Every generation, there are a couple of artists that are willing to go against the norm and constantly think outside the box. They are the artists that push their culture and genre ahead as a whole, showing people that there are always new avenues to be explored. Lil Uzi Vert is one of the most boundary-pushing and forward-thinking artists of his generation. Along with Travis Scott and Playboi Carti, he has always stayed way ahead of the curve in Hip Hop. Over the years, he has proved time and time again there is no limit to his artistry and that he draws inspiration from everywhere. Lil Uzi Vert’s latest record, The Pink Tape, was one of the most anticipated projects of 2023. He has been teasing it for over a year, and its lead single, ‘Just Wanna Rock,’ was one of the biggest songs of 2022(and has been one of the biggest songs of 2023). From the way Lil Uzi Vert promoted and talked about this record, it was safe to assume it will be off the wall and unlike anything we have heard in Hip Hop. He teased that there would be elements of Heavy Metal, Hardcore Emo and Punk music, and futuristic Hip Hop that sounds out of this word; it is safe to say that all of this is very true. The Pink Tape is one of the most wild and strange Hip Hop albums I’ve heard in a while(if not ever); it is full of high highs that are super awesome and will end up inspiring artists and changing Hip Hop, but it also has some moments that completely miss the mark. The main thing that drags this album down is the fact that it has 26 songs(23 + 3 bonus tracks). It is tough to make a 26-song album and not have some duds; even if you go 20-26, that’s still about a 75% hit rate. The Pink Tape has so much quality, but too many filled tracks or just flat-out misses for me to consider it great. If it was trimmed down by 5-10 tracks, I really think it may be the album of the year(or at least close to it). With all of that being said, here is how I specifically feel about Lil Uzi Vert’s The Pink Tape. Please let me know in the comments below what your favorite song is from The Pink Tape as well as how you feel about it as a whole.
Now, I am not actually going to review this album song by song as I usually do. Instead, I am going to discuss my favorite and least favorite moments(songs) from the album, covering why they are significant for better or worse. Lil Uzi Vert starts the album off on a hell of a note with the first three songs; if the whole album had this kind of quality, it would be an instant classic. ‘Flooded The Face,’ Suicide Doors,’ and ‘Aye’ featuring Travis Scott are three of my favorite tracks on the record. ‘Flooded The Face’ is the sort of insanely bold and Trippy Atmospheric Trap track Lil Uzi Vert has made so popular over the last several years. This song has the kind of ethereal and fierce Synth-driven melody and quick, fervent beat that Lil Uzi Vert made popular on his projects LUV Is Rage 2 and Eternal Atake. Uzi raps with his signature ever-changing rapid-fire flows on this track; Uzi’s vocals help take ‘Flooded The Face’ to the next level and make it such an exciting track. ‘Suicide Doors’ is the first major risk Lil Uzi Vert took on the album, and fortunately, it works out awesomely. This is a Heavy Metal Trap that is unlike any mainstream Hip Hop artist today. The only thing I think it is comparable to is the music Rico Nasty was making when she first got popular. The song is driven by a distorted Heavy Metal guitar riff complemented by futuristic synths that are put over a hard-hitting Trap beat that matches the harshness of the melody. Lil Uzi Vert’s vocal performance on Suicide Doors is super extra in the best way. He scream-raps the lyrics and comes in with so many growling ad-libs that are perfect for the over-the-top sound of the instrumental. ‘Aye’ is not an innovative or game-changing track, but it is a solid Dark Trap track with a lot of fervor and grit. The instrumental for this song does not stand out much to me; the thing that draws me back to this track is the vocal performance. Both Lil Uzi Vert And Travis Scott show their wide-vocal ranges on this track; the way they sing on ‘Aye’ with so much passion is what makes the song pop. Following a couple of average and heavy melodic Trap Tracks that feel like filler to me, the next song that I greatly enjoy from this record is ‘x2.’ This is the kind of wild, fun Trap track that I would only expect to hear from Lil Uzi Vert. This track sounds like it was created for a video game in the year 2200 in a different dimension; it is so ultra-modern and otherworldly sounding. The melody has a Y2K quality that makes me think of the Dance music that was popular in the early 2000s; this gives the song a nostalgic quality that makes me enjoy it much. Similar to the song before it, Lil Uzi Vert’s vocal performance on this song is extremely eccentric; this vocal performance takes the track to the next level. The crazy, high notes that Lil Uzi Vert hits on this track and the weird ad-libs he inserts add to the already outlandish sound of the song. ‘x2’ is the sort of wild and bizarre progressive song that only Lil Uzi Vert could come up with; I would not be surprised if this song ends up becoming a template for melodic Trap in the near future.
Following the major highlight that is ‘x2,’ the next three songs almost feel like extensions of that track. I do not want to exactly call them filler because they do have quality and to be honest, I would not be surprised if one of them pops off and becomes a fan favorite, but to me, all three of them just feel like worse versions of ‘x2’ to me. After those three tracks, we get to the song ‘I Gotta.’ This song does not stand out for its quality; instead, it is so noticeable because it is so unexpected; this is the only melodic Trap song that does not have a current sound in any way. Instead, this triumphant horn-driven Trap track sounds like it came out of the early 2010s. I could specifically imagine hearing rappers like Rick Ross or Meek Mill on this instrumental in 2012. Lil Uzi Vert’s performance on this track is pretty good, but it does not take away from the fact that this track sounds so old and out-of-place. ‘I Gotta’ is a weird track to put on this kind of record and it sticks out like a sore thumb. ‘Endless Fashion,’ which features Nicki Minaj, has quickly become one of my top songs from this record. This has become a polarizing track because of the sample it uses; ‘Endless Fashion’ samples the iconic 1990s EuroPop song ‘I’m Blue’ by Eiffel 65(which is a polarizing song in its own right); on one hand, there are people like me that absolutely love it, and there are others that are not into it. I honestly can understand why there are people that do not enjoy this sample, but I think it is phenomenal. This instrumental is like a straight-up Trap version of the original track; I will admit that it sounds goofy, but it is also so fun. Regardless of how one feels about this instrumental, one can not deny that the vocal performances are great. Not only does Lil Uzi Vert flex his vocals and show off his pure range and tone, but Nicki Minaj shows off her wide vocal range as well and raps with a variety of addicting flows. Even if you do not like the instrumental, you should at least appreciate the quality of rapping on ‘Endless Fashion.’ After a couple more melodic Trap tracks that are pretty good but do not hit for me like some of the other ones(once again, I do not want to exactly call them filler because they are decent and I would not be surprised if some people love them), we get ‘Nakamura,’ which is one of the coolest track on the record. This song samples ‘The Rising Sun,’ which is the victorious-sounding violin-driven walk-out song of the Professional Wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura. ‘Nakamura’ has an epic sound that makes me feel like I can take on the world when I hear it. This song will end up being a great pump-up and workout song because of how motivating it is. Lil Uzi Vert’s vocal performance on this track is just as grand and entertaining as the instrumental. His exaggerated singing on ‘Nakamura’ makes it so satisfying. ‘Nakamura’ is a song I know I will keep coming back to whenever I need some motivation.
After ‘Nakamura,’ we get to one of the biggest highlights on the record as well as a few of the worst moments on the record. The highlight is the aforementioned lead single from this record, ‘Just Wanna Rock.’ This is a high-octane Jersey Club-inspired track that makes anyone want to dance when they hear it. ‘Just Wanna Rock’ is the perfect song to put on in any situation where you want to get people hyped. It is a track that I am confident will stand the test of time because it just ignites anyone who hears it with a jolt of vivacity. The next three tracks on the record are the worst ones of the album. I do appreciate the fact that Lil Uzi Vert is trying to do something so different, but he just misses the mark on these tracks. The first of the three, ‘Fire Alarm’ featuring Snow Strippers, is a weird part Industrial/part Trap track that is just too abrasive. Most of the time, I can appreciate harsh Industrial music, but this song is just noisy to me in a bad way. The instrumental does not have redeeming elements that make the Industrial sound special; this song sounds grating for no reason. The second track of the three duds, ‘CS,’ has universally been proclaimed the worst song on the album. To be frank, this song is a bad cover of the song ‘Chop Suey’ by System of a Down. The instrumental cover on Lil Uzi Vert’s version does not do the original justice, and neither does Lil Uzi Vert’s vocal performance. I understand that this is probably an ode from Lil Uzi Vert to a band that he loves, but ‘Chop Suey’ is such a unique and original piece of music that is so tough to replicate or improve on. The third song in this trio of bad tracks is ‘Werewolf,’ which features Bring Me The Horizon. I do not want to beat a dead horse here, so I will not say much about this track besides that it is just not good. It is cool that Lil Uzi Vert attempted something like this, but in this case, he missed the mark. After those three tracks, Lil Uzi Vert returns to form with the songs ‘Pluto To Mars’ and ‘Patience’ featuring Don Toliver. Neither of these tracks is among my absolute favorites from the record, but they are still both excellent. ‘Pluto to Mars’ feels a lot like the song ‘x2’ to me. Similar to that track, it has a Y2K style Eurodance-style melody that is so fresh and pleasant. Like ‘x2,’ Lil Uzi Vert flexes his vocal range on this track and adds to the excitement of the track. ‘Pluto to Mars’ is not as good as ‘x2’ in my opinion, but it is pretty close. ‘Patience’ honestly feels more like a Don Toliver featuring Lil Uzi Vert song instead of vice versa. If I were to hear this song without knowing it was on this record, I could see myself thinking it was on a Don Toliver project. ‘Patience’ is a Trippy, sultry, chopped-up R&B track. It is very easy-going and nice to listen to; the melody is so sweet, and the beat is so mesmerizing. Both of the vocal performances on this song are perfect and make it so much better. The way Lil Uzi Vert and Don Toliver complement each other is impeccable, and they both add so much to the track. I do not know if ‘Patience’ I will be going back to often personally, but I know that I am probably in the minority in that regard because I could see this one being a hit.
It is safe to say that Lil Uzi Vert closes out this album on an interesting note. Two more melodic Trap filler tracks succeed ‘Patience,’ and then we come to the unofficial end of the album, which is a doozy. I can not decide whether I love or hate ‘The End,’ which features BABYMETAL. On the one hand, it sort of feels like that string of crappy Metal-influenced tracks I talked about in the last paragraph; those songs are strange and jarring in an unpleasant way. On the other song, ‘The End’ is just so goofy and honestly feels like a meme, and I can appreciate its charm. It is abrasive and wild and is honestly unlike anything else that I have heard from any rapper in recent memory. Even though it is only three minutes, it is the most complicated song on the album; every 40 seconds, the instrumental completely changes and gets more uncanny than it already was. ‘The End’ is a novelty track that I may not be listening to much in my own time, but I can totally appreciate it for what it is. After a couple of bonus tracks that feel like uninspired filler songs to me, Lil Uzi Vert closes out the bonus tracks with ‘Shardai.’ This is a song that reminds me of the music that Lil Uzi Vert got famous for. This song has a cloudy and heavy Atmospheric Trap instrumental that sounds like it came right out of 2016; I would not be surprised if Lil Uzi Vert made this song a long time ago and has been sitting on it. Because ‘Shardai’ is so reminiscent of some of Lil Uzi Vert’s biggest hits, I could see it becoming a sleeper hit. Lil Uzi Vert’s vocal performance is exciting and matches the energy of the instrumental, making ‘Shardai’ a Trap banger that is light and easy to enjoy. ‘Shardai’ is a great way to end this album because it brings Lil Uzi Vert back to his roots and shows that even if he wants to experiment like he did on this album he still knows that he can go back to what he knows he is great at.
The Pink Tape is the kind of lofty and polarizing record that only someone like Lil Uzi Vert could make. Most Hip Hop artists today are not willing to take risks like this and try to be so daring and bold, and I appreciate that Lil Uzi Vert is always willing to do this. As it is easy to see from my assessment, this record is not close to perfect. For one, it is just too long. It is almost impossible to make a 26-song album without any dull moments because every song has to be very good to great. If there are five to seven songs that feel like filler, that drags the album down. I wish this record would have been trimmed of the fat a bit and that the not-so-memorable songs had been left off. The second issue with this record is the fact that the bad moments are so bad. Sometimes big risks do not pay off, and there are a few moments on this record where that is the case. Even with all of that true, The Pink Tape is still a very good record that will end up serving as inspiration for other up-and-coming rappers for years to come. There are so many audacious moments on this record that pay off, and the best moments on the album are super memorable and great. With The Pink Tape, Lil Uzi Vert once again proves that he is one of the most important and innovative artists in the game, and it is yet another record of his that will be relevant for a long time.
EAST SIDE VIBES 