FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

The Lil Uzi Vert Challenge Is Probably the Latest Meme That'll Accidentally Create a Hit Single

The use of Uzi's "XO Tour Llif3" in viral dance videos may elevate the already buzzing song to the charts.

Lil Uzi Vert's "XO Tour Llif3" is the easy highlight from Luv Is Rage 1.5, the Philadelphia rapper's latest release of postmodernist rock-rap. With that Myspace-friendly chorus and the gorgeous TM88 beat, it's an easy song to love, and Uzi's fans have responded by granting it nearly 15 million plays on Soundcloud. But its musical appeal is nothing next to its meme appeal, and the song's spread will most likely happen through its accompanying meme, the #liluzivertchallenge, which has been a popular hashtag on Instagram for the past week or so.

Advertisement

Stemming from a video of Uzi dancing to a Playboi Carti song, the Uzi Challenge is simple: just imitate his distinct moves to the tune of "XO Tour," despite the song not being in the original video. Here are a couple:

You get the idea.

The past few years have seen many rap songs break out through viral videos, typically involving dance challenges. This is nothing new and has been written about already. What's funny and notable about the Uzi Challenge may just be its almost comedically despairing hook ("pushed me to the edge / all my friends are dead") accompanying goofy dance clips, tying together the worlds of hip-hop and emo for what has to be the dozenth time this year. But Uzi has more prominence (movie soundtrack placements help) and pop smarts than a Lil Peep or a Lil Tracy, so a crossover through "XO Tour" just might work. He'll need memes to do it, though.

Phil is a Noisey staff writer. He's on Twitter.