6/10
Favorite Track: "Prices" Least Favorite Track: "Pop"
In 1974 a woman named Bonnie Nettles and a man named Marshall Applewhite began a UFO religious cult dubbed: Heaven’s Gate. One might wonder what that information has to do with Lil Uzi Vert’s new studio album Eternal Atake. The answer is: not enough. A few months after Uzi released his debut album, Luv is Rage 2, he began releasing cryptic messages via social media about his forthcoming project. Almost all of these messages contained some kind of nod to either space, the Heaven’s Gate cult, or something of similar nature. These posts persisted for almost three years, in the midst of Uzi’s battle with his label that was supposedly refusing to let him put out music. Fast forward to the present day, where Uzi is now with Jay Z’s Roc Nation and we have finally been able to sink our teeth into this much anticipated project. After listening to Eternal Atake, my biggest problem with the album is the scarcity of most of what I wanted from the album. Despite the immense story that preceded the release of this project, it is topically sparse. There is not one mention of Uzi’s problems with his former label on EA. There is not even one mention of Uzi’s quarrel with Rich the Kid on EA, but what is most disappointing is the fact that there is barely even thematic presence or cohesion implemented within EA. For a project that’s three year wait time was defined by its relation to central themes of space, cult activity, and exterrestrials, that angle is barely even present within EA’s music. In fact we get nods to space everywhere within this project’s ecosystem but where it matters: the music. The album cover, the name, and even the promotional trailer for this project make it out to be some conceptual, intergalactic, journey, but the closest thing we get to that on this album are bookended interludes that tell the story of Uzi getting into a UFO, Uzi being in space, and Uzi getting off of the UFO. That’s literally it. Is EA a bad album? No. Are there good tracks? Yes. Did it live up to it’s unprecedented expectations? No. The project had big shoes to fill and large enough feet to fill them. Uzi is just short, and happened to grab the wrong size from the top shelf.