAP Mob's single "Raf". The single was released by surprise on May 15, 2017, and is from the collective's second studio album, Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy.
In early August, hip hop media personality DJ Akademiks claimed that Luv Is Rage 2 would release within 30 days. On August 24, 2017, Luv Is Rage 2 was announced for a surprise release at midnight and on August 25, Lil Uzi Vert released the album which included top ten single, "XO Tour Llif3" as the lead single.
"Wokeuplikethis" was eventually certified platinum and peaked at number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 135,000 album-equivalent units and has since been certified platinum. The album also created ten Billboard Hot 100 charting tracks, with two, "The Way Life Goes", featuring Oh Wonder, and "Sauce It Up" becoming singles. During British singer Ed Sheeran's set at the Video Music Awards, Woods and Sheeran performed a medley of "XO Tour Llif3" and Sheeran's chart-topping single, "Shape Of You".
In September 2017, Woods teased a possible sequel project to Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World possibly titled Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World 2 and a collaboration project with Playboi Carti titled 16*29. In October, a joint-tour with Playboi Carti called the 16*29 Tour was announced further promoting the possibility of a collaboration project. The tour was canceled shortly thereafter due to Woods claiming they needed to "focus". In October 2017, Woods headlined Power 105.1's annual Powerhouse music celebration, alongside the Weeknd, Migos, and Cardi B, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Woods was also featured on Canadian rapper Nav's platinum-certified single "Wanted You". The song was released on November 9, 2017, and is from Nav's debut studio album, Reckless.
On December 4, 2017, "The Way Life Goes" music video was released with a remix, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. The song subsequently peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. Woods performed on Stephen Colbert's The Late Show performing "The Way Life Goes" on February 6, 2018, and was later featured alongside Kanye West on Travis Scott's song, "Watch", which was released on May 3, 2018. "Watch" debuted at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They were also featured on a remix for fellow rapper Lil Tracy's single "Like a Farmer". Two months after "Watch", Woods' collaboration with Juice Wrld on the track "Wasted" was released July 10, 2018.