For his recent cover story, Lil Uzi Vert spoke to GQ about some of their early influences. The artist revealed that Chance the Rapper's critically acclaimed second mixtape, Acid Rap, had a major impact on them. “It was so weird to me," they said of the 2013 mixtape, "I didn’t understand how he was taking tones of music that I really don’t like but making me like them.”
It's no doubt that Uzi could have drawn some inspiration from Chance the Rapper. Earlier this year, Chance discussed the impact of Acid Rap, calling the tape the "blueprint for that midwest sound" that lives on today. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody that’s a year or two younger than me that wasn’t influenced by Acid Rap," he explained, "even if they weren’t from the midwest. Jack Harlow, [Lil] Uzi Vert. People that are from opposite coasts and from other places still tell me, like, what the album meant to them at that time.”
Lil Uzi Vert Says Chance The Rapper Influenced Them
Acid Rap was certainly groundbreaking for it's time, and Lil Uzi Vert is no stranger to pushing boundaries themselves. The artist just recently released their third studio album, Pink Tape. The LP has been a massive commercial success thus far. Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was the first rap album of the year to hit No. 1. The new LP also boasts various high-profile features. It includes the stylings of Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, and more.
Though most fans are loving the new album, Lil Uzi Vert received some pushback for the experimentation they did on Pink Tape. Joe Budden weighed in at the end of last month, calling the effort "a crock of sh*t." Budden went on to explain, "This is the product that you’re selling. If the plumber come over to fix some sh*t, and wanna try out some new methods, you should’ve did that shit before you got here. Once you’re here to do the service, fix the sh*t. Don’t experiment.”