Lil Uzi Vert launched long-awaited “Pink Tape” final Friday, their first album since “Everlasting Atake” launched three years prior. The undertaking sticks to their typical cloud lure strategy to hip-hop, nevertheless they regularly enterprise into steel and rock territory throughout the tracklist.
“Pink Tape” is a colourful and numerous assortment of songs encapsulating Uzi’s mix of infectious melodies, hard-hitting beats and braggadocious lyricism. The album begins with a girl talking the road, “Haha, Uzi, not once more. You’re by no means gonna change.”
The remainder of the album backs up this assertion as Uzi sticks true to their distinctive tastes, mixing them collectively right into a culture-bending undertaking.
Like many 13-year-olds in 2007, Lil Uzi had an “emo part.” They even toured with Fall Out Boy in 2015 as a part of the “Boys of Zummer” tour. This early 2000s rock affect is heavy on the brand new album. One track is a canopy of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” and different songs throughout the latter half of the album characteristic collaborations with bands like Deliver Me The Horizon and Japanese kawaii steel band BABYMETAL.
Japanese and kawaii tradition can also be a staple of Uzi’s fashion. One track entitled “Nakamura” references the Japanese WWE wrestler of the identical title. On “Suicide Doorways” they title drop Goku, evaluating the spikes on his head to theirs. In addition they declare that they “costume Asian” on the track “Died And Got here Again”.
Look is essential to Uzi, with many lyrics from the undertaking being about their fashion. Littered all through the tracklist are mentions of the watches they put on, the jewellery they personal and the automobiles they drive. In “Pluto To Mars” they gloat their “Yellow diamond look[s] like Marge,” evaluating the looks of their diamond to that of the well-known spouse Marge Simpson from the cartoon tv present “The Simpsons.”
On “Countless Vogue”, Uzi and Nicki Minaj name-drop manufacturers that they regularly put on together with Dolce, Gabbana, Burberry and Carhartt, over an interpolation of Eiffel 65’s “I’m Blue,” — a track additionally sampled on David Guetta’s “I’m Good (Blue)” which reached the Billboard High 10 earlier this 12 months.
The album additionally gives options from artists reminiscent of Travis Scott and Don Toliver, growing its enchantment in the direction of a extra mainstream viewers. The most well-liked track on the album, “Simply Wanna Rock”, not too long ago went viral on TikTok. The track is a swap from Uzi’s typical cloud rap fashion and includes a extra four-on-the-floor, digital sound.
Nevertheless, in comparison with different rappers Uzi joined on the 2016 XXL Freshman Cypher, they haven’t branched out a lot from their previous sound. Denzel Curry and Lil Yachty are venturing away from their lure roots in the direction of extra funk and psychedelic rock influences. Many songs on “Pink Tape” really feel repetitive and phoned in, failing to face out within the album’s hour-and-a-half-long tracklist.
“Pink Tape” exhibits Lil Uzi’s energy of their skill to craft a catchy melody and mix collectively genres. Nevertheless, aside from the few ventures and collaborations into the world of rock, the album was missing in points to make it stand out from earlier songs Uzi has launched. This album will seemingly not attain the heights that their previous work has, as their failure to evolve as an artist and unnecessarily lengthy tracklist makes it a slog to take heed to throughout.