Our guide to Lil Uzi Vert’s 25 best songs, from his early mixtapes to his 2017 album 'Luv is Rage 2.'
Is Lil Uzi Vert... actually quitting music? Who knows? What we do know for sure, is that the Philadelphia rapper has created some of the most interesting music of the 21st century, period. In about half a decade, Lil Uzi Vert, real name Symere Woods, has become a rapper’s rapper, a paradigm shifter of sorts. With his breakthrough hit “XO Tour Llif3,” heavy in every sense of the world, he became a figurehead of emo rap.
As we await with bated breath to see if Lil Uzi Vert will ever release his Eternal Atake album, we decided to dig through his impressive back catalog to determine his 25 best songs. From the anime-referencing “Super Saiyan” to the Young Thug-assisted “YSL,” from the romantic “Paradise” to glo-up anthems like “Do What I Want” and “Money Longer,” we look back at Lil Uzi Vert’s 25 best songs.
25. “Sub Zero”
From 2016, “Sub Zero” seemed to lay the sonic foundations for the rock n’ roll influenced, emo rap Lil Uzi Vert would become synonymous with, and using “sub zero” to talk about both his icy jewelry and the zeroes accumulating in his bank account is insanely clever.
24. “Super Saiyan”
References to anime is one thing that really made Lil Uzi Vert stand out in the rap milieu, and such a blatant Dragon Ball Z
23. “Ronda (Winners)”
Marimba type-beat? A tribute to Ronda Rousey? Lots of reverb on the vocals? A generally very inspirational jam? Thank you based Uzi.
22. “Paradise”
This is Lil Uzi Vert giving us pop diva realness and we're obsessed with it. The perfect way to close his Luv is Rage mixtape, Uzi is showing his vulnerable, romantic side and serving us lines like “We lip lock until our lips are swollen.” Extremely underrated jam.
21. “Ps & Qs”
There’s an accordion sample in this track, need we say more?
20. “Neon Guts” ft. Pharrell Williams
While this is probably the least expected collab off of Luv is Rage 2, it’s a wonderful surprise. If Pharrell is involved, especially as a featured artist, you know he’s going to bring the posi vibes, and it doesn’t get much more peace and love than “Neon Guts.”
19. “7 AM”
Uzi at his most mumble-y, but he’s honestly harmonizing in mumble… He snapped on this one. Includes the incredible line, “higher than a drone.”
18. “Buy It”
From the jump, this one’s peak Uzi. Coming out the gate with a rapid-fire flow, crooning about shopping and girl woes, switching from running through brand names like Murakami and OFF-WHITE, and talking about anal sex with equal enthusiasm, our boy makes it all seem easy breezy over an extremely cute Zaytoven beat.
17. "The Way Life Goes”
From Luv is Rage 2, “The Way Life Goes” has become a singing Uzi classic. From the beautiful piano with the right amount of guitar to Vert’s perfectly emotional autotuned vocals complimented by Oh Wonder, it’s a go-to heartbreak jam.
16. “YSL” ft. Young Thug
Throwing contemporary rap conventions to the wayside, Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert start this one off with a 52 second intro of nonsense - random recording booth banter, shoutouts, and smoky coughs aplenty. When they finally get into it, Lil Uzi Vert is basically yelling before an incredibly deep kick comes in courtesy of DP Beats. The hook? More or less just the word “ruler” 15 times. Uzi also talks about sleeping on his grandmother’s couch and staying in Vegas with a cougar in the same song; an impressive glo-up.
15. “Of Course We Ghetto Flowers” ft. Playboi Carti & Offset
This entire track could be Uzi saying “Woah” and it would go absolutely hard. Fortunately, there’s a bit more to it, namely, full verses by Playboi Carti and Offset. Everyone brings their mumble-esque A-game, and the production by Maaly Raw is… well… raw, in addition to wavy.
14. “Seven Million” ft. Future
Future’s cadence on this one is enough for it to shine on its own. But of course, Lil Uzi Vert’s got a great ear for perfectly wonky beats, and this is easily one of the best off his The Perfect LUV tape. He rides it all flawlessly, drifting from melodic bars to adlibs like it’s nothing.
13. “X”
When Uzi says, “My heart’s in the junkyard cause I wrecked it,” I feel that. Hard. Lil Uzi Vert is at his finest when he’s talking about the weird liminal spaces we all experience - between heartbreak and figuring out “what’s next” and the ambivalence one can feel about life (“Yeah my life’s a mess, but I’m also blessed” for example). If all that lyricism isn’t enough for you, there’s always his proclamations of “Leonardo DiCaprio.”
12. “Mood” (with TM88 x Southside)
“Mood” is quite simply a “big mood.” Uzi finally comes out as immortal (we knew it all along) over a sublime and emotional beat by TM88 and Southside.
11. “Yamborghini Dream” ft. Young Thug
Young Thug and Lil Uzi Vert are quite simply a melodic rap match made in heaven, and this 808 Mafia-produced ode to the late A$AP Yams should go down in history as an essential entry in the melodic rap canon. Leave it to Thugger to turn “Eeny Meeny Miney Moe” into some extremely hard bars.
10. “444+222”
A Luv is Rage 2 standout, “444+222” is an homage to Uzi’s favorite number, the sign of the beast. Over near silence at the beginning of the track, his vocals reverberate while trunk-rattling low end slides in and out beneath twinkling video game sounds and, later on, a piano riff. The song is honestly bizarre, but somehow works. Case in point, the chorus of “Breathe in, breathe in/ Breathe out, shake that ass/ Speed up, go fast/ Slow down.”
9. “All My Chains”
A classic Uzi jam, “All My Chains” is a brag-filled flex. If you include his “Neutrogena” mention, there are no less than 8 brands name-dropped. Yes, it’s another song about wearing chains and buying shit, but it’s a really good one, okay?
8. "Two"
Sometimes album or mixtape openers can be complete throwaways, but that's not at all the case with Luv is Rage 2's "Two." Harkening back to the accordion sounds of Uzi classic "P's & Q's," Lil Uzi Vert gets things started with "I ain't gon' lie, I got money and the power,” setting the tone for his best body of work to date.
7. “New Patek”
“New Patek” was undoubtedly Uzi’s standout track of 2018. From the first wail, we were all hooked. Yes, he’s mostly talking about a Patek Phillippe watch, but he also calls himself an octopus, references Naruto, Transformers, and Rey Mysterio, and drops a quick review of the Balenciaga Triple S - “got that extra grip (Grip)/ So you know I cannot slip (Slip).” Although relatively new, it has already found its place in the official Lil Uzi Vert banger canon.
6. “Erase Your Social”
Uzi knew social media would destroy our lives. Even all the way back in 2016, he was encouraging fans to “Erase Your Social” while discussing the merits of various platforms. On this slowed down jam, he expresses the cognitive dissonance of participating in social media. In the song’s chorus he refrains “I ain't got no Snapchat homie/ I think it's too personal,” but then in the outro, “I ain't gone lie/ The baddest girls do be on Snapchat/ Finna make one.” Alas, we all contain multitudes.
5. "Sauce It Up"
I think I gain at least two months of life every time Lil Uzi Vert says “sauce it up.” Sometimes you just gotta flex and talk about how much you like to party, and Uzi does a fine job of that.
4. “You Was Right”
Over an ice cold beat courtesy of Metro Boomin, Uzi showcases some of the best melancholic mumblings and melodies of his career. Also, we stan someone admitting they were wrong and we were right.
3. “Money Longer”
Another Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World classic, “Money Longer” is Uzi in peak Britney-era, and his then-girlfriend even stars in the accompanying visuals for the song. He’s finally in a place where “it do not matter.” The car? Faster. The speaker? Lounder. The money? Longer, of course. The ascending synths and the booming percussion courtesy of Maaly Raw & DJ Don Cannon are the ideal sonic support for Uzi’s major come-up.
2. “Do What I Want”
“Do What I Want” is basically “Money Longer” part two, but we’re not mad about it. Easily one of Lil Uzi Vert’s most optimistic, uplifting tracks, his repetition of “do what I want” is so infectious, it basically becomes a mantra. DJ Don Cannon and Maaly Raw absolutely kill it on the production, with synths that swarm through hazy, happy melodies.
1. “XO Tour Llif3”
How does one even begin to put words down in relation to this song? “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” someone once said, and I’m feeling that hard right now. These three minutes and two seconds are the end of the crescendo of every single thing Symere Woods has ever done, thought, or gestured towards with the shimmy of his shoulders. It’s the ideal equilibrium of trunk-rattling rap and cathartic emo.
With each melancholic howl, Lil Uzi Vert brings forth the distinctly uncomfortable yet somehow still beautiful feelings of existing in spite of late capitalism’s bullshit. Debuted onstage at a concert in support of The Weeknd after the song was leaked with a seemingly throwaway title, the song’s mythology only adds to its allure. Fueled by heartbreak and the isolation of fame and aided by production wizards TM88 and JW Lucas, Lil Uzi Vert was able to create one of the best songs of 2017, and arguably one of the best rap songs of all time, that undoubtedly made an impact on the genre and culture on the whole.
