Lil Uzi Vert, a Philly-based emo rapper, has released his long-awaited project Eternal Atake, a sci-fi themed album featuring hit singles “Fusal Shuffle” and Backstreet Boys inspired “That Way”. Following the release of 2017’s Luv is Rage 2, Eternal Atake brings a new sound from Uzi, featuring production from the likes of Chief Keef and TM88. In this piece, I give my opinion on Uzi’s newest work.
I should preface this interview by stating I’m not a fan of Lil Uzi Vert. His music has, for the most part, failed to appeal to me on a deeper level. I understand how many of these songs can be well-received in party scenes, but I value lyricism over production. Despite this view, I downloaded this album and listened to it multiple times to give my honest take on Eternal Atake.
As somebody who enjoys songs from the late XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD, I find myself struggling to enjoy what should be another fantastic inclusion into the emo-rap genre. The quality is there, but I find that the package this album delivers as a whole is just more of the same from Uzi. While I did enjoy a few tracks ("Baby Pluto", "Futsal Shuffle", and "That Way") I couldn’t fully immerse myself into this world Uzi tries to create.
Most of the production is fantastic. However, none of it lends to the sci-fi theme that this album seems to be centered around; except for “You Better Move”, which samples the classic Microsoft pinball game commonly seen on early-mid 2000’s computers. Even with this track I found myself immensely uncomfortable as the sample drowned out and overpowered Uzi’s vocals. To me, the mix on this song should have been reevaluated as I began to feel what I can only sum up as sensory overload. Lastly, I found the sampling of “XO TOUR Llif3” on “P2” to be incredibly lazy and unoriginal. I understand this is an homage and continuation of the song, but the vast similarities in production are all too apparent. Many other rap artists have had wonderful sequels to hits they’ve produced; but to me, this one falls flat.
While a majority of his discography is lacking in features, I felt that this project could have benefited from a different sound at certain points. Uzi, while possessing a unique style, tends to sound repetitive on sequential playbacks and a few extra guest features could have helped to create layers of interesting flows and melodies.
This new Uzi project is interesting. While I can lose myself in the production, I find the all-too-similar sounding track list to take me out of what should be an immersive experience. The issue I have with Uzi is the lack of substance and replay-ability that his projects tend to have. With Uzi, there are always a few take-away songs that I can listen to anytime, but the issue is that there just aren’t enough hits in this one project for me to call the overall package anything better than average.
I have to give this album a 5/10; an average rating on my scale.
The redeeming factor for me was the quality of production which helped to elevate what I can only call subpar lyricism. Uzi has incredibly unique vocals but the substance just isn’t there. With some solid features and a story that’s worth telling, I feel that Uzi’s next project could be worth looking out for.
Eternal Atake is currently available on all music streaming platforms.
Rating: 5/10- Average
Written By: Michael Miserendino
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