Da Uzi joins Le Cercle PXP
Da Uzi, the street in person
When in 2013, Kaaris revolutionized French rap by releasing his album “Or Noir,” he also brought some light back 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 talents waiting for just 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 revealed himself a bit late compared to other rappers from his city, it was due to a somewhat turbulent path, because DA Uzi experienced the real street, the Sevran street 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 colleagues.
This energy exploded in the public eye during his incredible freestyle series, published on Youtube at the time, “La D en Personne.” A hyper street freestyle series, with quite raw clips and poignant lyrics. DA Uzi has a lot to say, a huge amount, and he already says a lot in these first freestyles. Introspection, street life, declared 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 further and make it a project, which was well received. Right after, he delivered another incredible performance, freestyling on the show “Rentre Dans Le Cercle,” hosted by Fianso. Again, it was energy and authenticity that helped him explode even more. Since then, he has entered a new phase of his career, being extremely productive, solo or in features. Because yes, the rapper is one of those artists who loves features, especially with his Sevran brothers. “Lucky strike,” Sevran’s talented rappers are extremely numerous, giving many opportunities to make great tracks.
The rapper from 93 released 4 more albums after “La D en Personne” and each time, he reached more and more people. Today, he is a significant 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 an impressive list of features to his name, proof that he is validated by his peers and rightly so, as he can be very funny and very likeable. He is authentic, sometimes even to an 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 using evasive language, but at the same time extremely kind and clear-headed about the challenges he has faced. Music was clearly an outlet for him at first, but now we see that he has broadened his influences, started exploring other styles, and is becoming a complete artist while always keeping the same energy and spontaneity that are his strengths.
DA Uzi and PXP: 100% street
It’s from this very street energy that we drew for our shoot with DA Uzi. A very successful shoot, with several atmospheres that fit well with the rapper’s universe. We notably had a first part that took place in a hangar, alongside a high-end German vehicle. Using tarps and light effects, we managed to create a very successful underground atmosphere. In the trunk, a full cargo of PXP slides! Slides that have become essential pieces of current streetwear outfits (we can thank rappers and NBA players) and that seem to make the Sevran rapper very happy. He sports a sly smile when posing in front of the trunk. On his shoulders, a set from the Graffiti capsule, one of our recent bestsellers. Graffiti joggers, with a gradient color going from purple to green, with the Graffiti hoodie, also gradient in the same tones. A very street set, but also very warm, with a summery mood. We are really very satisfied with the result at Project X because we know DA Uzi really likes tracksuit sets with jacket + joggers, which we have seen in several of his clips.
Same setting, but a slightly different mood this time with something a bit darker, yet it’s quite an important piece for us. We’re known for being good with velvet, here’s 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. Add to that the killer little detail, the PXP crossbody bag, for a streetwear outfit that’s perfect for the ultimate street adventurer. So it’s no surprise it suits 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 enriching it all. With the rapper, we then stayed with these black tones but decided to brighten things up a bit by having him wear the “Underground” capsule. The artist wears it perfectly: an oversized hoodie with Street art print on the chest, with joggers that also feature the same street art prints, for a very successful “men’s set” effect. With that, a pair of white Nike sneakers gives us a look that’s really effective.
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 very dear to us. For the rapper, we immediately chose a signature set, with the unisex hoodie paired with the signature joggers embroidered with the 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. Just like in his music!