The Long, Bumpy Road to Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake
The rollout for Lil Uzi Vert’s perpetually delayed Eternal Atake has had almost everything: a coffee-shop brawl, a short-lived retirement, beef with the living members of a suicide cult, a hashtag-turned-redemption-single (“Free Uzi”). What it hasn’t had—until today—is a new album. Considering Uzi’s runaway popularity and promise, the delay seems unaccountable. Ask Uzi and it’s the label’s fault; ask the label and it’s Uzi’s. It’s been hard to keep track of the back and forth, but now Eternal Atake is here. Below is a timeline of the melodrama that took place in the lead-up to the album.
January 12, 2018
A little less than five months after releasing Luv Is Rage 2, Lil Uzi Vert initiates a cold war with his label, the Atlantic imprint Generation Now, floating some not-so-subtle jabs at his boss and longtime mixtape king DJ Drama. “And if y’all do sign...sign 2 a major Don’t sign 2 a rapper or a Dj,” he tweets. “Its Just Easier When The Time Come For That Fake Shit.”
Rapper Rich the Kid takes the opportunity to tease Uzi. “That’s why you SHOULDA signed [to] Rich forever,” he tweets, referring to his own imprint. Uzi responds, “Boy I’m not signing for 20racks.” Rich the Kid continues to antagonize Uzi: “If your boss and CEO ain’t treating you right, come over to Rich Forever Music, ya dig,” he says only a few days later on Instagram. This opens the door to a months-long feud that includes Uzi tagging Rich as a $1000 crab on Insta and Rich calling Uzi his “son,” ultimately culminating in a June 2018 fight at a Starbucks.
February 6, 2018
Uzi has always been a prolific studio rat, and Generation Now cofounder Don Cannon confirms his steady output in an interview with Ed Lover, saying the rapper records “six songs a day” and “about 700 songs a year” without offering word on when any of this music will see daylight.
May 10, 2018
In a since-deleted tweet, Cannon implies that Uzi will release a project before year’s end. This is the first official mention of a Luv Is Rage 2 follow-up.
July 31, 2018
With anticipation building, Uzi shares the album cover art for Eternal Atake, inspired by the logo of the Heaven’s Gate cult. In 1997, 39 members of the cult arranged a series of ritual suicides. They believed that doing so would allow them to reach an alien spacecraft following Comet Hale-Bopp. The album cover is a direct reference, with an inscription at the bottom: “As was promised—the keys to Eternal Atake are here again in Luv and Rage (The UFO 2) as Lil Uzi Vert and his Father 2000 yrs. ago.”
Soon after, two members of Heaven’s Gate—both of whom left the cult a decade before the ritual suicide but still operate its website—threaten legal action over Uzi’s cover art. “He is using and adapting our copyrights and trademarks without our permission and the infringement will be taken up with our attorneys,” a representative tells Genius. “This is not fair use or parody, it [is] a direct and clear infringement.”
September 18, 2018
After sharing a snippet with the caption “Uzi hurry up and drop eternal atake” and performing the song at Lollapalooza, Lil Uzi Vert releases his long-awaited promotional single “New Patek,” his first new song since Luv Is Rage 2. The song reaches 24 on the Hot 100 and goes platinum. The album fails to materialize.
September 20, 2018
An album called What Is This? appears on Spotify credited under Uzi’s real name, Symere Woods. Some fans believe he is blindsiding them with new music or attempting an end-run around his label. In actuality, the album is fake, a compilation of previously leaked snippets uploaded by a fan.
December 8, 2018
During a show in Philadelphia, Uzi claims the album is done. “I know y’all are wondering when I’m going to drop my album,” he says, before pausing. “Alright, I’m finally done with that jawn. I’ma drop that jawn,” before debuting “That’s a Rack,” a single that won’t be officially released for another several months.
December 24, 2018
On his guest verse for Shabazz PBG’s “Shells,” Lil Uzi Vert admits he’s: “tryna figure out how I’m gon get out my deal.”
January 11, 2019
Lil Uzi Vert claims to have retired. “I wanna take the time out to say I thank each and every one of my supporters but I’m done with Music,” he writes on Instagram. “I deleted everything. I wanna be normal ... I wanna wake up in 2013. You are free.”
January 12, 2019
A few weeks into his retirement, Uzi claims his label is keeping him from releasing music, then compares signing a record deal to snitching. “Y’all talking about dropping something? I tried to drop something. I dropped ‘New Patek’—that shit ain’t get leaked,” he said. “I been tryna drop something. Bro this is my life now. All I can do is make music and sit back and wait for y’all response and make visions to this shit. You think I don’t wanna drop music? You just gotta understand—people don’t love me.”
March 12, 2019
Lil Uzi Vert reaffirms that he is retired but says he wants to release music, again putting the onus on his label. “I wish they let me feed y’all,” he says on Instagram Live. “Tell them to come on let me feed y’all with the old stuff. I don’t make music no more but y’all can have this old stuff,” he adds, confirming that he didn’t actually delete everything as he claimed.
March 21, 2019
The rapper Nav seemingly corroborates Lil Uzi Vert’s claims of being handcuffed by his label. “DJ Drama and Don Cannon won’t clear his verse legally,” he writes on Instagram. “I used to be a big fan of them since Gangsta Grillz mixtapes and thought they support new artists. I guess it’s all about the $$$$ for them now!”
March 25, 2019
Responding to the swirling rumors that Generation Now is to blame for all the delays, DJ Drama leaves an Instagram comment saying that Uzi can release the album “any day he wants.” This is the label’s first suggestion that the only one holding up Eternal Atake’s release is Uzi. “He has me and Cannon’s total support and blessings to drop it,” Drama adds.
In response to his Generation Now boss’s declaration, Uzi implies that DJ Drama is misrepresenting the situation and is in complete control of the album. He links the delays to his relationship with Drama’s girlfriend. “If you want your album 2 drop Number One Rule don’t hang with the boss girlfriend,” he writes on Instagram, before adding, “Let the guilty answer all the blogs. FREE UZI.”
March 27, 2019
Uzi officially signs a management deal with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation. Earlier that week, he cryptically thanked the imprint for getting him back in the studio, raising speculation that he’d left Generation Now.
March 28, 2019
Apparently fed up with the standoff, Uzi goes rogue and releases a new song, aptly titled “Free Uzi.” The song is removed from all streaming platforms within 24 hours. A source tells Rolling Stone that Atlantic is indeed barring Uzi from releasing music. A few pointed lines from the song seemed aimed at his Generation Now team: “I can’t trust none of these niggas, might turn on me/I’m still a millionaire, this shit not hurtin’ me/But it’s hurtin’ you/And I know the truth.”
Meanwhile, another fake album, this time called Eternal Atake and released under the name Symere Wood (no “s”), appears on Apple Music and Spotify. The album reaches the top of the Apple Music charts before being taken down.
March 31, 2019
TMZ publishes conflicting reports about the nature of Uzi’s contract. One source suggests that Uzi’s team proposed an amended contract, but the label rejected it. Another source claims that Generation Now hasn’t heard any of Uzi’s new music, making it “difficult for the label to set release dates, or figure out marketing and promotion plans.”
April 9, 2019
Briefly breaking up an impasse, Lil Uzi Vert finally releases two singles, presumably ahead of the album, “That’s a Rack” and “Sanguine Paradise,” this time officially under the Generation Now imprint. It seems as if the rollout has begun.
May 12, 2019
During a performance at Rolling Loud, Lil Uzi Vert again claims he’s completed Eternal Atake. “I ain’t gonna lie, the other night, I finished the last song to the album,” he says, before leaving the stage abruptly.
June 4, 2019
Lil Uzi Vert claims the album will be released in two weeks, with no other information confirmed.
June 25, 2019
Over two weeks pass with no concrete updates. When Uzi is asked when it will be released he responds, “I don’t know, honestly.”
September 18, 2019
In an interview with GQ, Uzi shrugged off any future release date for Eternal Atake, saying he wasn’t done adding to it. “I like making music, and I like making people happy,” he said, “but the music is whatever, bro. I really do it just to make my family happy. Like, it's just something for my family to talk about.”
December 13, 2019
Lil Uzi Vert releases Eternal Atake’s lead single, “Futsal Shuffle 2020.” The song, which samples Tyler, the Creator and Nardwuar, comes with its very own dance.
December 19, 2019
In an interview with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe, Grimes reveals that she and Uzi had plans to work together on an EP but he never downloaded the files. “It hurt my feelings. I think ‘Darkseid’ is from that session. That’s how I, like, have all these weird rap beats,” she explained.
January 17, 2020
A new year means new Eternal Atake promises. On Twitter, Lil Uzi Vert describes the unreleased project as his “best body of work.”
February 28, 2020
Another tentative date is set. While livestreaming and blasting music in a car, Uzi screams “Eternal Atake! Two weeks!” as he pushes into the 94-mph range.
March 1, 2020
Lil Uzi Vert shares a new single called “That Way.” The song interpolates the Backstreet Boys hit “I Want It That Way.”
March 3, 2020
On Twitter, Uzi shares three potential covers for the album. He then asks fans to vote for their favorite. The new cover will replace the Heaven’s Gate logo.
Later that evening, the rapper shares a short film he co-directed, which also doubles as a trailer for the album. In it, he plays an office worker embraced by a cult when he’s beamed up by a UFO.
March 6, 2020
With no warning, Uzi finally drops Eternal Atake on Friday morning. The album appeared on Tidal and Spotify before making its way to Apple Music. It doesn’t feature “Free Uzi,” and the singles released to date have been relegated to bonus tracks. The album includes the Internet’s Syd—the album’s only credited feature—on the song “Urgency.”
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
