Since Lil Uzi Vert’s career began in the mid-2010s, they were known as a pioneer of the SoundCloud era, a time when many young rappers would post their DIY tracks to the platform in hopes of blowing up. Uzi –– alongside artists like Playboi Carti and Lil Pump –– was one of those aspiring artists to gain buzz, and dropping early projects like “Luv Is Rage” and “Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World” allowed them to quickly gain a cult following. They then attained legendary status with their first mainstream release, “Luv is Rage 2,” which featured hits like “XO Tour Llif3” and “20 Min” on its deluxe edition.
In the years since, Uzi’s main challenge has been living up to the hype they had built early on in their career. “Eternal Atake,” which was released in 2020 after years of delay due to leaks and label issues, fell short. “Pink Tape” in 2023 was a mixed bag of 26 tracks, the quantity and quality of which pointed to Uzi being creatively drained. Their newest release, “Eternal Atake 2,” is a diluted version of its predecessors, lacking strong performances, catchy production and thematic cohesion.
Uzi’s vocals feel redundant as they repeat phrases in excess through choruses. In “The Rush,” Uzi repeats “Bitch, I’m Big Time Rush” 17 times, and say “Wock” 95 times across “Paars In The Mars.”
They modulate the pitch of their voice across the album, making for horrendous vocal performances on tracks like “Meteor Man” and “Goddard Song.” Their ear for beats also appears to be lost, as many tracks rely on bland trap instrumentals that sound like they could be sourced from YouTube. Despite the album featuring production credits from Trgc, Lil 88, Brandon Finessin and Charlie Puth, songs like “Lyft Em Up,” “She Stank” and “Black Hole” feature generic space synths and basic trap rhythms that sound like “Eternal Atake” leftovers. Even with Mike Dean — the mastermind producer and engineer behind Travis Scott and Kanye West — mixing and mastering the album, tracks like “Chips and Dip” and “Mr Chow” suffer from lousy mixing and blown-out 808s that ruin both.
Unlike “Eternal Atake,” which had skits and transitions interspersed throughout the album to give it a more seamless feel, this new project lacks cohesion. The first half leans into rapping, while the second half returns to Uzi’s melodic style; both portions feel uninspired and were executed better on earlier projects.
One highlight on the album is “Space High,” produced by Trgc, known for producing hits for the artist Yeat. The quirky, offbeat production allows Uzi’s childlike personality to shine through the album’s monotony, dropping lines like “Hi, how are you doing? I’m Lil Uzi” and even poking fun at their past accusations of Satanism: “They think I’m the devil, please don’t put your heart in it.” The song serves as a good closer, alluding back to what once made the artist special.
Another solid track — and perhaps the best on the album — is “Chill Bae.” Here, Uzi experiments with R&B, stepping away from the bass-heavy, spacey beats of the album’s other offerings and opting for a catchy, pitched-up sample reminiscent of a deep cut from a Drake album. Uzi delivers their most catchy chorus melody, an earworm that gets stuck in your head. They also offer one of their best verses that feels genuinely heartfelt: “Tears on my face, they droppin’ and they pour right down / ‘Cause I know what you really are, he ain’t know right now / And I know I’ll buy you anything in store right now / Man, our love, yeah, it feels like a chore right now, yeah.”
Besides those two tracks, Uzi struggles to replicate their past success rather than evolve. “Luv Is Rage 2” pushed new-generation rap forward and “Eternal Atake” showcased their own growth as a rapper. “Pink Tape” was a disorganized attempt at experimentation, and now, “Eternal Atake 2” comes across as a lazy bid to relive their glory days. Uzi needs to stop chasing the influence they once had eight years ago and focus on evolving their sound.
Contact Antonio Johri at [email protected].