With Lil Uzi Vert's glo up comes another, hand-in-hand, and that one belongs to Maaly Raw. We're slowly becoming familiar with Maaly Raw's tag, which will likely become a household item, not so unlike Metro Boomin's tag, within the next year. For now, though, the Philadelphia-based producer's most famous for his work with Lil Uzi Vert (although he continues to branch out, most recently producing PnB Rock's new record). There's a reason the two stick together though, and that's cause their sounds perfectly line up with one another.
Uzi's often frenzied delivery works superbly over Maaly Raw's equally manic production, which is in the trap lane to be sure, but also outside of it, pulling from different elements to make his sound much more unique than the average 'trap' beat. Today we're looking closely at the work they've done together over the past several years, and rounding up the best of it for this top five list. It was extremely difficult to narrow down, but we attempted to represent every phase of Uzi's career thus far, and to represent the best of their work together as a whole. We're excited to see where Maaly Raw's career heads from here, we already know Uzi's just going upwards.
Shout out "Safe House" and "Hi Roller," consider this their honorable mentions as they didn't make the final list. We've included them below for the fun of it.
"Dumber" off "The Real Uzi" (2014)
We’re kicking off the list with something from Lil Uzi Vert’s first mixtape, The Real Uzi. Lil Uzi seemed to become an overnight success when Luv Is Rage dropped, but even so, he hasn’t been in this rap game for too long. The Real Uzi dropped in 2014, and two years later, he’s on the cusp of being rap’s next big star. If you go back to listen to The Real Uzi, though, you can hear that Uzi already had his sound down pat—perhaps his development occurred away from the prying eyes of the internet, but dude could have dropped The Real Uzi yesterday and it wouldn’t sound of out of place.
Maaly Raw produced five songs on this particular project. The two are both from Philadelphia and thus it’s likely that their chemistry developed in person, in-studio— always a better tactic than the over-email-transactions between a producer and a rapper. On “Dumber,” Maaly weaves a distorted synth line in and out, paired with melodic keys and intermittent hi-hat and drumrolls— Uzi goes dumb on the beat, leaving us to wonder, is it even possible for him to make a bad hook?
"I’m Sorry" off "The Real Uzi" (2014)
This is another one from the early Uzi days, likely pre-Brittney. As many Uzi fans will know, Uzi is unabashed about his love for his girlfriend Brittney—he names drop her on plenty of songs (not to mention he has an entire song dedicated to her) and assures any would-be groupies that you won’t catch him slippin’. However before Brittney, Uzi was just your average playboi and he had to cut some hoes off. That’s not the only thing he apologizes for over this glittery trap banger from Maaly—he apologizes for his bands, for his come-up, for sipping lean, and basically everything he can do that you can’t— he’s so sorry.
Uzi’s always trying out new flows on his hooks, and it’s another catchy one in the bag here, as he drags out his words while a g-funk-like synth backing him. Even just two songs deep, you can get a feel for Maaly’s sound and how the two Philly natives work so well together.
"Uzi Manson" (2015)
The enthusiastic fan of Lil Uzi may be aware that one of Uzi's favorite artists is Marilyn Manson, so it should come as no surprise that the rapper draws inspiration from the controversial artist for this loose cut, which dates back to a year ago. The song never found placement on any particular project, instead it just lives on Uzi's Soundcloud, but it still showcases the uniqueness between Uzi and Maaly, and perhaps more accurately, it shows Maaly Raw's uniqueness when it comes to creating 'trap' beats.
From the outset, this record feels unlike any trap song you've heard, yet it's definitely still the same Uzi. There's a metal or rock inspiration from the intro, with hard-hitting drums and tinny clanging, between spurts of cowbell. We'd definitely expect a bit of experimentality on a song called "Uzi Manson." The topic is a familiar one though, as Uzi raps about working hard for all he's got, and we're sure that only rings more true a year later. It may not be the most polished collaboration between the two, but I still think it's an important one to include on this list.
"Money Longer" (2016)
“Money Longer” dropped as Lil Uzi Vert’s single, shortly after the release of Luv Is Rage, in early 2016. It’s honestly one of his best songs to date, and thus was rightly chosen for radio play. However it’s since found a home on Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World, so fans can get it for free if they didn’t fork out the big bucks on iTunes. It should be noted that this one actually has co-production from Don Cannon, another frequent Uzi collaborator, day one supporter, and all that good stuff— we could probably do a separate list entirely for the best Don Cannon and Uzi collabs. Nonetheless, all of three of these guys together on a song equals absolute fire.
The record gets you hype from the minute the beat starts, thanks to a climaxing trumpet-like synth. It’s hard to know exactly who did what to the beat, but that synth definitely feels Maaly ish (and he actually uses a similar one on "Hi Roller," another one that just missed this list). This one’s so successful because Uzi’s hook gets you even more hype than the production does—or at least, adds to it. It’s perfect to blast in the whip, to blast at your haters, to blast at the party; it’s very multi-purpose. That synth rhythm repeats throughout the record, with claps and a thunderous bass siding it—it’s actually not a very complex record but it works freaking well.
"Canadian Goose" off "Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World" (2016)
This is one of the recent records that appeared on Lil Uzi Vert’s project Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World (which sparked the inspiration for this list, obviously). Somewhere between the release of The Real Uzi and now, Maaly Raw developed his own tag which is almost just as catchy as Uzi’s hooks. Sometimes I just find myself singing ‘that be Maaly Raw’ rather than actual Uzi lyrics. It’s with that alert that Uzi kicks off “Canadian Goose,” a frenetic record that manages to keep up with Uzi’s own high-energy raps.
Maaly uses a two different melodies on the beat, both of which feel like you’re in a downward spiral, from the strings to the electronic-like noises. The producer intersperses the record with a woman moaning, cutting out only momentarily to let Uzi’s lyrics hit harder; ‘Lil Uzi you is the truth.’ Amen.