ThereвЂ™s a reason why UziвЂ™s such a celebrity, and yet also a cult hero to Gen Z listeners no one else can croon through a hook, weave between vivid personas and capture a generationвЂ™s angst through his eccentricity.

Lil Uzi VertвЂ™s certainly not the first to incorporate outer space into his discography, and not the one to perfect it either, but for all intents and purposes-heвЂ™s the rap game David Bowie. OutKast released вЂњATLiensвЂќ in 1996, a sprawling record that compared inner-city isolation to living in outer space, which took inspiration from the psychedelic jazz-rap of Digable Planets in the early 1990s and their infatuation with the space-time continuum.ДЇrom Sun Ra ArkestraвЂ™s afrofuturistic jazz to the world-defying rap of today, elements of science fiction have often been used in Black artforms to depict the alternate realities of Black existence that are unrecognizable to the rest of America. Lil Wayne has insisted countless times that he is a martian. ThereвЂ™s always been a fascination with extraterrestrial worlds in hip-hop, even if the two donвЂ™t seem obviously linked.Д«efore Lil Uzi Vert released the wild two-minute trailer for вЂњEternal Atake,вЂќ abound with vivid imagery of UFOs and alternate universes, there was Playboi Carti and PiвЂ™erre Bourne - the chameleonic rapper and innovative producer who made rap sound like an alien language. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP) By Eddie Sun Maat 11:36 pm PDT Recording artist Lil Uzi Vert performs at Power 105.1's Powerhouse 20167at Barclays Center on Thursday, Oct.

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