The Shoemaker Bugle

By David Gomez

Eternal Atake, the new album from rapper Lil Uzi Vert, acts like the tumultuous catharsis of a prolific rapper with eighteen songs and 62 minutes, silenced by powers entirely out of his control. One moment is smashing and the next is slippery, a place where a jarringly saccharine sample of the 1999 hit “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys coexists with a jittery, steamrolling track designed around the music from the Space Cadet 3D Pinball video game from Microsoft Windows.

This album has been around for a long time. Artist Lil Uzi Vert went to battle with his Generation Now label bosses DJ Drama and Don Cannon over his contract after releasing his double-platinum major-label debut album Luv Is Rage 2 in 2017. He beefed up with Rich the Kid in the streets of Philadelphia, cut off his trademark dreadlocks, left music, returned to the fold, and forged a new relationship with Jay-Roc Z’s Nation label, all without missing a release date.

A rap album released to such fervent expectations is hard to recall, let alone one that lived up to those expectations. With a cohesiveness, sleek concept, and performance that justifies every ounce of hype, Eternal Atake is Lil Uzi Vert’s best album yet.