The album Lil Uzi Vert admitted was mediocre: “The music is tolerable”
Lil Uzi Vert has a cult following, and they’re well aware of the constant demand for new music. So often in the Philly rapper’s career, leaks and snippets have caused a frenzy among their fanbase, but those same leaks that people get excited about can also be why there are setbacks when it comes to album releases.
This was the case in 2020 with Eternal Atake. Uzi released their second studio album on May 20th that year, just before the world went into lockdown due to the pandemic. Around a year after it dropped, they admitted the album didn’t live up to their usual standards, blaming leaks and the pressure they received.
“This time I’m actually taking my time,” they told Fat Joe on Instagram Live. “People like, ‘What do you mean you’re taking your time? Uzi, it took you two years to drop your last album.’ Well, it took me two years because when I was gonna drop it like I usually drop it, all of my music got leaked. And that’s not a problem… I have no problem with putting out a leaked song because the world is bigger than a leak, but sometimes that shit is personal, Joe.
“Sometimes it’s like, you sitting there and you put so much time and effort and sweat. And I don’t even get drunk, and you get drunk and you make these fucking songs, and you do all that hard work just for a 12-year-old hacker to fucking leak your music.”
Uzi believed the album was mediocre after feeling like they had to release an album to keep the people happy. “It’s just like damn, so my feelings inside of me I had to start over,” they said. “And just the press of time and everything and, ‘C’mon Uzi, you need to drop,’ and I didn’t want it to go on three years, so I dropped this album and the music is tolerable. It’s not, ‘Oh my god, this is shit’ — the music is definitely there, it’s good production.
“But honestly, from Lil Uzi Vert we expect a fucking star, moon, spaceships and the high above. We expect everything from him because I’m already giving off this persona. I have a fucking pink diamond in the middle of my head, Joe. Everything is supposed to be going fucking diamond.”
Uzi dropped Eternal Atake on Atlantic Records. The album was a chart success, debuting number one on the Billboard 200 with 288,000 units in its first week and becoming their second LP to top the chart following Luv Is Rage 2 in 2017. It included big singles like ‘Futsal Shuffle 2020’ and ‘That Way’ and remained in the top spot for two weeks following a deluxe version.
They released Pink Tape three years later, but attempted to make up for Eternal Atake with a sequel, Eternal Atake 2, in 2024. Despite their initial thoughts on the first one, Uzi looked back fondly years later, despite the challenges they faced.
“The first Eternal Atake was perfect, and I didn’t have the team I have today, and everything got leaked and everyone had it already,” they told Complex. “And it was just the songs that the artistry I was trying to be on, I was trying to push out a narrative that I really didn’t care, and that wasn’t the case.”