With the release of “XO TOUR Lif3,” which received upwards of a hundred million streams on soundcloud, the hype of Luv is Rage 2 was through the roof. “XO TOUR Lif3” was a banger, and people – myself included – were excited to hear an album containing songs like it. Sadly, Luv is Rage 2 was a disappointment.
Most albums have a few skippable songs – it’s unavoidable. Lil Uzi Vert’s new album, Luv is Rage 2, is full of skippable songs. The two standout songs – “XO TOUR Lif3” and “The Way Life Goes” – are good, but are they worth slogging through 13 mediocre ones?
“XO TOUR Lif3” and “The Way Life Goes” are good for the same reasons: they’re catchy, lyrically interesting, and have hazy, melancholy beats. For these songs, Uzi’s autotune works. His voice and the beats compliment each other, blurring together into the sonic equivalent of popping a couple Xanax. The rest of the album isn’t able to pull this off. Uzi mostly whines over forgettable beats with even more forgettable lyrics. On “444+222” (“oh wow that equals 666 Lil Uzi is woke”) Uzi mumbles uninspired lines like: “Got that girl wet, she need three towels.” Lots of times, artists are able to cover up bad lyrics by making songs that are melodically interesting, or by making songs that hype people up. Uzi, on the other hand, has done neither, making this album extremely forgettable.
Another gripe I have about Luv is Rage 2 is how unfocused it is. It’s all over the place. Uzi wails as usual on some songs, raps on some others, and none of his songs really have much of a structure to them. I wouldn’t even call this an album; I’d call this a collection of singles with one commonality: boring beats and melodies, and bad lyrics. I’m baffled that Uzi didn’t make an album full of songs like “XO TOUR Lif3” and “The Way Life Goes.” If he had, this album would’ve been brilliant. Sadly, Uzi threw together an album in which many of the tracks start off okay, but his flow and style get unfocused and the songs seem to drag on for ages.
Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv is Rage 2 is simply a jumbled collection of singles released on Soundcloud. Uzi is just throwing crap at the wall and seeing what turns into a hit. That is not what albums are, nor what they should be.