But while fighting back against establishment forces has sidetracked the careers of many would-be superstars, Lil Uzi has somehow only grown in influence and stature.Īnd he’s currently hitting his highest peak yet: midway through March, his highly anticipated and oft-delayed second studio album Eternal Atake debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and racked up a jaw-dropping 400 million streams, claiming the fourth largest streaming week ever. He makes strange genre-fluid music, releases albums on a haphazard basis and openly feuds with labels, journalists and other artists who have tried to corral him. Lil Uzi Vert, the 25-year-old self-professed rock star from Philadelphia, has rejected convention at every step of his young career. By picking out the remarkable tracks from both “Eternal Atake” and the deluxe version, Uzi would have cut out a plethora of second-rate material and his fans would have received a much more memorable project.The current top hip-hop artist in the world idolizes Marilyn Manson and Hayley Williams, has Super Mario and anime tattoos, wears women’s clothing and stands at a proud 5’5″. While the deluxe album offers some exciting new collaborations, it’s hard not to feel like Uzi could have consolidated both releases. Songs like “Strawberry Peels” and “Yessirskiii” contain vital new energy from featured artists that serve as a refreshing contrast to Uzi’s flows. Where the main album fails, the deluxe edition comes in strong. On March 13, one week after the release of “Eternal Atake,” Uzi dropped the deluxe edition of the album complete with 14 new tracks and a laundry list of features from the likes of Chief Keef, Young Thug, 21 Savage and Future. With “Eternal Atake” finally out for the world to hear, it seemed like there would be no more surprises from the Philly MC.Īs it turned out, Uzi had something else up his sleeve. He shows off his range as a singer in the song “Urgency,” while his talent for creating an infectious hook can be heard in the lively earworm “I’m Sorry.” With Syd as the only feature, the album is carried by Uzi alone. While much of the album remains consistent in this regard, there are several examples of underwhelming trap cuts like “Homecoming” and “Futsal Shuffle 2020,” which are chock-full of obnoxious synth leads and watered down 808s.Īs usual, Uzi’s vocal performance holds up as the strongest aspect of the project. The dynamic instrumentals stand out in the song “Bigger Than Life,” where the ambient guitar melodies and choral harmonies feel like new territory for Uzi’s sound. The production is one of the albums more positive points. However, the reiteration of a single phrase in the place of a hook on songs like “POP” and “You Better Move” come across as jarring and uninspired. Repetition is nothing new for an Uzi track. Somewhere in the hills, prolly where my b**** stay,” he raps in the second verse. My diamonds so cold, in the freezer, my wrist be. Some of Uzi’s most mediocre bars to date can be found on the album’s opening track, “Baby Pluto.” “If it’s beef, don’t partake. The attempted outer space themes and allusions to alien abduction are largely overpowered by the familiar topics of Maybachs, models, and money in the bank. The lyrics and subject matter do little to demonstrate a progression away from even Uzi’s earliest mixtapes. The finished product fails to deliver on originality. Coming off the success of that project, along with the viral promotional single “New Patek” which dropped in fall 2018, there was no telling where he might go with the mysterious “Eternal Atake.”
It has been two and a half years since the release of the Philadelphia native’s first studio album, “Luv Is Rage 2,” which reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Leading up to the surprise release on March 6, it was unclear whether or not “Eternal Atake” would ever see the light of day.ĭespite the high anticipation, Uzi’s sophomore offering proves to be a mostly underwhelming effort, giving us the same sound we’ve heard from him before. Unfortunately for the fans, that was back in 2018. In the months that followed, the artist generated buzz on social media with the release of album art, along with teases to new tracks. The internet blew up on the day that Lil Uzi Vert announced that he had completed work on his second studio album, “Eternal Atake.”
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