3 weeks ago
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Last year, Lil Uzi Vert released the Pink Tape, a sprawling album that showcased a vast collection of sounds, from Jersey club to heavy metal. Despite going platinum and featuring the hit “Just Wanna Rock,” many considered the album a disappointment—another example of how boundaries can be pushed only so far before they snap.
Since then, Uzi seems to have been publicly grappling with the response, announcing and then scrapping projects like the Young Thug-inspired Barter 16 and even threatening retirement after releasing another Luv Is Rage album (though they have since walked that back). The most significant response to the Pink Tape appears to be in the music itself; they have just released Eternal Atake 2, which feels like an attempt to produce something more conventional and toned-down. The promo material around the album supports this; the trailer features the rapper being abducted by aliens in 2020, getting their memory erased and being returned to earth, with the insinuation that the Uzi on Earth the past couple of years wasn’t the real Uzi.
So…how did they do?
During an interview with Complex, Uzi expressed a preference for fans to have polarized reactions to their music rather than universal acclaim, saying “I like 50/50 [reactions]. I don't like when everyone says [the music] is good.” So they might find reactions to the new album to be bittersweet. Eternal Atake 2 has not been well received by fans online, with countless comments labeling Uzi as “washed” going around X.
After spending time with the album ourselves, we don’t share the extreme views of some of these comments, but do acknowledge this album isn’t successful and nowhere near peak Uzi. In fact, it may even be a step down from the Pink Tape, which didn’t even make our list of the top 50 albums of 2023.
So, with that caveat, here are five initial takeaways from Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake 2.
English (US) ·