Philadelphia native Lil Uzi Vert is a name which has slowly begun to appear everywhere, popping up on tracks with established names such as Young Thug, A$AP Ferg, Mac Miller, Steve Aoki and, most recently, Wiz Khalifa. Adding a fresh level to the thumping beat of Khalifa’s ‘Pull Up’, Lil Uzi Vert takes the opportunity to flex and show off precisely why his name is buzzing in the industry right now. Offering a unique take on the trap sound in hip-hop, and a unique personality within the industry, Lil Uzi Vert is quickly taking the entire hip-hop world by storm. The North Philly rapper, who spoke to Vibe on the origins of his name saying “Some guy was just like ‘you rap fast, man. Like a little machine gun’ and from that moment I was Lil Uzi”, only very recently released his hit mixtape Lil Uzi Vert vs The World. Inspired by the comic book and film of (almost) the same name, Lil Uzi Vert’s latest full-length project caught the ear of many an industry mainstay (especially with tape standout track ‘Money Longer’, a huge speaker-shaking trap anthem), not to mention boasting production credits from such names as Metro Boomin and Wondagurl. Not satisfied with his already extensive offerings to 2016, and his own rising buzz, Lil Uzi Vert has also teased a collaborative full-length project with trap superstar Young Thug to drop later this year. Even that dope collaboration might not be all we can look forward to later this year, if Twitter is anything to go by:

Lil Uzi on the facetime pic.twitter.com/07xAZEMkwO

— Theophilus London (@TheophilusL) May 30, 2016

Plus, with Uzi still taking the time to drop new songs via his Soundcloud seemingly every couple of weeks, it seems he isn’t a name who will be going away anytime soon. In fact, if the brand new track ‘$ub Zero ++’ is anything to go by, Lil Uzi Vert might well be everywhere pretty soon. Watch the rise, Lil Uzi Vert is here to stay.

• Words: James Schofield