Eternal Atake 2

A mysterious trailer emerged the week before the release of Uzi’s fourth studio album, <i>Eternal Atake 2</i>. “On March 6, 2020, Lil Uzi Vert mysteriously vanished,” it narrated. “While it was never confirmed what happened that day, the faithful believed it to be the fulfillment of a long awaited prophecy… Eternal Atake.” Fans will recognise that fateful date in 2020 as the release of their mythic second album, <i>Eternal Atake</i>—a high-stakes concept album that not-so-subtly referenced the Web 1.0 aesthetics of Heaven’s Gate. (The religious group’s surviving members threatened the rapper with legal action over appropriation of their logo.) The project has taken on cult-classic status in the years since, representing Uzi’s peak as both a futuristic trendsetter and a shockingly great rapper. Nearly half a decade later, Uzi’s still light-years ahead: “My life amazing and I been that n***a, but fuck all that, let’s fast-forward,” they chirp on “Black Hole”. The Philly rapper’s throwing curveballs on <i>Eternal Atake 2</i>, whether that’s casually dropping the best Drake song in years (the Chipmunks-sampling “Chill Bae”) or yelping “Bitch, I’m Big Time Rush!” on a song called “The Rush” which also features Big Time Rush. “I don’t think that they ready,” Uzi repeats like a mantra on “Light Year (Practice)” before spitting a verse like a machine gun just to remind you they can. Uzi hinted in 2023 at the prospect of retiring from music to make clothes, but for now there’s still new galaxies to be explored.