It’s hard to expect what Lil Uzi Vert will do next.
Since arriving on the scene in the mid-2010s, Uzi has helped to make mainstream rap a lot weirder, injecting an outsider influence into the genre. His upbringing of Scott Pilgrim and heavy metal set the tone for early hits like the emo-tinged “XO Tour Lif3.”
Today he’s made a pretty wild step forward in his music with the release of his third studio album Pink Tape, cementing his love for rock and metal with some pretty insane tracks.
A stand out is his cover of System of a Down classic “Chop Suey,” titled “CS” on the album. Uzi takes the original SOAD track instrumentation and gives it his own take. Straight up, it’s bound to polarize fans, though we’re down for it. Uzi layers his voice over the song in multiple ways with different levels of autotune and adds addendum lyrics into it. It’s hard to deny he’s having a good-ass time on the track.
There’s also a track featuring Sheffield, England metal band Bring Me The Horizon, “Werewolf.” From the jump, BMTH’s heavy guitar work is immediate, weaving in some spacey vocal parts by Uzi. Sonically it sounds like something Deftones would’ve written, as Oli Sykes and Uzi trade screamed lines with each other. Sykes and Uzi deliver a soaring chorus, as Uzi drives forth a followup verse. Straight up it’s one of BMTH’s best songs in recent memory, and shows how much Uzi loves heavy music.
“The End” features some crunchy riffage courtesy of Babymetal, going between sugary-sweet and in-your-face heavy. There’s a real parallel in artist approaches between Uzi and Babymetal, both artists employ a regular use of extremes in their music.
Also of note, Uzi raps over WWE superstar Shinsuke Nakamura’s theme on the appropriately titled “Nakamura,” which is a sample we were not expecting whatsoever.
Pink Tape genuinely sounds like what Lil Uzi Vert has been working towards in his entire career, and worth throwing on today for any metal fan. Check out some of the aforementioned songs below.