Lil Uzi Vert Quitting Music for New Career
The rapper says they are quitting the music industry in favor of the fashion industry.
Rapper Lil Uzi Vert is looking for a career change. The 28-year-old VMA winner spoke to TMZ this week, saying that they hope to work in the fashion industry instead of music soon. They said that they feel like creating women's clothing is their calling.
Lil Uzi Vert – who prefers ungendered pronouns and whose real name is Symere Bysil Woods – told TMZ that their upcoming album LUV Is Rage 3 will be their last one. The impromptu interview was caught on camera, and the retirement news coupled with the unusual rain in Los Angeles gave the whole thing a very somber tone. Woods said that they have lost their passion for making music, but they feel creatively pulled toward fashion design instead.
Woods said that their clothing company already has a home office under construction, though they did not reveal any major details about this undertaking. They did say that their girlfriend, fellow rapper JT, will not be involved in their new business. JT already has her own fashion brand to promote, TheGirlJTWord.
Woods promised that they won't retire from music entirely until they can work on a music video for their recent hit song "Everybody" with Nicki Minaj. They did not reveal how work on LUV Is Rage 3 is progressing, but their previous release Pink Tape just came out in June. There's no telling when this final LP might be finished.
Lil Uzi Vert is one of the most famous examples of a "SoundCloud rapper." They got interested in music in high school and released their first EP in 2014 at the age of 19. That caught the attention of some well-placed ears within the industry, thanks in part to the notoriety of producer Spaceghostpurpp. Woods then signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.
The Luv is Rage series began in October of 2015. The first volume was a mixtape with features from Wiz Khalifa and Young Thug that helped draw in new fans. The mixtape was featured on some year-end lists by prominent music critics and cemented Lil Uzi Vert's position in the mainstream.
If Woods is truly retiring from music altogether, it will be a shock to many as they are now regarded as a young artist at the top of their game. Many will also relate it to the leaks earlier this summer that led Woods to scrap an entire album without releasing it. They have not said when Luv is Rage 3 may come out.