How It Was Recorded

Lil Uzi Vert · Album, 2017

Luv Is Rage 2

This is an album-level record: the sources describe how the album as a whole was recorded, not one song. Where a detail belongs to a single song, the row says so.

Songs this record stands for: XO Tour Llif3. We found nothing specific to this song, so this album record is the closest account we have.

Lead vocalMonitoringVerified2Inferred4

What the sources do and do not say

The only source is Sound On Sound's Inside Track with Kesha Lee, which concerns the making of Luv Is Rage 2 and walks through the mix of 'How To Talk'. It never mentions 'XO Tour Llif3', so every row is album-level or general-practice, and the article does not confirm that this song was recorded in the Means Street sessions or with this chain. The 'How To Talk' mix plug-in details were left out as they are specific to another song.

Lead vocal

Lil Uzi Vert

Microphone

Neumann TLM 103

Verified

Rapper's preferred vocal microphone, in Studio B at Means Street, used for most of the album sessions.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model. The TLM 103 is still made.

Neumann U 87

Verified

Vocal microphone used briefly after the Los Angeles trip, because it was the one in Means Street Studio A.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.

Input chain

Avalon VT737SP

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Mic preamp in what Lee describes as the standard Atlanta rap vocal recording chain.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Lee describes the normal Atlanta rap tracking chain in her own words.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Universal Audio Avalon VT-737 Tube Channel Strip

channel strip

Made with Avalon as a model of the VT-737sp channel strip.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Tube-Tech CL 1B

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Compressor in what Lee describes as the standard Atlanta rap vocal recording chain.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Lee describes the normal Atlanta rap tracking chain in her own words.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Softube Tube-Tech CL 1B Mk II

compressor

Made with Tube-Tech as a model of the CL 1B.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Antares Auto-Tune

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Auto-Tune was the first plug-in on the vocal tracks in Lee's sessions with Lil Uzi Vert, apart from an intro voice note, and he hears it in his headphones while singing.

Settings
Retune speed formerly 20 (default); lately set anywhere from 12 to 5

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Lee describes her habitual working method with this artist.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. This is already software, so the stand-in is the thing itself. No product link has been added for it yet.

Monitoring

Kesha Lee

Mix effects

Sennheiser HD 280

InferredUsual practice

Usual practice, not stated for this record: Headphones Lee says she is really comfortable mixing on.

A suggestion, not a documented fact: Lee describes her habitual mixing approach.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Used for listening back, so it is not part of the recorded signal. There is nothing for a plugin to stand in for.

Sources

  1. Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Kesha Lee (Lil Uzi Vert 'How To Talk'), Sound On Sound, 2017-12. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Verified

Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.

Reported

Stated by a reputable secondary source.

Inferred

An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.

Disclosure: plugin links currently go straight to the maker and earn us nothing. If that changes, affiliate links will be marked here. Suggestions are chosen on fit, never on commission, and are kept separate from the recording facts. More.