By commercial rap standards, trap-pop superstar
Lil Uzi Vert takes their time between releases. Rather than a steady drip of new tracks and quickly realized projects,
Uzi's chart-topping 2020 album
Eternal Atake was followed only by a collaborative mixtape with
Future,
Pluto x Baby Pluto, and
Uzi remained relatively quiet from that point on. While work on third album The Pink Tape continued, the nine-track EP
Red & White materialized to tide fans over. The short collection focuses more on cultivating a vibe than making any grand statement, setting the tone with aptly titled lead track "SPACE CADET," and following with a smattering of similarly produced tracks of spaced-out trap, infectious Auto-Tuned hooks, and
Lil Uzi Vert's signature melodic delivery that conveys a touch of melancholy to even his most puffed-up brags. The songs reach their toughest state on bangers like the feverish "HITTIN MY SHOULDER," but largely stick to fluid, atmospheric trap like the icy synth-bedded "GLOCK IN MY PURSE" or "CIGARETTE," which sounds like a slow-motion blur even as
Uzi's flow picks up speed. Closing track "F.F." (shorthand for "Final Fantasy") goes somewhere different, adding orchestral flourishes to machine-gun hi-hats and pushing the final moments of
Red & White into a dreamworld unlike the rest of the EP. ~ Fred Thomas