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.
Lil Uzi has heard the nitrous oxide chatter
On the Eternal Atake 2 opener “We Good,” Uzi sets the stakes of the project, immediately touching on some of the topics that have plagued the non-musical aspects of their career in recent years. They rap: “Yeah, new contract, I read mines/ They said I was lost/ They thought I was a dead guy/ I was on that NOS.”
Regardless of whether or not Uzi’s decision to backtrack on retirement teases was due to their label situation or not, they have cleared up any threats of leaving the rap game with EA 2. It was just over a year ago that Uzi said: " I’m dropping Luv Is Rage 3 and Luv Is Rage 3 will be my last album.” Luv is Rage 3 never arrived, but EA 2 is here. Uzi also addresses their recent fascination with NOS, also known as nitrous oxide. After a clip emerged of them inhaling from a balloon in the studio, fans were quick to point out the dangers of the habit. Uzi never really apologizes on the track, but they have made it clear they’re back and rapping after scaring their fans with these various statements and actions. —Will Schube
The line “I'm runnin' through shit like I'm not even really tryna make a hit” basically explains the album
As we mentioned before, the response to Eternal Atake 2 has been...rough, to say the least. One line from the album, however, stands out. In the track “Lyft Em Up,” which features a wandering piano line, Uzi adopts a double-time flow and raps: “I'm runnin' through shit like I'm not even really tryna make a hit.”
There is something about the line that describes the low stakes nature of this release. (It also might explain why the album, especially the first half, is so rap heavy.) It does seem like Uzi is moving through the motions and skating on the success of the original Eternal Atake throughout its sequel. Artistic growth should always be encouraged, but here, Uzi mistakes random, rushed choices with ingenuity, thinking they can substitute lyrical and musical innovations by throwing tons of ideas at the wall and seeing what sticks. —Will Schube
“Chips and Dip” is maybe the most interesting track on the album
Despite the relative shortcomings of Eternal Atake 2, there are still a few moments that frame Uzi as the innovative stylist they’ve been celebrated as in the past. These moments hint at the meteoric talent still being conjured—though on a smaller scale than ever before.
Take “Chips and Dip,” which features the most interesting production on the album. The synths are heavily distorted and the vocals are uniquely layered. The beat is firmly in the Playboi Carti/Yeat school of rage music, making clear that Uzi still listens to what’s popping off, even if they don’t always follow it. Though the song’s lyrics don’t match the intensity of the production, they still fire off some clever bars, like when they sounds disgusted by the car their opp drives. They rap:
“How the fuck he my enemy and his main car is a '63?/ And I heard that that bitch a lease and your main broad drive a Mitsubishi.”
Elsewhere, on “Black Hole,” they showcase the freewheeling spirit that is arguably Uzi at their best. The synths glimmer with a metallic sheen, cymbals that were stolen from an orchestra crash against Uzi’s voice. They rap:
“I just was broke/ Now I'm getting cash and these niggas all know/ I been fucking hoes way before I had these shows/ She tryna fuck the gang like this shit the Bang Bros.”
They sound like an alien tapping in from a very, very faraway planet. And though it’s by no means serious, Uzi feels at ease in their experimentation. Whereas most of the album can feel pieced together randomly, the disparate ideas that encompass black hole link together, proving that Uzi can still bring together a ton of different ideas to present a breathtaking collage. —Will Schube
There is only one feature…and it’s not really a feature
There is one listed feature on Eternal Atake 2 and in classic Uzi fashion, it’s an absolute head scratcher. The Philly rapper recruited boy band Big Time Rush for a track called “The Rush,” and they only appear in the intro. After the group tells Uzi they are not Big Time Rush because the band is Big Time Rush, they cede the spotlight to the rapper. Uzi doesn’t take the band’s words to heart, though, as the chorus consists of Uzi claiming: “Bitch, I'm Big Time Rush.” So, who is Big Time Rush? The group started as a fictional group in Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush, before becoming an actual band, whose last record was Another Life. It’s unclear how Uzi is affiliated with the band, or why they appear on the album at all. But, here we are talking about it. So, in that sense, the feature did its job. ——Will Schube
It’s not clear why this is Eternal Atake 2
Say what you want about the first Eternal Atake, but there was a clear thematic throughline; the album was organized in a neat way, dividing the three Uzi personas: There was Baby Pluto—their spitting side; Renji, which featured a more melodic approach; and Lil Uzi Vert, a blend of both. However, during my initial listens of EA 2, it’s tough to see if Uzi adapted that concept or improved upon it in any meaningful way. If there’s a throughline, I haven’t found it yet.
In fact, the most notable callbacks to Eternal Atake seem to come from the marketing material, which echo elements from the first album, including the heavy gates imagery. (Members from the group are still pissed about this FYI.)
During an interview with Jazzy, Uzi said they wanted to “make a bunch of cool songs” and not music to that can "confuse" fans. And there are a handful of cool tracks on here, including the single, “Chill Bae,” which is a bop, the aforementioned “Chips and Dips” and the very funny love song “PerkySex.” But those are rare moments for an album that, as of now, is too generic to stand out. If Uzi wanted to make something lower in stakes, that’s fine, but maybe don’t drag Eternal Atake down in the process.—Dimas Sanfiorenzo