Credit: Wikimedia

Lil Uzi Vert is an interesting character, to say the least, and a polarising one at that. From his music to his aesthetics, he is very different from the average rapper, and that makes him a stand-out figure. The Philadelphia native has been seen rocking handbags to award shows and often makes experimental music that falls on deaf ears.

However, irrespective of what cultural commentators and older rappers think about him, he has a cult fanbase that is loyal to him and his sound. Despite the criticism he faces, he hasn’t changed his look or music and has remained outside of the box.

When Lil Uzi first emerged, he had a recognisable sound that was similar to many other rappers of the SoundCloud era, including Lil Yachty, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott. However, the more he finds his own sonic and comes up with new ideas, the further he strays from hip-hop and the more he shatters the ideas of what an emcee is supposed to look like.

Part of Lil Uzi Vert’s appeal is his uniqueness. However, the more he embraces it, the more uncomfortable he makes certain listeners. Whether or not Uzi cares about being accepted by older generations is debatable. Still, many insist he disgraces the culture for his lack of lyricism and minimal understanding of hip-hop.

As an appreciator of someone trying to bring something new to hip-hop in 2021, Fat Joe invited Lil Uzi to appear on The Fat Joe Show, a series of Instagram live broadcasts that sees the Terror Squad founder delve into the lives of important rap artists.

During the pair’s discussion, the former 2016 XXL Freshman opened up about his career beginnings and what inspired him to become a rapper. He also spoke about some of the people that influenced him in hip-hop. Uzi has previously detailed his strange obsession with Marilyn Manson, but he rarely speaks about MCs.

While recalling his childhood in Philadelphia, Uzi revealed to Fat Joe that Atlanta lyricist Mike Jones was the first rapper he had a true appreciation of. Delving into the details, Uzi disclosed, “The first rapper that I ever learned lyric for lyric was Mike Jones,” he told Joe. “That’s the first rapper I learned everything lyric for lyric, and I wanted to be like him.”

The ‘XO Tour Llif3’ rhymer revealed that as a youngster, he would spend his phone credit calling the number referenced in Mike Jones’ 2005 hit song, ‘Back Then’. Telling Joe the funny story, Uzi explained, “I had a Boost Mobile, and my mom would give me $15, and I’d get phone cards and shit, and I would spend all my money calling Mike Jones’ number ‘cause I wanted to talk to him…I remember the number by heart. To this day: 281-330-8004…I felt that star power from him. He had that star power.”

The ‘Futsal Shuffle’ artist then explained how he initially got into Young Money founder and mogul Lil Wayne. Uzi cited him as the second most influential figure to him growing up, stating, “And then after Mike Jones, of course, I wanted to be Lil Wayne,” 

He then admitted to even attempting to copy Wayne’s style, adding, “When I was younger, girls would say I looked like Lil Wayne, so I would run with that. And I would wear fedoras, and I would wear the tight Polo tees with the skinnies, and wear the Vans and shit!”

Strangely, Lil Uzi also named Fat Joe’s Terror Squad counterpart Remy Ma as a favourite, unveiling that his aunt was a big fan of the female emcee. For local reasons, he liked and supported Philadelphia-born musician Kurupt but cited Young Thug as one of the most inspiring figures.

Explaining how the YSL rhymer entered the frame when he was a teen, Uzi told Joe, “This was later in my life. So, I used to listen to I Came From Nothing, I Came From Nothing 2. Just all that shit. And I used to watch on YouTube when Young Thug used to perform at the little skating rink shits. The reason that he was such an influence to me [was] because he was almost like a mythical creature back then”

He insisted that he was a fan of Young Thug before he was even a household name adding, “I actually knew before the public. Not even from the public. I’m not from Atlanta, so everybody out there knew about that man before me. Atlanta and around Atlanta, Georgia or whatever. But, just where I was from, I felt like I was the first person in the fuckin‘ world that was listening to him. I felt like that.”

He concluded by expressing how happy he was when Thugger welcomed him when he first moved to Georgia, finishing, “What made it even more crazy, when I moved to Atlanta and started my career, he just embraced me. The first day I met him, he embraced me. And he already knew who I was, so…It was just a big A+”

In these rappers we can see the visceral style and unique standpoints that would come to define the career of Lil Uzi Vert.

The rappers who shaped Lil Uzi Vert:

• Mike Jones
• Lil Wayne
• Remy ma
• Kurupt
• Young Thug