Going deep into (or revisiting) an artist’s history after they’ve successfully catapulted themselves to the mountaintop is one of the more rewarding aspects of music discovery — especially when taking that journey magnifies the ways artists have grown and pivoted over time. The music that has made Lil Uzi Vert a household name — otherworldly, shapeshifting, genre-advancing — is a lot different than what the Philly superstar sounded like in the early days of his career. In the early parts of the 2010’s, Uzi’s delivery had the type of oomph one might expect of someone from a city that breeds people who rap like they’re possessed, generation after generation. On 2014’s “Uzi,” from his debut tape The Real Uzi, a sandy-haired Vert raps over a beat that is so 2014, you could hear OG Maco or O.T Genasis yelling if you close your eyes. Uzi’s raspy yelp of a voice was was in its embryonic stages at that time, but when coupled with that type of production, it placed him much closer to an artist like Shy Glizzy, than someone like Young Thug, who he’d be grouped in with as mumble rap’s poster children not much later. “Uzi” is essential song to be familiar with because it’ll make you appreciate just how much Lil Uzi has put into developing artistically over the years. — LB

ADVERTISEMENT