Lil Uzi Vert has opened up about how ditching drugs has impacted his music, noting that it’s helped improve his entire creative process.
TMZ caught up with Uzi on Tuesday (March 14) to ask him about his creative process for his upcoming project, The Pink Tape. The Philly rap star revealed that getting sober has helped him in ways he would never have imagined.
Uzi noted that while it was initially challenging, he eventually got used to it. On the other hand, the “Just Wanna Rock” rapper also shared that he feared the change would negatively impact his music.
“I thought that my creative process wasn’t gonna be the same because I wasn’t on drugs no more,” he said. However, when the reporter asked if his creative process was the same, he admitted it was even better.
Uzi said that not only could he “think more clearly,” he no longer had issues with slurring his words and has been focused in the studio. “It made sense,” he said. “It wasn’t like I just made random music. I didn’t just play off the beat. I actually made songs with topics this time.”
The rapper also encouraged his peers to consider going sober, noting that “it can change your life.”
Aside from talking about his sobriety, Uzi recently addressed the controversy about the Satan-referencing line in an unreleased song of his and said he doesn’t think fans should take it too literally.
The controversy began after he debuted several new songs at Rolling Loud California, including one that contained lyrics about converting his City Girl girlfriend JT to Satanism. “I make a City Girl believe in Satan,” he rapped.
Lil Uzi said he wasn’t referring to being involved in satanic worship but that the line was a metaphor and not to be taken too seriously. “Basically, I make a girl do whatever I say so,” he said.
The rapper also offered his thoughts regarding the backlash he received and said he “doesn’t pay attention” to the people that took issue with his lyric. “I just say what I want in my songs. It’s like my freedom of speech,” he said.
Despite growing up in a religious household, Lil Uzi Vert said that after becoming an adult and gaining more life experience, he’s comfortable with himself and the music he makes and has no problem with saying what he wants. However, Uzi did note that while he didn’t initially mean to offend people, “if they don’t like it, they have the option to turn it off.”
One of the offended folks included former G-Unit member Tony Yayo. TMZ chatted with the rapper last week to get his thoughts on Uzi’s interesting choice of lyrics, and the former G-Unit soldier wasted no time pledging his allegiance to the man upstairs.
