Symere Bysil Woods ( born July 31, 1995), better known as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commercial mixtape Luv Is Rage (2015), which led to a recording contract with Atlantic Records, to whom they signed under DJ Drama’s Generation Now imprint.

Lil Uzi Vert attracted mainstream attention following the release of their debut single “Money Longer” in 2016. The song would act as the lead single for the subsequent mixtape Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World (2016), which also contained the song “You Was Right”. After releasing two additional mixtapes in 2016 and 2017, including one in collaboration with Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert was featured on the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping Migos’ single “Bad and Boujee”. They later secured their first top ten single with “XO Tour Llif3”, which won the MTV Video Music Award for Song of Summer.

“XO Tour Llif3” acted as the lead single to Lil Uzi Vert’s debut studio album Luv Is Rage 2 (2017), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). At the 2018 Grammy Awards, they were nominated for Best New Artist. Their second studio album, Eternal Atake (2020), was among the most anticipated albums in contemporary trap and hip hop when it was finally released following years’ worth of delays. Eternal Atake, like Luv Is Rage 2, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Since 2020, Lil Uzi Vert teased the release of their third studio album, Pink Tape, which released in June 2023 and included the Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single “Just Wanna Rock”.

Symere Woods was born July 31, 1995, in North Philadelphia’s Francisville neighborhood. They grew up listening to Mike Jones and Ying Yang Twins; Jones’ 2005 debut album was the first album they purchased. Woods later began listening to Wiz Khalifa and Meek Mill, who influenced their future style. They also began listening to Marilyn Manson, Paramore, Smash Mouth, The Rocket Summer, Simian, My Chemical Romance, and The All-American Rejects when they were 13 years old.

Woods dropped out of school and soon started working at a Bottom Dollar store, but quit after four days and were kicked out of their home by their mother. The situation led to Woods getting their first face tattoo, the word “Faith” under their hairline, which provoked them to take their rap career seriously.

In July 2021, Woods revealed in a tweet that their birth certificate shows they were born in 1995, after erroneously believing they were born one year earlier.

Woods began to rap in 2010 after hearing classmate William Aston freestyle over a remade Chris Brown instrumental. Woods referred to themself at that point in their life as a “regular kid, I didn’t really wanna rap.” Woods, Aston, and another friend created the musical group Steaktown and in what they say was “just for money” under the name “Sealab Vertical”. They later changed this name to Lil Uzi Vert inspired by the way someone described their rap “flow” as “Fast, like a machine gun.” Woods’ first project, an EP titled Purple Thoughtz Vol. 1 was released on January 19, 2014. The project, which was described as “phonk” and having cloud rap beats from The Guardian due to its psychedelic and “trippy” production[16] and was released with the single “White Shit” which included a video. The track, which was produced by Spaceghostpurrp, went viral in 2017 within hip-hop circles following Wood’s entry into the mainstream. Shortly after the release of Purple Thoughtz Vol. 1, Woods caught the attention of then industry-mainstays like the ASAP Mob.

The project and following features caught the attention of producer and Def Jam A&R Don Cannon after DJ Diamond Kuts played one of Woods’ songs on a local radio station, who signed Woods to their The Academy imprint and produced their first mixtape, The Real Uzi which was released on August 5, 2014. After the release of The Real Uzi, Woods signed a record deal with Atlantic Records through DJ Drama, Don Cannon’s and Leighton Morrison’s imprint, Generation Now.

Following their signing to Atlantic Records, Woods was featured alongside Rich the Kid and ASAP Ferg on Carnage’s single “WDYW”. They also released several songs on SoundCloud including the Metro Boomin produced “No Wait”, “Pressure” which is a collaboration with Lil Durk and “Dej Loaf”. They were featured on Fall Out Boy and Wiz Khalifa’s “Boys of Zummer” tour in August 2015. Woods released their second mixtape, Luv Is Rage on October 30, 2015. The project, which features production from then-bubbling producers Sonny Digital, TM88 and Maaly Raw with features from Billboard charting rappers Wiz Khalifa and Young Thug, was received positively and was featured on numerous music blogs such as The Fader, XXL, and Vibe. They were further called a “breakout artist of 2015” by HotNewHipHop.