Da Uzi joins Le Cercle PXP
Da Uzi, the street personified
When in 2013, Kaaris revolutionized French rap by releasing his album "Or Noir," he also brought some light to his city, Sevran. A city long criticized by the media, at the heart of a department that itself is the most targeted. Many things have been said about the city, but the most important is that it was a huge reservoir of raw talent just waiting for a little spotlight to explode. No one was ready for what was to come, and Sevran revealed itself as a kind of French Atlanta: the trap capital, where all the trends of this movement were represented, with artists who quickly found great success like 13 Block, Kalash Criminel, Maes, and DA Uzi. A child of Sevran since he was 15, he started rapping very young, almost as soon as he arrived in the city. If he emerged a bit later compared to other rappers from his city, it was due to a somewhat turbulent path, because it must be said that DA Uzi experienced the real street, the one in Sevran where everything can happen very fast. But since his strong comeback in 2017, he has been unstoppable and for a good reason: he has energy and life experience to spare, much more than some of his rap game peers.
This energy exploded in front of the public during his incredible freestyle series, posted on Youtube at the time, « La D en Personne ». A series of hyper street freestyles, with raw clips and poignant lyrics. DA Uzi has a lot to say, a lot, and he already says a lot in these first freestyles. Introspection, street life, displayed ambition, all with a raw attitude that is inevitably touching, he quickly caught the public’s eye. Following the success of his freestyles (over 20 million views in total), he decided to push the concept to the limit and turn it into a project, well received. Right after, he delivered another incredible performance, freestyling on the show « Rentre Dans Le Cercle », hosted by Fianso. Again, it’s the energy and authenticity that helped him explode even more. Since then, he has started a new phase of his career, being extremely productive, solo or featured. Because yes, the rapper is one of those artists who love feats, especially with his brothers from Sevran. « Coup de chance », there are many talented rappers from Sevran, which gives the opportunity to make lots of great tracks.
The rapper from 93 released 4 more albums after « La D en Personne » and each time, he continued to reach more and more people. Today, he is a prominent face in French rap, which notably allowed him to invite Gazo, Ninho, Lacrim, and Naps on his latest album, « Le Chemin des Braves ». DA Uzi also has a huge list of feats to his name, proof that he is validated by his peers and it’s only natural, he can be very funny, very friendly. He is authentic, maybe sometimes even to excess in some tracks. He gives everything in his music, you can even feel that some lyrics were hard to write, he never hides. In interviews, he remains very natural, never sugarcoats, but at the same time is extremely kind and clear-headed about the challenges he has faced. Music was clearly an outlet for him at first, but we see that he has now broadened his influences, started to dabble in other styles, he is becoming a complete artist, while always keeping that same energy and spontaneity that make his strength.
DA Uzi and PXP: 100% street
It’s from this very street energy that we drew for our shooting with DA Uzi. A very successful shoot, with several atmospheres that fit well with the rapper’s universe. We notably had a first part in a hangar, alongside a high-end German vehicle. Using tarps and lighting effects, we managed to create a very successful underground vibe. In the trunk, a full cargo of PXP slides! Slides that have become essential pieces in current streetwear outfits (thanks to rappers and NBA players) and that seem to make the Sevran rapper very happy. He shows a little smirk when posing in front of the trunk. On his shoulders, a set from the Graffiti capsule, one of our recent releases that works best. Graffiti jogger bottoms, with a gradient color going from purple to green, with the Graffiti hoodie, also gradient in the same shades. A very street set, but also very warm, which is rather in a summer mood. We are really very satisfied with the result at Project X, because we know DA Uzi really likes tracksuit sets with jacket + jogger bottoms, which we saw in several of his clips.
Same setting, but a slightly different mood this time, something a bit darker, but which is quite important to us. We are known for being good with velvet, here is an example, with this black set from the Waffle capsule. The black embossed velvet jogpants for the bottom, the embossed velvet hoodie for the top, and that’s it. We add to that the little detail that kills, the PXP crossbody bag, for a streetwear outfit that is perfect for the street adventurer. So it’s normal that it fits DA Uzi so well! The advantage of this outfit is its apparent simplicity at first glance, and as you get closer, you see more and more little details that enrich it all. With the rapper, we then stayed on these black shades, but decided to brighten things up a bit by having him wear the « Underground » capsule. The artist wears it perfectly: an oversized hoodie with the Street art print on the chest, with jogger bottoms that also have the same street art prints, for a very successful « men’s set » effect. With that, a pair of white Nikes, giving us a really effective look.
Finally, we had DA Uzi wear what is perhaps our greatest classic, our Signature outfit. The signature collection is, as you can see, very clean, very minimalist, trying in the design to get closer to luxury models, while keeping a street identity that is very dear to us. For the rapper, we immediately chose a signature set, with the unisex hoodie paired with the signature jogger bottoms with embroidered logo. All in the same color, a rather soft green that fits very well with the setting where the photos were taken. DA Uzi, proudly sitting on his BMX repainted in the same colors, seems to really enjoy his outfit, to which he added a small black bag, with a Project X Paris bucket hat for a very street look again. In short, a memorable shoot with DA Uzi who was impeccable, authentic and true to himself. Exactly like in his music!