This is Lil Uzi's worst project, and it's one of the best of 2020. Only Lil Uzi.
That headline was clickbait, and if you're reading this, it worked.
Discounting the 2014 Don Cannon The Real Uzi mixtape, Eternal Atake is Lil Uzi's worst project, but that says more about the quality of his past projects than it does the quality of Eternal Atake.
Throughout his two-year music holdout, Eternal Atake earned a mystique as an otherworldly album that the evil Don Cannon was depriving the world of. The jury is still out on Don Cannon's wickedness, but the mystique surrounding Eternal Atake faded upon release.
The album is as otherworldy as advertised, and it's an album that only an artist with the flamboyant personality of Lil Uzi could pull off.
Name one other rapper that raps over gunshots and a looped pinball sample in the same song? They don't even have to do it successfully. Just try to think of one other rapper bold enough to try it and then share it with the world.
Only Lil Uzi.
Those three words, "only Lil Uzi", sums up the highs and lows of Eternal Atake.
Only Lil Uzi can drop 18 songs essentially reciting his Instagram feed, targeted ads included, and keep listeners engaged for over an hour.
Anytime Uzi starts to talk about a non-materialistic item or a woman, he changes the subject as quickly as he introduces it.
Remember that two-year silence from Uzi? Wouldn’t that make for interesting content? Uzi dedicated a total of eight words to it all album.
“Not taking a break, I’m not stopping again,” raps Uzi on “Celebration Station”.
Uzi presenting an interesting topic then diving back into topics of vanity is a common theme of Eternal Atake.
He does it on "Chrome Heart Tags", going from a line like "I'm just tryna maintain, now I'm talking 'bout the fame, fucking with my fucking brain," to how good he is at sex. He does it on "Secure the Bag" when he goes from "I was messed up (I was messed up), they didn't notice" to calling others poor. He does it on "I'm Sorry" when he delivers a personal hook then reverts to luxury brand placements.
Only Lil Uzi can bait fans with content then drown them with brand shoutouts and have it somehow turn into a positive of the album.
Eternal Atake feels limitless. It feels free.
Lil Uzi bouncing from subject to flex and rapid flow to melodic harmony is what makes the album special.
The constant switch up keeps the listener on their toes, despite the subjects never really changing. You never know when Uzi is going to suddenly scream "Balenci'" 15 times straight or when he's going to deliver one word of each bar at a high frequency like on "You Better Move".
Uzi turns Eternal Atake into a rap sci-fi thriller and creates a role only he can play.
There are some scenes in the sci-fi thriller that don't belong.
"P2" and "Urgency" don't feel science-fictional and aren't thrilling. Ironically, Uzi reveals the most and flexes the least on these songs, dispelling the album's most popular content critique.
The main negative of Eternal Atake is the sci-fi thriller theme that Uzi performed so well under.
Before Eternal Atake, Uzi had established himself as the Keanu Reeves of romantic thrillers. Luv Is Rage, Lil Uzi Vert vs. The World, The Perfect LUV Tape, and Luv is Rage 2 all focus heavily on Uzi's love life, with most of his projects featuring love in the title and/or on the cover art.
He didn't dive into his love life deep enough for the album to become saturated with the theme, but he addressed the topic enough for listeners to relate to. Aside from the hook of "I'm Sorry" and the album's two misses, Eternal Atake doesn't have those relatable yet fun moments that made classics tracks like "You Was Right", "Scott and Ramona", "Right Now", and "X".
The iconic repetition of "Brittney turned me to a slut" is replaced by the less iconic "Balenci'" repetition. This seemingly irrelevant comparison is symbolic of the relationship between Eternal Atake and the rest of Uzi's discography.
Eternal Atake is free-flowing and exciting, but as free as its lack of substance allows it to be, it makes the album less memorable than Uzi's previous free-flowing and exciting projects.
Final Score: Low 7/10
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