Eternal Atake

Eternal Atake is Lil Uzi Vert’s oft-delayed second studio album and a follow-up to his August 2017 debut album, Luv Is Rage 2.

In April 2018, Uzi’s social media accounts were allegedly hacked by fans, who would make various posts over the following three months. While the accounts were “hacked,” a snippet of a new track (which would become “New Patek”) was posted in June.

Sometime after “regaining” control of his accounts, Uzi revealed the album’s title on July 16, 2018:

Then, on July 31, he posted the original artwork for the album, which is thematically inspired by the logo of Heaven’s Gate, a cult that infamously committed a mass suicide of 39 people in 1997. He also changed his profile picture to an image of Marshall Applewhite, the cult’s leader.

After receiving backlash and being threatened with legal action by the two surviving members of the cult, Uzi posted an alternate version of the cover, which depicts him as an anime character with some minimal references to the cult.

Uzi finally released “New Patek” as a promotional single for the album on September 18, 2018. The glowing hand and keyhole on the single artwork are a continuation of the album’s Heaven’s Gate references. However, despite its relationship to the album, the song did not make the final tracklist.

On December 8, 2018, Uzi stated during a concert that he had completed the album and that it would be released “soon.”

On January 11, 2019, Uzi took to his Instagram story to unexpectedly announce his retirement from music, claiming that he had deleted all of his unreleased music and wanted to be normal again.

Uzi has often cited issues with his label, DJ Drama’s Generation Now, for the delay of his music, which Genius made a timeline of. Delay issues occurred with Luv Is Rage 2, and similar issues persisted with the lead-up to Eternal Atake.

After receiving backlash for the album’s delay, on March 24, 2019, DJ Drama took to an Instagram comment section to state that Uzi had the label’s blessing to release Eternal Atake whenever he desired.

On March 25, Uzi posted himself recording in the studio and alluded to having recently signed to Roc Nation, JAY-Z’s record label. The label then updated its roster to include Uzi, confirming his union with the team. On March 28, he released the song he was recording, titled “Free Uzi,” which alluded to his various label issues. The song was largely removed from the internet less than a day later.

On April 9, Uzi released two promotional singles: “Sanguine Paradise” and “That’s a Rack.” The tracks had been leaked less than two weeks prior. Neither track appeared on the final tracklist.

On November 30, Uzi reinitiated the album rollout when he began teasing the album’s lead single. The song, “Futsal Shuffle 2020,” was released on December 13.

In early January 2020, Uzi continued to tease the album by posting several promotional images and making suggestive tweets.

On February 1, Uzi tweeted that the album would feature sixteen tracks.

On February 27, Uzi went on Instagram Live, and in the livestream, he exclaimed “Eternal Atake, two weeks,” leading fans to assume a March 13 release date.

On March 2, Uzi confirmed his prior comments:

Later that day, he teased several artworks for the album, each of which correlated to his musical alter egos: “Uzi,” “Orenji,” and “Baby Pluto.” After asking fans to vote for their preferred cover, the ultimate consensus on March 3 was the “Uzi” artwork.

Also on the 3rd, Uzi released a short film for the album via Twitter. The film included many of the promotional images that Uzi had released over the previous months. According to Uzi, the film shows how “Baby Pluto” was created.

Two days later, Uzi unveiled the album’s tracklist, revealing that the only feature would be Syd and that “Futsal Shuffle 2020” and “That Way” would be bonus tracks.

Uzi surprised fans by releasing the album in its entirety mid-day on March 6.

Upon the album’s release, a fan theorized that the album’s eighteen tracks were divided into three categories that represented Uzi’s three musical alter egos. Uzi corroborated the theory in his own tweet.

Almost immediately after releasing Eternal Atake, Uzi began teasing a deluxe release of the album. Information about the deluxe can be read here.