Lil Uzi Vert is continuing the rollout for their Young Thug-inspired Barter 16 project by going a step further and dressing up as the YSL boss.
Despite releasing their long-awaited Pink Tape album just last month, the Philly rapper is already hard at work on two follow-up projects, with the other being the third installment in their Luv Is Rage series.
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In a clip from a recent studio session, Lil Uzi Vert can be seen wearing a white suit that Young Thug previously wore, along with a red bandana similar to the one that the Atlanta rapper donned on the cover of Barter 6.
Barter 16 takes its title from Thug’s aforementioned 2015 mixtape, which itself was a somewhat controversial nod to Lil Wayne’s flagship Tha Carter series.
Lil Uzi Vert revealed plans for Barter 16 shortly after Pink Tape went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart earlier this month, earning roughly 167,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.
“Sitting here thinking /bout how I went #1 on a experimental tape,” they wrote on their Instagram Stories. “My apologies Barter 16 mixtape on the way.”
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Along with the announcement, Lil Uzi Vert saluted Young Thug — who remains behind bars awaiting trial in the YSL RICO case — by writing: “Free Slime.”
The “Just Wanna Rock” hitmaker has also been incorporating lean into the promo run for Barter 16, seemingly as an ode to their “Hellcat Kenny” collaborator.
The rapper’s recent social media posts have included a plastic bottle containing purple liquid and an IV drip containing a similar fluid.
The apparent lean photos were met with mixed reactions from fans, though, considering Uzi recently revealed they spent over half a year in rehab.
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“I’m lucky to have people in my life who truly care about me and my well-being,” they told 032c Magazine in May. “Specifically, Desiree Perez, who helped me get into this program. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to — and I can say now that it was a great thing to do.”
They continued: “I spent seven months in rehab. The first month and a half were hard, but after that, it was easy, because the people there became my family. They showed me so many different outlets and ways to cope with life. We did a lot of group talks, a lot of writing on whiteboards.”
Lil Uzi Vert also has a song called “Rehab” on Pink Tape.
