Lil Uzi Vert dropped his extremely awaited album “Eternal Atake” on Friday, Mar. 6. The album had been teased since the release of Uzi’s last studio album, “Luv Is Rage 2” which was released in Aug. 2017.
“Eternal Atake” is a concept album, detailing Uzi’s UFO abduction and his subsequent journey through outer space. The concept was first shown when Uzi released the albums original cover art, which was a haunting redone version of the Heaven’s Gate UFO religious millenarian cult’s logo. This cover would eventually have to be scrapped though due to two surviving members of the cult threatening to use legal action against Uzi for appropriating their logo. Despite this oddity Uzi went through before releasing “Eternal Atake,” fans anticipation only increased.
Lil Uzi Vert responding to a fan on his alter egos expressed throughout the album.
Lil Uzi Vert is able to fully describe the message that he’s not from earth through “Eternal Atake.“ In the opening track ‘Baby Pluto’(one of his various alter egos), we are welcomed into a heavy trap sound with yet another one of Uzi’s killer classic hook deliveries. “Baby Pluto” is seemingly Uzi’s quick wordplay ego. This ego spits on tracks like ‘Lo Mein,’ ‘POP’ and ‘Homecoming,’ showcasing aggressive flows rapped over vicious trap-flavored beats.
The first 6 or so tracks on the album may be in fact Uzi’s heaviest and most consistently gritty flow of his entire discography. There seems to be a greatly satisfying line in every bar throughout these tracks that just hits close to home.
“Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh, you wanna duel? Blue-Eyes White Dragon I will not lose,” was one I just didn’t expect to be included on the jumpy track “You Better Move” — But, I loved its inclusion.
Regarding the song ‘POP,’ many may find it to be underwhelming with Uzi’s continual of the same word. The hook can even be seen as overdone as well. We hear more of a mumbling flow from Uzi, which some people just don’t like. I however, don’t think it’s always a bad thing. This track can be seen as one of the weaker tracks on the album though, especially with all the gold surrounding it.
One of the most unique things about “Eternal Atake” is every single transition Uzi added in between songs. If you listen to the album in order, you'll be able to experience a “UFO abduction” that puts you in Uzi’s first-hand view of traveling through outer space. Some of my favorite transition effects come between ‘POP’/’You Better Move,’ ‘Bust Me’/’Prices’ and ‘Lo Mein’/’Silly Watch.’ I think this makes the album’s concept come to life and really shows the listener what themes Uzi is trying to portray.
“Renji” or Orenji, which means “orange” in Japanese, is Uzi’s mid album ego where a more melodic Uzi comes out of hiding. Two of my favorite tracks come back-to-back with ‘I’m Sorry’ and ‘Celebration Station.’ These songs remind me of older Uzi, primarily 2016 Uzi. Very catchy hooks with beats that favorably compliment the vocal performance. Uzi doesn’t seem to waste a second on either of these tracks. I can’t help but play both multiple times everyday.
Another great Renji track is ‘Chrome Heart Tags,’ produced by fellow artist Chief Keef. This track features a very slick and eery beat over Uzi’s up and down pitched vocals. It’s the perfect song to represent the album’s spacey theme. ‘Prices’ is another song that's especially impressive production wise. It contains a sample from Travis Scott’s ‘Way Back’ that’s amazingly satisfying. “Hickory dickory dock, VVS all in my clock,” is yet another bar where we see Uzi flexing his extremely luxurious lifestyle.
The last alter ego seems to be Lil Uzi Vert himself. He in fact mentions himself in some of the songs as “the one and only.” ‘Venetia’ is an extremely catchy song where Uzi expresses how “We got some new bands, treating these Diors like it just old Vans.” Excellent production is displayed as usual throughout this alter ego’s part. The song ‘P2’ essentially ends the album besides the two bonus tracks that were released as singles (‘Futsal Shuffle’ and ‘That Way’.) P2 might sound very familiar to something you may have heard all year in 2017. The track is a “part 2” to the hit song ‘XO Tour Llif3.’ The tweet below was my exact reaction to P2.
Lil Uzi Vert has successfully delivered yet another great album. I wouldn’t say it's his best work, but it was still a great album. You get variety when listening to Eternal Atake and the outer space UFO abduction theme makes it even better. The production is top notch, along with some of Uzi’s best vocal deliveries. Some hiccups may be found in tracks like ‘POP’ like redundancy of word play, but if you look past some of these flaws you’ll be in for a great hip-hop album. “Eternal Atake” gets an 8/10 from me.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Baby Pluto,’ ‘I’m Sorry,’ ‘Celebration Station,’ ‘Prices,‘ ‘Venitia,’ ‘That Way’
Least Favorite Tracks: ‘POP,’ ‘Secure The Bag’
Stay tuned for the review of the deluxe version of “Eternal Atake - LUV vs. the World 2” which is an additional 14 tracks to the initial album.
