Introduction

Symere Bysil Woods, better known as Lil Uzi Vert, is an exceptionally talented rapper, known for genre-defining and game changing music. The Philadelphia rapper’s first studio album, Luv is Rage 2, had fantastic standouts like The Way Life Goes, Neon Guts, XO Tour Llife3, and 20 Min that have stood the test of time, remaining among the most listened to and memorable tracks of the 2010s.

Following that, Eternal Atake proved to be an all-rounder that was enjoyable to listen to in all aspects. Pitchfork, an online music publication, described it as “a seamless blend of drill-influenced rapping, melodic crooning, and beats that are aware of Hip-hop’s trends, but stretch them to places unimaginable”.

Thus, it’s not wrong to assume that Uzi is trying to re-define the boundaries of hip-hop with Pink Tape, and indeed, makes an earnest effort to do so. Uzi pushes the bar higher with immaculate production found on every track on Pink Tape.

This photo shows Lil Uzi Vert with a wild spiky hairstyle passionately performing at his concert.
Symere Bysil Woods, better known as Lil Uzi Vert, is well known for his wild and unique looks and intense live performances.
Photo courtesy of Smo Ostrowski.

Uzi and metalcore: Does it work?

Pink Tape sees Uzi goes down the experimental route as hints of nu-metal and rock music are present throughout the album, with punchy, growly guitars featured in tracks like Suicide Doors and Amped.  On those tracks, Uzi channels a more aggressive style, reminiscent of Playboi Carti and Yeat.

Moving forward, the album even goes full-on Deftones with the metalcore track, “Werewolf”, featuring the vocal fry and screams of legendary band Bring Me The Horizon. This collaboration comes as no surprise, as Uzi was previously featured on Bring Me’s single, “AmEN!”. Uzi ventures into a more aggressive rap style while Bring Me revives their older style of death growls and screams.

Additionally, the closing track of the main album (not counting the bonus tracks), aptly titled “The End”, features established J-Metal band, Babymetal. This track is messy, but in a good way. One genre that can be used to describe the track is breakcore, along with hints of metal. It’s a song that grows on you, and eventually scratches every part of your brain.

Although Uzi kills it with the rock-rap songs, a big chunk of the album goes back to a sound reminiscent of Uzi’s previous albums. Tracks like “Patience ft. Don Toliver” and “Pluto to Mars”, all show Uzi back at home, with melodic rap and floating on dreamy synth beats. Although these tracks sound great and the style definitely screams Uzi, I can’t help but want more of the experimental rock hip-hop sound.

The album trailer for Pink Tape, which features snippets of tracks from the album. The video features a weird storyline of Uzi trying to fight a gigantic samurai. Weird.

Too much sonic chaos

This new relesse has a few great standouts, but they seem to clash with other mediocre songs on the album. It’s like walking around blindfolded: you never know where you’re going to end up. 

Imagine listening to “Patience ft. Don Toliver” and being all up in your feelings listening to Don’s melodic humming, and all of a sudden, you’re listening to ADHD-esque breakcore. 

I understand if Uzi is intentionally aiming for a chaotic track list, but there is a fine line between a good chaotic track list and a bad one, and Pink Tape is leaning towards the latter.

The downsides

Now, we can’t ignore the questionable parts of the album. Firstly, the album has 26 tracks, spanning 90 minutes, and it becomes rather lengthy. At some point, it felt tiresome to listen to the album, as eclectic and energetic it seemed to be.

There were also some songs that were hard to enjoy, such as Aye featuring Travis Scott and Days Come and Go. Uzi’s vocals felt off and strained in the former track, while Uzi’s flow was just off-putting and, if I’m being honest, makes it nearly unlistenable.

Lastly, we have to talk about the track, CS. If you haven’t listened to the album yet, you might not want to start with this track. CS stands for Chop Suey, and yes, it is a cover of the legendary System of a Down song. Although Uzi’s autotune is iconic, it absolutely butchers the essence of Chop Suey. This song should have been left on the cutting floor.

Conclusion

After listening to the whole album, it seems as if Uzi’s experimental eclectic-ness on Pink Tape reflects them finding a new version of themself, having embraced sobriety and spending seven months in rehab.

I highly respect Uzi for going through rehab while producing this wonderful album. However, the experimental eclectic-ness may have been a bit too much for the entire album to be listenable in one go. While there are some amazing tracks on this LP, there are also songs that are best left unlistened to.

Review score: 6.5/10 

MUST LISTEN: Crush Em, Amped, x2, Died and Came Back, Nakamura, Just Wanna Rock, Werewolf ft. Bring Me The Horizon, Pluto To Mars, Patience ft. Don Toliver

SKIP: Suicide Doors, Aye ft. Travis Scott, That Fiya, Endless Fashion ft. Nicki Minaj, Mama I’m Sorry, Days Come and Go, CS