The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 7, 2017 — 5
Arts

ATLANTIC

Lil Uzi Vert in a crowd
Lil Uzi Vert’s ‘Luv is 
Rage 2’ is the new emo

Lil Uzi Vert returns on his newest release and exposes his 
mastery of hip hop and emo despite the album’s weak links

Above all else, Lil Uzi Vert’s 

new album Luv Is Rage 2 is 
present. It is simultaneously 
the best indicator of where rap 
is today and a perfect harbinger 
of where it will be, for better or 
for worse.

It’s funny to think how 

Uzi’s skyrocket to fame largely 
came from a place of derision. 
His verse on Migos’s “Bad and 
Boujee” was the target of plenty 
of memes — particularly that 
ubiquitous, 
croaking 
verse-

opener, “yeah yeah yeah.” It’s 
comparable to how Young Thug 
blew 
up 
after 

the 
widespread 

confusion 
over 

what the hell he 
was saying on 
the Rich Gang 
hit 
“Lifestyle.” 

But 
many 

mistakenly took 
that 
emphasis 

on 
style 
as 

an 
omission 

of 
content. 

Sometimes 
it 
was 
true. 

Plenty of Young 
Thug’s 
lyrics 

are simply non 
sequiturs. Plenty 
of Uzi’s lyrics are 
pointless.

Plenty 
aren’t 

though, 
and 

what Uzi has done better than 
nearly 
any 
other 
up-and-

coming rapper now is marry 
that focus on an aesthetic style 
with lyrics and a delivery that 
are 
deceptively 
profound. 

It’s an approach that feels 
particularly fitting for the rap 
scene today, where personality 
and 
style 
seem 
constantly 

at the forefront. With the 
overabundance of Soundcloud 
rappers and the ease with which 
a flow can be co-opted, rappers 
who are going to truly make it 
need to separate themselves 
from the pack. A consuming, 
recognizable persona is one of 
the best ways to do that.

Uzi 
could 
have 
stopped 

there. His sing-song voice has 
a way with melody, and it’s 
often easy to remember the 
rhythm of his tracks because 
of how well he can simply 
ride a beat. It’s reminiscent 
to how Young Thug’s voice 
can function more like an 
instrument than spoken word. 
Uzi’s voice, though, actually 
blends with his production in a 
slightly different way, seeping 
into the bass lines and synths, 
whereas Thugger’s voice often 
stands on its own plane. He 
works particularly well with 
producers who fill rhythm 
into every gap and let Uzi slide 
along within the space between 
percussion.

Burgeoning producer Maaly 

Raw certainly has such an ear, 
and has managed to achieve 
turn up perfection more than 
once with Uzi; the A$AP Mob 
track “Runner,” for example, 
and 
“Money 

Longer,” 
from 

Uzi’s well received 
Lil Uzi Vert Vs. 
The 
World, 
are 

two of the most 
infectious 
tracks 

I’ve heard in years. Raw’s beat 
pattern has a strong influence 
here, and he lends a hand on 
track two, nine, 10, 13 and 15.

But his newest release, Luv 

Is Rage 2 (the follow-up to his 
debut mixtape Luv Is Rage), 

manages 
to 

solidify 
Uzi’s 

reach past just 
club 
anthems. 

Nowhere 
is 

this 
better 

exhibited than 
the 
last 
two 

tracks, 
“Dark 

Queen” 
and 

“XO 
TOUR 

Llif3.”

The 
latter, 

released 
as 

a 
single 
in 

March, became 
an 
enormous, 

unexpected 
hit, 
and 
is 

certainly 
one 

of Uzi’s best. 
All 
of 
those 

inherently 

messy thoughts he has tried to 
articulate before — listlessness, 
solitude, 
sadness 
 
— 
come 

to fruition in what equates 
to a shimmering scream for 
help, equal parts Future and 
Bright Eyes. It’s a direct and 
compelling expression of a 
rapper’s struggle 
with depression 
and 
substance 

abuse, 
tackling 

his 
mental 

state 
after 
his 

breakup 
with 

ex-girlfriend 
Brittany 
Byrd. 

His only friends 
are 
Xanax 
— 

“Please, Xanny, 
make 
it 
go 

away” 
— 
and 

dead presidents 
(money) — “All my friends are 
dead.” The track is unflaggingly 
honest and cuts right to the 
heart, Uzi’s voice breaking 
with exhaustion at the chorus 
(a hallmark of emo bands from 
the ’80s and on, which this 
track is reminiscent of).

The former, “Dark Queen,” 

deals with the complexity of his 
relationship with his mother 
over 
a 
brooding, 
spacious 

beat produced by Maaly Raw 
and Rex Kudo. He addresses 
her 
directly, 
talking 
about 

her concerns for him and his 
appreciation for her. It’s a 

clear stand out on the album, 
showcasing the same kind of 
straightforward honesty that 
he does on “XO TOUR Llif3.”

This is where Uzi truly 

excels. He has plenty of fun, 

bouncy, 
loud 

tracks, and these 
aren’t 
too 
far 

off 
from 
that 

formula. 
But 

instead of simply 
flexing over the 

beat and repeating the same 
clichés we’re so used to in the 
genre, Uzi turns that on its 
head.

We haven’t seen work quite 

like this since his debut, so 
it’s fitting that Luv Is Rage 2 
marks its follow up. Uzi’s last 
two releases, Lil Uzi Vert Vs. 
The World and The Perfect 
Luv Tape, while both well 
merited as party music, didn’t 
scratch too far below the 
shiny rhinestone surface, with 
perhaps the exception of “You 
Was Right.” But even on that 
track he sounds like he’s in a 
haze, attempting to make an 
apology but getting lost in his 
fame on the way.

Rather, the best precursor 

to this album is the final track 
from Luv is Rage, “Paradise,” a 
pop-inspired song that walks 
the line between optimism 
and sadness: “Paradise / It’s 
somewhere that I’ve never 
been before / I just wanna be 
there when I wake up.” Uzi 
wants better, but lets himself 
play in the limbo. That gray 
area felt lost in some of his later 
tracks, replaced with material 
obsessions, but it comes back 
in full force on this release, and 
the result is songwriting that is 
at once nuanced and controlled. 
On the addicting “X,” he asserts 

“Yeah my life’s 
a mess / But I’m 
also 
blessed.” 

“Neon 
Guts,” 

assisted 
by 

Pharrell, is both 
a celebration and 
the manifesto of 
an alien.

But what Uzi 

loses 
on 
this 

confessional 
is 

the succinctness 
that 
made 
his 

last two projects 

so approachable. The first four 
tracks and The Weeknd feature 
could all be cut and nothing 
notable would be lost. It’s the 
baggage that comes from Uzi 
wanting to push further but 
being unsure of where to cut 
back. There’s a danger that 
comes when your album starts 
off on such a low note — some 
may 
simply 
stop 
listening 

entirely.

Nonetheless, Lil Uzi Vert 

has accomplished what he set 
out to do here, and if this is any 
indication, his trajectory from 
here is starred.

MATT GALLATIN

Daily Music Editor

Luv is Rage 2

Lil Uzi Vert 

Atlantic

All of those 
inherently 

messy thoughts 
he has tried to 
articulate before 

— listlessness, 

solitude, sadness 

 
— come to 

fruition

ALBUM REVIEW

FINGERPRINT RELEASING

Channing Tatum in ‘Logan Lucky’
Soderbergh’s ‘Lucky’ is an 
Appalachian masterpiece

Director of ‘Ocean’s 11’ brings us a film founded in 
location and ingenuity with new movie ‘Logan Lucky’

There is absolutely no edge 

to “Logan Lucky,” and that 
might just be its strength. It’s 
a heist movie without a single 
gun: 
simple 
entertainment 

where the audience is asked 
to do nothing but engage 
with 
likable 
people 
doing 

interesting things. It’s sweet, 
soulful, energizing and, best 
of all, original. It’s almost 
singular in 2017.

It’s 
also 
fascinatingly 

apolitical, 
especially 

considering the first 15 minutes 
are nearly indistinguishable 
from a Trump campaign ad. 
A 
hardworking, 
handsome 

white guy (Channing Tatum, 
“Magic Mike”) loses his job at 
a coal mine. Of 
course, it’s not 
Jimmy Logan’s 
fault or even his 
boss’s — an HR 
employee twists 
Obamacare’s 
famous 
buzzword, 
“pre-existing 
condition,” 
against 
him 

after noticing a 
limp in his leg. 
It’s an excellent 
little 
summary 

of the modern 
American 
financial 
struggle, 
and 
even 
kale-

munching leftists like myself 
will be instantly pulled into 
having sympathy for this guy.

Rather than blaming any of 

the usual suspects for his crisis 
(the Democrats, immigrants, 
bureaucracy, brown people), 
Jimmy’s brother, a one-armed 
bartender 
played 
lovingly 

by 
Adam 
Driver 
(“Star 

Wars: The Force Awakens”), 
instead suspects that they’re 

suffering from a generations-
old family curse. The two 
have grisly injuries, and their 
folks are dead. The solution? 
Successfully rob the Charlotte 
Motor Speedway during the 
biggest NASCAR race of the 
year, 
thereby 

lifting 
the 

curse. Of course 
it’s 
that. 
Why 

wouldn’t 
it 
be 

that?

From 
there, 

it’s a rollicking 
two hours that 
feel like one, as 
we 
watch 
the 

brothers and a 
steadily growing 
crew 
of 
likable 
rednecks 

prepare 
for 
and 
execute 

the 
aforementioned 
heist. 

There are of course echoes of 

director Steven 
Soderbergh’s 
previous 
work 

on the “Ocean’s” 
franchise, 
but 

not 
as 
much 

as 
you 
would 

expect — there’s 
no cool tech, just 
entertaining 
ingenuity 
from 

the 
characters. 

There are weird 
little 
touches 

like 
a 
heist 

recruitment 
at 
an 
apple 

bobbing contest, 
a 
hand-off 

with a mysterious man in a 
full bear suit in the woods 
and an explosive made from 
gummy bears and a plastic 
bag. Joe Bang (Daniel Craig, 
“Spectre”), the bank robber 
broken out of prison by the 
Logan 
brothers 
to 
guide 

their heist, is a delightfully 
iconoclastic 
character 
that 

plays off of Craig’s James Bond 
persona — Bang is nearly the 
polar opposite of the cold, 

classy Bond, but the two are 
equally professional.

It cannot be overstated just 

how much fun each and every 
scene in this movie is. The 
southern mundanity of “Logan 
Lucky” is just as exciting 

as 
the 
sexy 

professionalism 
of 
“Ocean’s 

Eleven.”

As 
usual, 

Soderbergh’s 
muted 
camerawork 
perfectly 
services 
what 

he’s 
trying 
to 

accomplish. 
Soderbergh 

loves actors, and his simple, 
journeyman style makes you 
love them too. It’s the people 
that take focus, not flashy 
visuals or stunt set pieces. I 
remember one of the very first 
lessons I had in film school 
was 
about 
how 
directors 

effectively use movie stars, 
and my professor played scenes 
with George Clooney from 
Soderbergh’s “Out of Sight.” 
I could see that lesson thirty 
years from now being taught 
with this movie, with Tatum. 
There’s an intricate dance that 
Soderbergh does with celebrity 
persona, expectations, in-the-
moment acting presence and 
editing rhythm that makes 
his movies feel alive. More so 
than any other film this year, 
“Logan Lucky” feels like it has 
a pulse.

“Logan Lucky” isn’t doing 

very well at the box office. 
It’s not part of any shared 
universe, there’s no sex, no 
violence, no corporate tie-ins, 
no hundred-million-dollar ad 
campaign. It’s just a good old-
fashioned movie, the kind that 
are not long for this world. 
This will probably be one of 
the last ones, so enjoy it now, 
in theaters, while you still can.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JOIN DAILY ARTS

?????????????

E-mail arts@michigandaily.com for more 

information on applying.

JACOB RICH
Daily Arts Writer

“Logan Lucky”

w

Rave Cinemas, 

Goodrich Quality 16

It cannot be 

overstated just 
how much fun 
each and every 

scene in this 

movie is

FILM REVIEW

It’s a direct and 

compelling 

expression of a 
rapper’s struggle 
with depression