Lil Uzi Vert - Pink Tape MIXTAPE REVIEW
Yes, it’s a mixtape. Cry about it.
This is the Fourth Commercial Mixtape from Trap legend turned experimental weirdo, Lil Uzi Vert.
Amazing Cover, btw. 10/10
Uzi has finally returned from a 3 year hiatus which concluded with the release of his and Future’s collaborative Pluto x Baby Pluto tape which wasn’t exactly too memorable and left a lot of fans disappointed as the release of this tape was so highly anticipated. Earlier in the same year however he dropped 2 amazing studio albums in back to back weeks that cemented him as a superstar in mainstream music, although a lot of the reviews and receptions from critics and fans alike were pretty mixed for those 2 records. I loved them though so when Uzi finally announced the Pink Tape was dropping at the back end of June I was so excited.
I’ll start off by saying that the tracklist is of course WAY too long. Like ridiculously long and very bloated. But this is a rare occasion where I’m going to cut an artist some slack for this because they are clearly making room for experimentation and that is what Uzi has done here. It’s a 23 track project with 3 bonus track totalling to 26, And we’ve got some classic bubblegum trap Uzi here, we also get some new era rage beats alas Playboi Carti, and Ken Carson even produced the beat for x2, as well as some pop songs like Days Come and Go and Endless Fashion, with some Metal and Rock cameos which includes an anime outro as if Lil Uzi Vert is the name of a 2006 TV Tokyo production. It’s truly all over the place and so there has to be some respect gained because of that. However, how is the music actually turning out? Pretty decent in my eyes.
Flooded The Face may be a track recorded in 2017 but jesus does this song do it’s job, the nostalgic “Britney” vocals to start the song, the anthemic synths in the beat and some growling bass make the instrumental here a serious earworm. Uzi delivers playful bars yet still makes the moment feel significant, and the hook has been stuck in my head for the near 2 weeks it has been now since this thing dropped. In my opinion this is what peak trap music should be. Something that really sticks with you. We get a crazy switch up in styles with the next track, Suicide Doors, which sounds like Uzi’s attempt at Stop Breathing from Carti’s Whole Lotta Red. That doesn’t mean it’s bad though because this track is the complete opposite, it’s metal flavoured guitars and insanely hard hitting 808s mean that Uzi is given the platform to express a demonic energy that for me is displayed perfectly, these really weird groans, similar to those of a zombie in some cheesy horror film, but the main thing is these nutty vocal inflections that are really going psychotic at certain points, namely when he hits the “Suicide doors, suicide whores tryna fuck me for the fameeeeeeee, i just wanna CRAAAAAAAAAAAAA” it really hits so hard in that moment, it’s tough to even put into words. We do get a slight dip in quality with Aye which for me has a really great beat but a really underwhelming feature from Travis Scott and not much done from Uzi on the vocal end either. We return to form with Crush Em however, which is again delivering on the instrumental front with this great beat switch from this eerie beat with bouncy 808s and spooky strings into this synth line that is built to start moshes at Rolling Loud. It’s literally perfect for that reason. Uzi does nothing lyrically but the energy is there and that is all that matters. We get more metal guitars on Amped but this track is a lot more contained than the previous rage track, Although I would argue the consistency of Uzi’s vocal variety is a lot more impressive on this track. x2 is the Ken Carson beat I was mentioning and it is so fire. I don’t even know how to articulate what I can hear in this beat but all I will say is there’s like 50 different sounds flying in every direction. Uzi also delivers a really memorable and catchy refrain and drops a little subliminal on the instagram account UziRareUpdates who got butthard asf in the aftermath of this song’s release. Died and Came Back is a way more relaxed moment, the synthetic beat is nice and Uzi brings some energy on the hook even if the lyrics about Rigatoni not being spaghetti are incredibly dumb and pointless, I more love the flow and melodies on the verse, Uzi sounds so undeniably cool on this performance, and the way he works the Luv Is Rage references in is really cool as well. Spin Again is also a synth heavy beat but Uzi is way more reserved and dejected on this beat, he keeps a cold flow across the track that comes across really well though. He also says his girl looked like Ice Spice which is cool. That Fiya is probably the worst track thus far though as Uzi’s really frustrating high vocal register gets very frustrating about halfway through the track and he just keeps going. It’s annoying. I Gotta however is a celebratory anthem, it’s triumphant synth/horns and unpredictable 808 patterns make this beat genuinely fantastic and it is without a doubt the best Uzi has ever rode a beat in his career. I’m confident in saying that.
We take a bit of a dip in form as we get the worst track on the record, that being Endless Fashion with Nicki Minaj, a ridiculously lazy and boring sample flip of Eiffel 65’s I’m Blue, and yes it’s as bad as you can imagine. Uzi’s singing is annoying and this is by far the worst Nicki Minaj contribution to any track I’ve heard, the MAGA bar is embarrassing and overall her verses and contributions to the hook are filled with struggle bars. Complete skip. Mama I’m Sorry is a decently written song about Uzi feeling lost due to his drug consumption and still thinking of his Mum which is cool, but the vocals are boring and the beat is pretty lifeless too. I don’t get much out of it at all.
All Alone is a lot more poppy than most songs thus far but I really enjoy the light hearted beat on this one and I love the hook on this thing about his moneyline being for his Grandson, that’s a cute moment. Nakamura brings the energy back as we get a sample of Shinzuke Nakamura of the WWE’s intro music which Uzi elevates to a new level, It’s genuinely fantastic to hear such a creative idea brought to light in such a successful way. Uzi’s energy on this track is also unmatched. Next is Just Wanna Rock which I still love, it’s his worst mainstream hit single but it’s still great as it’s feeding off of raw energy alone which it has in abundance. The second hook and drop still hit hard to this day. We then get an absolute mindblowing moment on Fire Alarm as we get a french house sample from a Justice song and a slow mo, toned down Uzi performance that feels demonic but also provocative, another song that is built flawlessly for the mosh pits. the literal Fire Alarm playing through out the track is amazing and the various beat drops throughout the track are so hard hitting It’s unreal.
We then head into the weakest leg of the project which starts with the cover of System of a Down’s classic song Chop Suey, which is perfectly described by Anthony Fantano as just pretty bad Karaoke, Uzi doesn’t perform the originally passionate parts as well and it just doesn’t have the same effect as I think Uzi wanted it to. We then get another metal song, this time an original one as he teams up with Bring Me The Horizon on Werewolf, where Oli Sykes is singing his heart out on the hook but if I’m being honest, I don’t think Uzi does enough on the track to impress me and this style of music is also just not my cup of tea. I just don’t really gravitate to it. Pluto To Mars is just a regular Uzi song that sounds like an Eternal Atake leftover, and leftover it should’ve been as I don’t think the beat delivers much and Uzi is just slightly boring on the mic if I’m being honest.
We then get the most personal leg of this tape, Patience is a song about love and also love being strained by his growing need for drug consumption, with this slowed down, psychedelic and beautifully relaxing instrumental and surreal, reverbed singing from Don Toliver in the background which creates a truly surreal experience. Days Come and Go is about insecurity and generally just airing out issues that he’s had on his mind for a while. It’s nice to hear Uzi actually talk about things without having to revert to the regular flexing that he normally does. This one is a pop song and the hook really makes it for me, it’s a beautiful one that is equally motivating but also just a feel good piece of music. Rehab is quite a sad one though, it is about the exact topic of going through rehab and experiencing some serious drug issues which had him lost in the world, this track feels like Uzi showing real gratitude to the people that helped him through the toughest time in his life. The song is written so well and the hook is done really well, it stays on the topic and shows the most gratitude to a woman called Moran who he essentially credits for saving him and helping him get out of rehab. The outro is a COMPLETE detach however, as we get The End, a BABYMETAL collab which is essentially a demonic but angelic, if that makes any sense, metal song that features these weird twinkling sounds hidden behind insane synths and heavy drums and guitars, the most metal that Uzi has and ever will get. The hook is a japanese female chorus and it is truly off the wall, it feels so happy but the music really doesn’t match that feeling. Uzi actually has a great verse in the middle of the song but the show is most definitely stolen by the hook, I don’t know why but I actually love it lol, it just feels so euphoric and feels like the perfect outro to a really wacky listening experience.
I’ll go over the bonus tracks quickly and separately, I think Zoom is great as Uzi’s laid back flow and the really calm trap beat are both sounding great and the hook is also really catchy. Of Course is also a really fun track, sounds like a song straight from the EA era but it’s actually good this time, the beat is really playful and nice on the ears and Uzi’s melodies are great. Shardai is really boring though. That one didn’t need to be here.
Overall, I’m liking this project but I think it’s pretty clear that Uzi just wanted to get this one out so he could focus on delivering more cohesive listening experiences in the future, which has been made clear with the tease of 2 more projects in the 2 weeks since this dropped, Luv Is Rage 3 is supposedly on the way and so is a project playing off the name of Young Thug’s classic mixtape Barter 6, Barter 16. This could be a project released in support of the in-jail Young Thug. I think the sounds that were experimented with were cool but definitely delivered somewhat mixed results. I liked the first leg the most, with a lot of really hard hitting. crazy beats and great vocal deliveries from Uzi. I think overall the project is still decent all the way throughout though.
I’m Feeling a Light 7.