On the same day that Lil Uzi Vert’s greatly anticipated album, “Eternal Atake” was released, Uzi took to twitter to tease a deluxe version to the album. With only about seven hours passed since the initial albums release, Uzi tweeted at multiple collaborators- the likes of Young Thug, Future, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Lil Baby.
Uzi teasing his “deluxe” version just hours after Eternal Atake’s release
After a week of teasing fans with snippets and being very active on twitter, Lil Uzi Vert released “LUV vs. The World 2” on Friday, Mar. 13, the sequel to his 2016 mixtape that featured hits like ‘Money Longer’ and ‘You Was Right’. In classic Uzi style, he was able to raise the bar with the deluxe version of Eternal Atake and release it as a second album. As Eternal Atake was able to sell 228,000 units in its first week, Uzi is now sitting with 22 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 as of Mar. 25.
LUV vs. The World 2 is a 14 track album with multiple features, which was something that Eternal Atake lacked with its lone feature of Syd. The guest spots on the “deluxe” consist of Chief Keef, 21 Savage, Young Thug, Gunna, Lil Durk, Young Nudy, and NAV. Some fans were curious what happened to the two songs that Uzi teased with A Boogie and Lil Baby, but Uzi cleared that up on twitter noting he had “different plans” for those songs.
The album opens up with ‘Myron’. “Stay so fresh so clean, think they like me. I wear more Supreme than a hypebeast, only blue, no green don’t excite me,” is probably something many fans have been familiar with since the initial snippet Uzi dropped on his Instagram in late 2018. Uzi overly performs with an extremely catchy flow over Oogie Mane’s 808 heavy production. This was already a fan favorite from just the snippet and will go down as a legendary Uzi track.
Another treat for snippet fans was the Chief Keef featured song ‘Bean (Kobe)’ which was partially leaked on Soundcloud in 2017. Of course this version has an update in the production and mixing. “You know I’m ballin’ usual like Kobe,” was something amazing to finally hear in high quality. This was just one of the take over’s on the production side that Pi’erre Bourne was responsible for with its heavy bass and delaying synth that only improves the track.
A fan-made animated cover video for LUV vs. The World 2
Lotus’, ‘Wassup’ and ‘Strawberry Peels’ are some more tracks that highlight the first half of the album. I personally really enjoyed 21 Savage’s hook and verses on ‘Yessirskiii’, which might’ve been expensive for Uzi as 21 mentions he wants “10 times 10 for a verse”. There is this repeating synth sound beneath the jagged drum pattern that Bourne does yet another excellent job on.
The second half of the project was just as strong as the first. Possibly my favorite song on the album is ‘Trap This Way (This Way)”. This was another song that Uzi previewed on his instagram in 2018. I just think the flow Uzi uses is intensely catchy and has been a song I’ve been waiting for awhile now. Bourne kills yet another beat on ‘Money Spread’ which features Young Nudy. I personally think Uzi showcases one of his best hooks yet on this song, and you’ll like it if you appreciate a more rugged style of rap. Young Nudy has one of the funniest verses I have heard in a hot minute as well (which isn’t always a bad thing, people will be quick to call it “trash” but I see it has just having fun).
A song I found somewhat dry is “Come This Way”. This seems to be a fan favorite, but the hook just seems a bit boring to me. The verses don’t seem to offer much either. I wouldn’t skip it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to put the track on.
A great song to end the album was ‘Leaders’ featuring NAV. Nav controlled most of the song with the hook and a verse. An eery aspect to the song is they both refer to their success in their respective careers to cult leaders, hence the name. NAV refers to Jim Jones (Jonestown), and Uzi to Marshall Applewhite (Heaven’s Gate). Be careful looking closer into lyrics, sometimes they can be quite haunting.
Lil Uzi Vert delivered yet again with a stellar project to add to this “Eternal Atake” era. I find this to be one of, if not my favorite Uzi pieces yet. I personally would’ve loved to see a features from Playboi Carti or Lil Tracy somewhere on either of the two projects, as both artists have worked with Uzi before, but I am still pleased with the features that were available. Getting a featured artist on your album is probably easier said than done, and I’m likely just fan-boying over this flaw.
My overall thought is that this collection of songs is something special with the amount of talent shown inside them. I’ve listened to the album at least 20 times by now and it’s only been two weeks. The album gets a 9/10 from me.
Favorite Tracks: Myron, Bean (Kobe), Yessirskiii, Wassup, Strawberry Peels, Trap This Way (This Way), Money Spread, Leaders
Least Favorite Tracks: I Can Show You, Come This Way.
