Around the 10th grade, a classmate named William Aston recorded a freestyle over the beat for Chris BrownвЂ™s вЂњLook At Me Now,вЂќ and the attention he got from it inspired Uzi to follow suit. Rapping as a means of artistic expression began for Lil Uzi Vert with a bout of jealousy. Unable to join the fun without offering some sort of contribution to the acrobatics, he performs a running front flip into the water. вЂњTake em out the hoodвЂ¦вЂќ Uzi surveys the leap from the balcony himself and decides better of it, walking downstairs to the pool deck proper. вЂњYou try to bring them somewhere nice,вЂќ he says with a laugh. Cannon nonchalantly warns them that they need to be careful because the pool isnвЂ™t deep, but Lake gets a kick out of the massive overflow spilling onto the side of the house. The next afternoon heвЂ™s wearing nearly the same thing when his friends begin jumping, seemingly out of boredom, from the estateвЂ™s second-floor balcony into its infinity pool. HeвЂ™s wearing a vintage Marilyn Manson promo tee over a patterned red and black long sleeve, charcoal Nike tennis shorts, and red Gucci flip flops with tiny ghosts all over them. вЂњBeing a rapper is a facade,вЂќ Uzi says, glumly. Up on the roof deck, I lean against the wicker couch a few feet away from where Uzi is standing and listen to him riff existentially between drags of a sturdy blunt delivered to him by вЂњFat,вЂќ a baby-faced kid with a pristine Caesar haircut and the build of a junior varsity shooting guard. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to a guest verse on MigosвЂ™s вЂњBad and Boujee.вЂќ вЂњYouвЂ™ve never saw what this kid has done in a year and conquered,вЂќ Don Cannon says.

SoundCloud crowned him their most followed artist of 2016, and in the second week of 2017, he achieved his first No. During this time, he also released a collaborative EP with Gucci Mane, a bevy of loose singles, and notched some 33 features, all while touring consistently. The World brought his biggest hit to date, the gold-certified вЂњMoney Longer,вЂќ and set the table for JulyвЂ™s The Perfect Luv Tape, a tightly edited project that featured вЂњDo What I Want,вЂќ a song that soundtracked a Jordan brand sneaker commercial in October. In the past year, Uzi experienced a meteoric rise. вЂњHe can swag it out with cats that from the A, or wherever.вЂќ вЂњHe is to Philly what A$AP Rocky is to New York,вЂќ Drama says. UziвЂ™s nonconformity was enough to convince DJ Drama and storied producer Don Cannon, likewise Philly natives whoвЂ™ve made their names trading in southern soundscapes, to sign him in 2014 to their Generation Now imprint, which is distributed by Atlantic. He weaves in and out of the pocket, stuffing an inordinate amount of syllables into a bar without sounding like heвЂ™s trying to make a name for himself in a cypher, a particularly interesting skill considering his cityвЂ™s long-held reputation for shotgun-mouthed, battle-ready MCs. The appeal of his style, not unlike a teenaged Lil Wayne, is some combination of nasal vocal tone and penchant for melody, despite no discernible singing talent. Uzi is technically the odd man out in that line-up - coming from North PhiladelphiaвЂ™s Francisville neighborhood, heвЂ™s the only one not from Atlanta - but he couldnвЂ™t sound more at home over WheezyвЂ™s operatic piano riffs and speaker-stretching 808 rumble. WeвЂ™d been introduced an hour earlier, the rapper gifting me a limp and somewhat business-like handshake before moving toward a thermostat-sized touchscreen on the wall to cue up вЂњ200,000,вЂќ a recent loosie from Atlanta-based producer Wheezy that features Uzi, Shad Da God, and 2016вЂ™s other most celebrated feature artist, Quavo of Migos. вЂњInstagram did just as much for me as SoundCloud,вЂќ he says. I offer that itвЂ™s hard to tell, judging by the quality of the posts on his Instagram account, and he seems to soften with the compliment. вЂњI hate photo shoots,вЂќ Uzi says unprompted, a claim he has made in some fashion in nearly all of the major interviews heвЂ™s done. Not long after, I speak with Uzi briefly on the houseвЂ™s roof deck, while this storyвЂ™s photographer, who is 6вЂ™2вЂќ, squats down for a better angle on UziвЂ™s 5вЂ™5вЂќ frame.

One of UziвЂ™s managers, a man in an oversized Allen Iverson jersey named Leighton вЂњLakeвЂќ Morrison, lets me in.

Stole your luv lil uzi vert album cover