Lil Uzi Vert Dominates Apple Music Charts with Surprise Maverick EP

Per HotNewHipHop, the rapper's surprise EP Maverick "Almost Forever" — dropped Friday on his 31st — stormed to the top of US Apple Music's Hip-Hop/Rap albums chart, bypassing Drake's ICEMAN, Future's The Real Me, and Rylo Rodriguez's S.K.A.T.E. before the first weekend stream had even landed. It also cracked the #2 slot on the all-genre albums chart, parked only behind Ariana Grande's petal. No rollout. No teaser campaign. Just a feeler that immediately flexed on the entire streaming ecosystem.

The birthday flex

Uzi spent most of Friday making up for a Lollapalooza no-show — blamed on travel and weather chaos — by popping up at Major Lazer's set. Then, like a magician palming aces, the artist slipped an eight-track EP into the void. Maverick "Almost Forever" isn't billed as a project, it's positioned as a preview of the full-length allegedly loaded behind it. The cultural read: after 2024's Eternal Atake 2 left a chunk of the fanbase cold, Uzi needed something to remind the algorithm — and the core listeners — that the pen game is still intact. Dropping an EP on your own birthday is the kind of move only an artist with zero fear of eating a dud would pull. It worked.

Chart arithmetic and the album tease

Catching the milestones was Kurrco on Instagram, who screenshotted the placements in real time. Holding #1 over ICEMAN while Drake's still in heavy rotation is the kind of streaming math that makes labels stop forwarding emails and start dialing. Eight songs, no features pushed as the centerpiece, and still cleared Future's full catalog push? That's not a flex — that's a recalibration of the playing field. And the cover art isn't subtle: text hidden in one of the kids' eyes reads "Album after this." The fanbase clocked it instantly. Translation: the real statement piece is queued up, and this EP was the test balloon. The cynical take — Eternal Atake 2 underwhelmed, projects have stalled before, Uzi delays are practically a genre unto themselves — is fair. But a #1 over Drake's current run isn't luck. It's proof of life.

The clock is ticking

So what are you checking for? Two things. First: does the EP hold its chart gravity past the opening 72-hour dopamine hit, or does ICEMAN and the rest of the field swallow it back into the middle of the pack. Second — and this is the real one — when does the full album announcement actually land. The cover art is begging for it. The fanbase is begging for it. If Uzi's serious about converting this teaser into a proper 2026 LP rollout, the next few weeks are the window. While the rest of the planet wrestles with its next energy reckoning, Uzi's burning through a different kind of fuel — and right now, the tank reads full.