LeBron James is a great source for hip-hop. Being really matey with all the artists means his Instagram Stories of his daily workouts are soundtracked by new Tunechi, Drizzy, Yeezy and Hove. A few months back, it was Lil Uzi Vert’s New Patek that graced the ears of his 46.6 million followers.

Philly born and raised, Symere Woods began rapping as Lil Uzi Vert in 2014 at the age of 24. He became well established within the trap movement as it rose to prominence and got his first break into the mainstream spotlight with his Migos collaboration, Bad and Boujee. New Patek was the first single to tease upcoming album Eternal Awake, but as of 11th January it was still unreleased when the rapper claimed he wanted to go back a few years and quit music, leading to taking his music off streaming services.

The song is still a banger though, referring to the luxury watch brand Patek Philippe. It is creative in it’s lyricism, and blisteringly fast (a godsend really; at six minutes long, who knows how long Uzi would have spat for at a mere mortal’s pace), capturing the essence of him as an artist and why so many were devastated when he announced his premature retirement. Drawing, as many of the new breed of trap-rappers do, from the punk world, it is quintessentially chaotic and infectiously destructive, especially (I assume) when performed live.

It will be interesting to see if and when Lil Uzi Vert returns to music. His sudden announcement shows there is a strong desire from the community for him to retake his place within it, but only time will tell. I pray we get Eternal Awake at some point in the future, especially if New Patek is anything to go by.

 

Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex