In the world of hip hop, it's not enough to be respected by your city - you gotta run it. For this reason, when Lil Uzi Vert was told by people during his recent visit to the barbershop that he doesn't run Philadelphia, he was quite taken aback. So taken aback in fact, he felt the need to go on Instagram Live to clarify that these "broke-ass old heads" were tripping for thinking that. His public service announcement - which predominantly featured footage of his sparkling chains - insisted that people "stop playing" and give him his proper credit.
Uzi does spend the majority of his time in Philly, while many artists who claim to run their city tend to relocate to LA. However, as several people pointed out in the comments of the video that DJ Akademics posted, Meek Mill is a serious contender for this title, as well. Meek Mill has been putting on for the city for a long time and has organized multiple initiatives to give back to his community. One commenter shared the nice idea that there needn't be such a strict competition, by suggesting that "Uzi and Meek co-own Philly." Someone else thought other important figures were being forgotten, asking, "Matt OX died?". On the other hand, many would argue that only bringing Meek into the discussion neglects influential Philly-natives from other generations.
The good thing is that Uzi didn't explicitly denigrate any other artists from Philly while arguing that he runs it. Uzi has collaborated with and showed love for many Philly rappers, including up-and-comer SimxSantana, whose hit song "FLEXIN N' FLASHIN" Uzi jumped on for a remix.
Watch the video of a baffled Uzi below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1txgsDnYql
