Friday, March 20, 2020 — 5
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

I originally intended on starting this 

review of Eternal Atake with a discussion 

of all the good things that come in small 

packages, like smartphones, Danny DeVito 

and Mini Coopers (which aren’t even that 

great on second thought). I was somehow 

going to tie it all back to Lil Uzi Vert, the pint-

sized Philadelphia energy bomb who is the 

rapper embodiment of good things coming 

in small packages. Uzi 

just 
surprise-released 

his 
highly 
anticipated 

sophomore album Eternal 

Atake last week, so I 

planned 
on 
discussing 

all the ways such a small 

man could hold so many 

excellent ideas inside of 

him. Now, though, that 

all feels pointless because 

Uzi just dropped another 

bomb on us. After a 

steady stream of Twitter 

promotions, Lil Uzi Vert 

has just released the deluxe edition of Eternal 

Atake. Normally this would not be earth-

shattering news because a deluxe edition is 

typically just a couple of new songs tacked on 

to the end of an album in an effort to boost 

sales. Not this time. Uzi released fourteen 

new songs (an entire new album!) called 

LUV vs. The World 2 as the deluxe edition of 

Eternal Atake, and it has rocked the world. 

The diminutive rapper has been trying 

to release Eternal Atake for almost two and 

a half years, but for some reason, his label 

bosses DJ Drama and Don Cannon kept 

blocking him from doing so. After countless 

leaks, several failed rollout attempts (which 

gave listeners gems like “Sanguine Paradise” 

and “That’s a Rack”), threatening to quit 

music multiple times and signing a new 

management deal with Roc Nation, Uzi has 

finally dropped the album. By dropping a 

deluxe edition, he definitely made sure it was 

worth the wait. 

Uzi claims that with the deluxe edition, 

we finally have the album’s intended track 

sequence. That is to say, LUV vs. the World 

2 comes before Eternal Atake, and it makes 

sense. LUV vs. the World 2 is composed of fan 

grails and Uzi’s most hyped snippets, some 

of which date back as far as 2016, whereas 

Eternal Atake is all new songs that are, to be 

blunt, fresh as hell. LUV vs. the World 2 is 

by no means bad, but it doesn’t really sound 

new. It sounds like Lil Uzi Vert circa 2016. 

Still, it’s got some excellent songs. “Myron” 

is the clear standout and most hyped by fans, 

but deep cuts like the frantic, violent, Lil 

Durk-assisted “No Auto” and the brooding, 

contemplative “Moon Relate” keep the ball 

rolling. 

As a standalone album LUV vs. the World 

2, despite the quality of the tracks, lacks the 

cohesion needed to stick with people, but that 

doesn’t matter. LUV vs. the World 2 is not a 

standalone album and it doesn’t have to be. 

Rather, it is something of an appetizer to the 

main course that is Eternal Atake. 

Loosely connected by several unclear, 

largely forgettable skits and divided into three 

distinct parts, Eternal Atake describes Uzi’s 

alien abduction and his 

eventual return to Earth. 

It kicks off with “Baby 

Pluto,” which introduces 

Uzi’s deliriously quick-

tongued alter ego Baby 

Pluto to the world. On the 

track, Uzi raps and he raps 

and he raps, as if he has 

bottomless lungs, about 

nothing in particular. For 

the next five songs, there 

is no Lil Uzi Vert: Baby 

Pluto reigns supreme. Uzi 

rarely shows this side of 

himself, so this part of the album is a real 

treat. He’s not the best lyricist (see lines like 

“Hit your bitch, yeah, she make me wan’ 

body rock / Yeah, your bitch, she a thotty, old 

thotty-thot”), but he doesn’t have to be when 

he flows like he does on “Homecoming” and 

the Full Tilt! Pinball-sampling “You Better 

Move.” 

After 
“Homecoming,” 
though, 
Uzi’s 

focus abruptly shifts. On the next portion 

of the album, from the somber “I’m Sorry” 

to the triumphant “Prices,” he moves from 

breathing fire to healing spirits as he assumes 

a new persona he calls Renji. This new 

persona is defined by saccharine flows and 

restorative instrumentals. He’s still rapping, 

but he’s not spitting. Uzi stretches his words 

and twists his flows, focusing on creating 

and manicuring the desired and more 

cathartic vibe. The Renji portion of the album 

certainly stands out, because Uzi has never 

really done anything like this before. Hell, 

he even connects with none other than Chief 

Keef over “Chrome Hearts Tags” heavenly, 

ethereal beat. However, in this stretch of 

standouts, no song sits more prominently 

than “Bigger than Life.” On this track, Uzi 

finds himself in uncharted territory as he 

reflects on his life over a guitar-driven beat 

that sounds like he’s floating miles above 

Earth. It’s unlike any other Uzi song, and it’s 

all the better for it. Truly, it is a must-listen on 

an album filled with must-listens.

Lil Uzi Vert takes listeners 
to Pluto on ‘Eternal Atake’

JIM WILSON
Daily Arts Writer

RALPH ARVESEN VIA FLICKR

Commitment is difficult — it is much more 

fun to flirt and keep conversations at surface 

level than it is to actually connect with 

someone. Even more fun than flirting, however, 

is setting up other people. To be the person that 

can say they just knew two people would love 

each other is a feat that most cannot claim. In 

its newest iteration, Jane Austen’s classic novel 

“Emma” is once again brought to life, this time 

with the comically expressive eyes of Anya 

Taylor-Joy (“Glass”) as the heroine and with a 

luxurious English estate covered in pastels.

We all know the story. Emma Woodhouse is 

a spoiled, lovable, conceited and strong-willed 

young woman who loves nothing more than 

pairing up her friends and caring for her father. 

She is, and always will be, completely oblivious 

to the world around her, and it’s impossible 

to blame her. When you’ve grown up with 

everything you could ever ask for and most 

everyone in your life bending to your every 

whim, what of the world do you really need to 

know? 

Anya Taylor-Joy takes every facet of 

Emma’s personality and makes it her own. 

None of the beloved character is ever lost — 

Taylor-Joy’s light and airy voice lends itself 

to condescension and Emma’s aloof nature 

when necessary. Though her cheekbones and 

pursed lips are the perfect accompaniment 

to her character’s skewed vision of the world, 

it is her eyes that push this new Emma into 

the spotlight. Large and expressive, Emma’s 

emotions become clear as her eyes flit around 

the room nervously, her irritation obvious as 

they roll into the back of her head. There is 

little left to the imagination with Taylor-Joy’s 

depiction of Emma, and I wouldn’t have it any 

other way. 

But even though Emma believes the world 

revolves around her, the film itself is careful to 

acknowledge the opposite, developing complex 

relationships between all the characters. 

Specifically, “Emma” displays the carefully 

choreographed social dances of the English 

elite, both literally and figuratively, throughout 

the film. The best part of these performances, 

however, is that the majority of them occur in a 

hat shop. With hat stands and lounging couches 

as key points on the stage, we watch as Emma 

barely tolerates Mrs. Bates (Myra McFadyen, 

“Mamma Mia”). And with each step around 

the shop, Emma moving as far away as she can 

with Mrs. Bates trailing behind her, it becomes 

almost unbearable to watch. I was surprised 

that Taylor-Joy didn’t break the fourth wall. 

The irritation was that palpable. 

This 
new 
“Emma” 
also 
comes 
at 
an 
opportune 

time for Hollywood — Harvey Weinstein was 

recently sentenced to 23 years in jail, and many 

were upset by Greta Gerwig’s lack of an Oscar 

nomination for “Little Women.” And though 

an Oscar snub is nowhere near as awful as 

the actions of Harvey Weinstein, both events 

represent a larger conversation surrounding 

women in Hollywood. And what better person 

to remind us of the importance of a strong will 

than Emma Woodhouse? Despite her flaws, 

Emma knows what she wants and how to get it. 

She has a deep understanding of the nuances of 

high society and is running a larger estate than 

many of the married women in her community. 

As she herself says, “few married women are 

the mistress of their husband’s house as I am 

of Hartfield.” 

At this point, it is unsurprising that another 

adaptation 
of 
“Emma” 
is 
entertaining, 

especially when the source material is already 

fantastic. The layers of intrigue that come 

from this new “Emma” have nothing to do 

with the story and everything to do with who 

is portraying it, and how. Bill Nighy (“Love 

Actually”) ensures the lovability of Mr. 

Woodhouse, while Adam from “Sex Education” 

(Connor Swindells) turns my understanding of 

Mr. Martin on its head. “Emma” is a lovely new 

adaptation that I can’t wait to watch again.

The beauty of ‘Emma’ is 
that it hasn’t changed much

EMMA CHANG
Daily Arts Writer

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“Eternal Atake”

Lil Uzi Vert

Generation Now & 

Atlantic

When you’ve grown up 

with everything you 
could ever ask for and 
most everyone in your 

life bending to your every 
whim, what of the world 

do you really need to 

know?

I was surprised that 

Taylor-Joy didn’t break 

the fourth wall: the 
irritation was that 

palpable