“Pink Tape” was announced on July 16th, 2021. Uzi had posted the title of the album, and confirmed it would be released soon. Seeing this, I expected the album to drop well within the next year. Two whole years later, the album was confirmed to release on all platforms on June 30th, 2023. When it did, I was hanging with my friends, staying up at my house for the album to release.
We all used to be huge fans of Uzi, and were pretty excited for it to drop.
As soon as the clock struck midnight, I eagerly rushed over to the speaker to start playing the first song. It was incredible. Arguably Uzi’s best song in years, “Flooded the Face” was a step in the right direction. Fast-paced, exciting, and sounding more and more like his old albums every second into the song.
After it was over, we had high hopes for the rest of the album. As we turned on the second song, Uzi found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
He had somehow completely switched his voice, production, and style into something obscene.
Songs were filled with nonsensical guitar riffs and thrash drumming, musically, the songs were everywhere. I like to describe the album’s fast decline as a bowl of soup that a chef keeps adding more ingredients to. Oregano here, some Bacon there, maybe even some Anchovies. The point is, once you keep adding more and more and more to the dish, it becomes unrecognizable from its original state.
That is exactly what happened on “Pink Tape”. Drum fill here, Guitar solo here, indiscernible noises over here, and what is left is a recipe for disaster. All in all, Uzi will always be known as one of the greats in the modern hip-hop age, and will always have a consistently great discography. This album however, will leave a pink stain on a consistently great tablecloth.