LOS ANGELES, Sept 5 — Lil Uzi Vert (born Symere Woods in 1994 in Philadelphia) is an American hip hop recording artist who is quickly ascending the charts and joining the pop culture conversation.

The young rapper first gained recognition after releasing his debut single, “Money Longer,” and several mixtapes, including “Luv Is Rage 1.5,” “Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World,” and “The Perfect Luv Tape.” He also collaborated with rap trio Migos on the song Bad and Boujee, which became the rapper’s first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Vice’s music vertical, Noisey, announced him as: “the incarnation of hip-hop’s new youth mainstream, the center of the trap rap Snapchat generation gap” and “charismatic, less wrapped up in the idea of hotel room-destroying energy than a type of intense enthusiasm for merrily leading other kids down the path of having more fun.”

Though enmeshed in the world of rap, Lil Uzi Vert also cites alternative rock influences like Paramore and Marilyn Manson.

His debut studio album, released on August 25, “Luv Is Rage 2” (on Generation Now/Atlantic Records, with guest spots by the Weeknd and Pharrell), reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart. It moved the largest streaming sum for an album since Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. nearly four months ago—and clocked in at the third-largest streaming debut of 2017 (behind Drake’s “More Life,” in April, and “DAMN.” in May, per Billboard).

The album is making a splash in a debut-heavy week: seven albums within the top 10 — including efforts by Queens of the Stone Age, Fifth Harmony, and the War on Drugs. Another emerging rapper, Florida’s XXXTentacions 17, holds the No. 2 spot.

Lil Uzi Vert reaching the top spot was “helped in part by the rapper’s MTV Video Music Awards appearance alongside Ed Sheeran,” speculated Rolling Stone.

Monday, the rapper shared a new video for his single, filmed in a back street of Paris and directed by designer of the fashion label OFF-WHITE (and regular Kanye West collaborator) Virgil Abloh. (Abloh also designed the album cover art.) “XO TOUR Llif3” was initially released in March (it peaked at No. 7 in June amongst the top 10-charting Billboard Hot 100 hit) with an animated video, with visuals conceived by Andrew William Ralph.

This new version in rotation was called “dark” by Pitchfork and “unnerving” by Rolling Stone — it features prosthetic makeup, dripping fake blood, iris-less eyes, and “living-dead” girls, and shaky, hand-held camera work.— AFP-Relaxnews