After one week of cryptic, alien-themed promotional content, rapper and singer-songwriter Lil Uzi Vert released his fourth full-length album, Eternal Atake 2. The album serves as a sequel to Eternal Atake, which received high praise from music publications such as Pitchfork, and fans. Featuring 16 tracks, the album keeps Lil Uzi Vert’s distinct sound but lacks quality lyrics, production and artistry.
The opening song “We Good,” leaves listeners struggling to find the beat and includes mediocre word play with the lyrics: “Smallest car was a Redeye/Smoking gas, don’t cough/ But it gave me the red eyes.”
The following song, “Light Year (Practice),” includes fast snares and heavy bass beats. The song lures listeners into believing the album can get better, but “Meteor Man” quickly shoots this idea down. Again, the beat appears nowhere to be found and the ad-libs seem like they exist to fill the void caused by lackluster production instead of enhancing the track.
“Paars In The Mars” and “She Stank” both include questionable and lazy lyrics, making the two tied for the worst songs on the album.
“Conceited” offers a break from Lil Uzi Vert’s cocky lyrics and shows some vulnerability with the lyrics, “You only call me when it’s all bad/I fall for you and I ain’t call back/See, falling in love with you is something that I should’ve never did.”
“PerkySex” includes more interesting, experimental production than the earlier songs. Yet lyrics like, “Perky, Percocets/ I keep tryna quit, but I keep comin’ back/ Let’s just have some Perky, Perky sex,” prove Lil Uzi Vert’s attempts at clever wordplay lack creativity.
After several back-to-back tracks featuring similar sounding instrumentation, “Chill Bae” offers a refreshing change. The production remains simple but cohesive and Lil Uzi Vert’s rapping flow makes the chorus catchy.
The album concludes with “Space High,” which acts as a weak closer. In the song, Lil Uzi Vert shows awareness about their average lyrics with the line, “They say that my lyrics ain’t lyricism,” but instead of trying to prove the critics wrong, they continue to repeat similar lyrics used throughout the album.
While Eternal Atake 2 included some attempts at introspection and one successful attempt at versatility with “Chill Bae,” the rest of the album falls short. With mediocre word play, boring lyrics and messy production, Eternal Atake 2 seems more like a Lil Uzi Vert parody album than a real one.
1 alien out of 5
