Lil Uzi Vert Shoots for the Stars on “Eternal Atake”

Lil Uzi Vert has a cult following for a reason.

The Philadelphia rapper can channel manic hedonism, tragic heartbreak, and profound joy all in one song with a peerless level of charm, and it’s no wonder his fans have been eagerly awaiting a new project since 2017. The road to his newest album, “Eternal Atake,”, has been an absurdly rocky one. In a saga that started in 2018 with the album’s announcement, Uzi has weathered drama with his label, a short-lived retirement from music, and a legal battle with the Heaven’s Gate suicide cult. Now in 2020, to the delight of his long-suffering fanbase, the album is finally here. While it’s nearly impossible to live up to the weighty expectations placed on it, “Eternal Atake” is an equally heavy undertaking of an album that unites every facet of Uzi’s musical personality in a very entertaining, if not fully realized, collection of tracks.

To give you a sense of the sheer scale of “Eternal Atake,” the main album with no deluxe tracks consists of eighteen tracks that total up to an hour of new music. Those eighteen tracks are divided into three sections, each corresponding to one of Uzi’s imagined personalities. The first section is taken by Baby Pluto, a manifestation of Uzi’s aggressive side. Uzi’s Pluto effortlessly glides over this section’s energetic, bass-heavy beats with a cocky charisma, flexing his success and embracing it the whole way. Overall, this is the best section of “Eternal Atake,” a relentless tirade of bangers that feature the most technically skilled rapping of Uzi’s career. One particular standout is the track “Baby Pluto,” which opens the album with a bang as its anthemic chorus launches you off into space.

Renji, Uzi’s softer melodic side turned up to eleven, takes the next six tracks. Uzi has always stood out compared to other melodic autotuned rappers, and on tracks like these, it’s easy to see why. His charisma is undeniable, and even when he croons about heartbreak and lost love, it’s hard not to listen with a smile on your face. “Prices” is the clear standout from this section and probably the best track on the album. Uzi comes through with an infectious energy and a killer hook, and combined with a beat that makes amazing use of a Travis Scott sample, everything comes together to create a transcendental experience.

The final six tracks of the album are taken on by Uzi himself and most closely emulate the sound of his previous albums. This section’s songs are more of the same hazy melodic sound that Uzi has mastered, but while this is Uzi’s section, it differs the most from the others. It is home to the only song with a feature on this album, with R&B singer Syd featuring on “Urgency,” as well as the two “bonus” tracks dropped before the release of “Eternal Atake”: “Futsal Shuffle 2020” and “That Way.” It includes “P2,” a reinterpretation of Uzi’s 2017 hit “XO Tour Llif3,” in which Uzi reconciles with his past while reinventing his most popular song. The interpolation of the classic 2017 track’s beat and flows is strangely effective, even if it is essentially the same song. “That Way” also stands as one of this section’s best tracks, with a Backstreet Boys sample guiding Uzi along a dreamy beat.

For all of the album’s strengths, however, it suffers from its overambition. Uzi made the bold choice to drop 18 songs with only one feature, and it doesn’t always work out. While there are obvious standouts in the tracklist, repetitive lyrics and similar beats make the less memorable songs blend into one another and sound like worse versions of other songs on the project. These songs also tend to overstay their welcome, as if Uzi thinks longer songs will automatically be better. The overambition of “Eternal Awake” also applies to the skits at the end of each track, which tell a loosely connected story about alien abduction that is ultimately pointless and has nothing to do with the actual songs.

Overall, “Eternal Atake” is a fun addition to Uzi’s catalog, even if it isn’t the groundbreaking project many hyped it up to be. But if you found the album disappointing, you’re in luck, as the deluxe version of “Eternal Atake” is essentially two albums for the price of one. Serving as a sequel to Uzi’s previous mixtape “Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World” (2016), the deluxe tracks on “Eternal Atake” make up “LUV vs. the World 2” (2020). Essentially, the deluxe tracks are their own separate project tacked on to the end of an existing album. While its release is strange and convoluted, the “LUV vs. the World 2” half of “Eternal Atake” more than makes up for that, as it consists of tracks that Uzi’s diehard fans have eagerly been waiting for official releases of, only heard previously through low-quality leaks and snippets. Honestly, considering “LUV vs. the World 2” as a mere add-on to “Eternal Atake” is a bit of a slight, as there are many points in which its quality surpasses the original album. “Myron” and “Come This Way” showcase the best of Uzi’s melodic side, with commanding hooks and smooth flows. Uzi enlists Chief Keef on “Bean (Kobe)” for a bouncy tribute to the late basketball legend, “Strawberry Peels” features Young Thug and Gunna on an earth-shattering beat, and “Moon Relate” showcases one of Uzi’s most passionate vocal performances ever.

In a way, “Eternal Atake” and “LUV vs. the World 2” stand at odds with each other. The former features entirely new songs and a bit more experimentation, while the latter is a collection of long-awaited songs that embody Uzi’s classic sound. But their one throughline is their artist. Whether he’s Baby Pluto, Renji, or simply Uzi, Lil Uzi Vert’s iconoclastic take on hip-hop will continue to propel him to the stars.