The Lil Uzi Vert Instagram Mystery: Case Cracked!
If any of you people follow Lil Uzi Vert on Instagram, then you have already been noticing the odd trend in his recent posts. During the past week it seems Uzi's Instagram has been obtained by multiple people. People within his group, random people, and maybe even Uzi himself. Is this all a scheme to retaliate against his label for not letting him release any songs? Do multiple people really have Uzi's Instagram? Either way, I'm here to weigh an opinion on what has been happening.
April 8th, 2018
Someone from Uzi's circle posted this to his Instagram. @mean.w is head of Mean Management, which manages one of Uzi's producers. He simply informs people that Uzi does not have a phone, but he's "working on the best music in his and your life." It doesn't seem like a big deal.
April 9th
Another post emerges from someone in Uzi's circle, but he is not identified. Basically telling us that Uzi doesn't exist and "neither does you in the next persons eyes." Odd, but we'll roll with it. We've known Uzi's Instagram to get weird at some points, so nobody is tripping over this yet.
April 11th
This is where the mystery begins. This post seems to have been posted from someone who obtained Uzi's Instagram and iCloud logins inside of a restroom at a massage brothel. So who all has Uzi's Instagram? Is this still Lil Uzi? The story will unfold.
Same Day
"2-8-1, 3-3-oh, 8-zero-zero-fo!" Who? Mike Jooones! I had to sing it to figure it out, but this man is Lyle LeDuff, a producer for a couple of Lil Uzi's songs on Luv is Rage 2 and The Perfect Luv Tape hit songs. He's also produced for A$AP Rocky. He is filming himself talking about how his friend is outside, running around naked with a sword. Also, the caption of this post is from the Mike Jones song "Back Then." Who knows what this caption means, but why does LeDuff have this kind of access to Uzi's account? Maybe this is a video someone who has Uzi's logins found while looking through his iCloud, since he did supposedly leave it written inside of a brothel bathroom. They just went and posted it to establish that someone else had Uzi's logins. I could be wrong, but it seems likely.
In a following post, it is the same video with LeDuff as he encounters the police as they investigate the inside of the house. The caption is "So I finally listened to this kids music not bad @liluzivert He needs more videos for sure." Is this the same person? Nobody knows.
April 12th
The caption for this one explains it all. This is where the story gets deep. Uzi's basically being managed by DJ Drama under Atlantic Records. Due to contract restrictions, he hasn't been able to release any music. I'm not sure to what damage these label disputes has caused Uzi, but how would someone who picked up Uzi's logins from a brothel bathroom know he's broke? Especially when the person writing the caption claims he "cares nothing for the guy (Uzi)." This is where my theory of a marketing tactic comes into light. Since he can't release any music under his label, Uzi wants to make it seem like people are hacking his accounts and leaking his music. After the photo below was posted, Uzi's Soundcloud leaked "Rich Forever Leaked" with the caption "hahahahahahahahhahahahaa!" What is going on? Why would this person who cared none for Uzi seem to diabolically laugh as he leaks Uzi's music? My marketing theory bodes stronger with this new evidence.
Later the Same Day
Another post emerges on Uzi's pages with a video of a homeless guy. This video does not pertain to the caption, let alone do I think this homeless guy has one of Uzi's phones or his logins. I do think whoever does have Uzi's account posted this from his iCloud, and mentioned in the caption "I will be an umbrella anyday before the rain." I have no clue what this means. It is as unusual as it gets at this point.
April 14th
This ones throws my marketing theory in a spiral. This guy claims to be the man who hacked Uzi's Instagram and Soundcloud accounts. The caption says he's selling songs for cheap.He looks like a mail-man, and he very well could be, but I'm coming to the realization that Uzi is absolutely winning right now.
My Theory
Uzi is making it seem like he has been hacked so that he can leak his songs under the perception that his phone has been stolen. Going back to the first post, it claimed that Uzi had no phone and that he'll be back in a few weeks...maybe. As everything unfolds, the mission of this strategy sides well with Uzi's plan of deception.
The alleged "hacker" has supposedly gotten ahold of his Twitter as well, sharing the leaked song 4 days ago, retweeting a Lil Yachty tweet yesterday with the comment "Facts." Today, he tweeted a selfie of, probably, Marilyn Manson, and a tweet that reads "I'm 12 years old and I can see Uzi DMs." The latest tweet strengthens the perception that many people may have Uzi's information.
I believe this is all a marketing tactic constructed by Uzi and his team to allow him to release music without getting in trouble with the label. DJ Drama and Lil Uzi have had their fair share of beef about releasing music since he originally signed with Atlantic. We should feel bad for Uzi, he's a good artist that should be allowed to release his music without restrictions, but the music industry is not that tight-knit.
There are many artists who struggle with label disputes. Lil Wayne is still struggling to distribute his Carter V album to the public, but has still been allowed to release music on Datpiff and other mixtape platforms. Uzi's dispute with Atlantic has caught the attention of many people because of the openness of Uzi and how he's handled the situation. Obviously, he's had enough and resorted to a discrete, but well organized marketing tactic to be able to release his music. If you ask me, it's smart, and it's working. "Rich Forever Leaked" has well surpassed 1 million plays in 5 days.
I will update as the story unfolds, but we still are left wondering. Where is Uzi?
