Lil Uzi Vert, fresh off dropping his new album Luv Is Rage 2, has revealed a rather interesting musical influence while speaking with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio.
Uzi told Zane Lowe that Hayley Williams of the pop punk band Paramore was his biggest songwriting influence.
The Philly rapper said there’s no one better than Williams,
“She’s like the best. It’s hard to top that. She’s like the best, just of my generation… There’s nobody bro.”
We knew Uzi was a fan, he posted himself bopping to Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” a while ago, but for him to say that Hayley Williams is the number 1 influence on his musical style is pretty surprising on the surface.
Having a Great Day. ++®☀️🌬 pic.twitter.com/hoTccJYsDD
— Uzi London 🌎☄️💕® (@LILUZIVERT) January 7, 2016
This is a slightly revealing look into Uzi’s musical style, he definitely mixes elements of rock into his own version of hip-hop.
Take the emo-influenced chorus of “XO TOUR Lif3” which could be taken right out of any pop punk band’s songwriting.
To that end, Uzi revealed to Zane Lowe that he’s working on a rock album with a band of “all chicks.” Sounds cool to me.
Zane Lowe, perhaps more skeptical of Uzi’s Hayley Williams-influenced rock album asked “If it’s absolutely terrible, will you still release it?”
Lil Uzi had a pretty interesting response that someone will always fuck with what you put out. He told Lowe that he doesn’t really think about his music as good or bad,
“I don’t know. It’s kind of hard for it to be bad because I don’t really be looking at my songs like they’re good or bad. So when I put ’em out, someone accepts them.”
This whole thing reveals why there’s such a disconnect at times between the old heads of hip-hop and the new generation of “mumble rappers.” Lil Uzi is influenced by Hayley Williams, of course his music isn’t going to sound like KRS-One.
I’m absolutely here for any Lil Uzi Vert rock albums.