The day is finally here. Lil Uzi Vert dropped off his highly anticipated Eternal Atake album Friday morning (March 6). The years-in-the-making project hit streaming services without any warning from Uzi, as most fans expected the LP to arrive next week.
The Philly native has been deeply entrenched in label issues with Generation Now, but with the help of Roc Nation, Eternal Atake is now available for public consumption. Uzi welcomes listeners to his universe with 18 tracks spanning just over an hour.
EA is kept mostly feature-free, outside of an appearance from Syd on “Urgency.” The album’s pair of singles, “Futsal Shuffle 2020” and the Backstreet Boys-interpolating “That Way,” appear as bonus tracks to close out the sophomore effort.
After traveling to Pluto on Uzi’s spaceship, here are all of Eternal Atake‘s tracks, ranked.
18. “Secure the Bag”
The ominous “Secure the Bag” doesn’t seem to fit in amongst the rest of EA. The only “Secure the Bag” from Uzi’s catalog we recognize is 1017 vs The World‘s collaboration with Gucci Mane.
17. “Silly Watch”
“Silly Watch” was repeatedly teased as “40 Glock” when Uzi fan pages got their hands on the viral snippet. Either way, the piano-driven production doesn’t pop enough to stand out from the best Uzi’s sophomore effort has to offer.
16. “Bust Me”
Uzi links up with Bugz Ronin once again on the production side. The “Money Longer” rapper gets candid about a few experiences he’s had with love. He ends the chorus with a thought about his looks, “And when you got this type of money, you are never ugly.” The most memorable part of the record comes at the tail-end in the form of a cinematic skit, as Uzi departs from the alternate world of Eternal Atake.
15. “Homecoming”
Don’t let him fool you, Lil Uzi Vert pays attention to the sports world more than you think. Whether it was name-dropping former NFL running back T.J. Duckett on “Money Mitch” or bringing up the drama that forced Lakers star Anthony Davis from New Orleans to Los Angeles here, Uzi shrewdly tosses in a sports reference to perk your ears up every now and then. “Homecoming” serves as a sharp closer to Uzi leaving his Baby Pluto persona.
14. “Celebration Station”
The happy vibes continue into track No. 8 of EA. Can’t you just see Uzi hitting them with the shoulders to this uptempo production? Part of his genius is being able to blend the hip-hop world with the dance community together at one party.
13. “Prices”
Uzi already thanked Travis Scott for clearing the criminally underrated “way back” sample earlier this week, and the faint cashmere cat horns showed up in “Prices.” He warbles about his lavish lifestyle and designer crave with his “price” going through the roof. Uzi even carves out his own nursery rhyme on the exuberant second verse, “Hickory, dickory, dock, VVS all in my clock.”
12. “Bigger Than Life”
Built around tinny guitar strings and thumping 808s, Uzi calls on a roaring choir we’d hear from Kanye West’s Sunday Service, which creates a more chaotic environment than most could handle, but the 25-year-old impressively keeps his cool and holds the record together with ease.
11. “Venetia”
Fans that grew up on Luv is Rage Uzi are going to attach themselves to “Venetia.” The frenetic beat sounds like Uzi’s speeding away in a race — quite possibly still running from Nardwuar. After explaining that he’s from outer space, the 25-year-old rapper’s supreme confidence bleeds through, as he has no doubt that he can turn a gay girl straight if he wanted to.
10. “I’m Sorry”
The transition into his “Kenji” persona. Uzi pens a bubbly apology record to his ex-girlfriend. He opens up to show a more affectionate side, which tugs at your heartstrings at the same rate as one of his darker desolate ballads piercing your soul.
9. “Urgency” Featuring Syd
A serene opening instrumental that will put you at peace even on your darkest days. Syd of The Internet is sprinkled in as the lone feature to make the EA cut. Uzi lusts over a certain lover, but just shy of his three-minute voyage, a ring from a phone call seems to cut everything short and wake him up from the dream scenario.
8. “Chrome Heart Tags”
A hypnotizing beat that will have you slipping into a trance, which is actually produced by Chief Keef under his TURBO alias. Uzi is back to boasting about his coldhearted ways as he rhymes to close out track No. 10, “Yeah, I pick the b—h up, and I made her walk back.”
7. “POP”
When fans happily pressed play on EA this morning, the innovation displayed on “POP” is what the Uzi faithful hoped for. The Playboi carti-esque ad-libs combined with Uzi’s keen sense of lyricism is what makes him a bona fide superstar in rap’s ever-changing landscape.
6. “Lo Mein”
When your Chinese food order could double as the title to one of your Eternal Atake favorites, you know Uzi did something special in the booth. “Up, up, uppity” the Philly native goes, as his rhymes refuse to tire while carrying the track across the finish line. One could say he channeled his inner-Peyton Manning, who he name-drops on the opening verse.
5. “Futsal Shuffle 2020”
Lil Uzi set his Eternal Atake plan in motion with “Futsal Shuffle 2020,” as we couldn’t enter the new decade without some new Uzi. The dance-heavy track was gobbled up by fans and landed in the top 5 on the final Hot 100 chart of 2019.
4. “P2”
A sequel to Lil Uzi Vert’s mammoth “XO TOUR Llif3″ hit from 2017. The 25-year-old implements the same flow utilized in the original, and even touches on the same subject matter of fractured relationships and drowning in his fame. Props to Uzi for facing the daunting task of measuring up against his biggest smash to date, even if it will never top the original.
3. “You Better Move”
An early fan-favorite off the album. Uzi smoothly finds his pocket blanketing a beat that could sound familiar to Windows users, as pointed out by Genius, “You Better Move” samples a twitching effect found in Space Cadet 3D Pinball. The Philly native’s rhymes sound so effortless that he could say he was focused on something totally different in the booth while recording and it would be believable. Also, he gets automatic bonus points for a Yugioh! Blue-Eyes White Dragon reference.
2. “That Way”
Lil Uzi achieved the improbable task of having the Backstreet Boys approve the use of their 1999 hit “I Want It That Way” interpolated into EA‘s second single. “That Way” drove the hype for his album into overdrive, if that was even possible, as he channeled the boy-like energy that made his fans fall in love with him during his SoundCloud rise.
1. “Baby Pluto”
Uzi introduces listeners to his Baby Pluto alter-ego and his Eternal Atake universe with album opener “Baby Pluto.” The 25-year-old dubbed the track to be the best he’s created under the newfound alias, and the fiery tune indeed lives up to the hype, which is sure to have you replaying the track a few times before moving into the rest of the project.
