Lil Uzi Vert Sparks Online Speculation After Dubbing Frank Ocean “CFO”

Lil Uzi Vert has fans on their back foot. The rollout for Eternal Atake 2 was more acclaimed that the album itself. Many felt that the sequel to his 2020 album was massive let down, especially given the hype that it had accrued. Some considered it Uzi Vert’s worst release to date. Now that the dust has settled, though, fans have begun to concoct theories about its release. Lil Uzi Vert compounded these theories on the 11 of November. They posted a photo of Frank Ocean on their Instagram Story.

Frank Ocean is about as elusive as an artist gets. Nobody knows what the singer-songwriter is doing, let alone when he plans to return with a new album. He hasn’t dropped since 2016, and he didn’t even make an appearance on his buddy Tyler, The Creator‘s new release. Lil Uzi Vert posting a photo of Ocean is an odd enough move without context, but the context provided made things more intriguing for fans. Over a photo of Ocean read the next: “CFO.” Lil Uzi Vert didn’t expand on how/why Frank Ocean is a “CFO,” also known “Chief Financial Officer,” but fans have concocted a theory.

The going theory online is that Uzi Vert took a page out of Frank Ocean’s playbook. Fans suspect that the rapper dropped Eternal Atake 2 as a means of fulfilling a record deal. Not because they felt it was a defining piece of work. Ocean employed a similar tactic in 2016, when he released Endless to complete his Def Jam deal, then turned around and dropped Blonde a day later. Uzi Vert’s evocation of Ocean, via the term “CFO,” has led fans to suspect that they are acknowledging Ocean as an influence on their label dealings.

Lil Uzi Vert’s desire to release music more frequently supports this theory. They said as much during a recent interview with Rolling Stone. “Yeah. I’m on go. I’m not even lying,” they explained. “They thought I was lying a few minutes ago. Now the tape is coming, everybody’s like, ‘You weren’t lying.’ They swore I was lying. They were cursing me out.” Time will tell if Uzi Vert decides to sign with another record label and drop, like Frank Ocean did before them.