On a particular night in the summer, my brother and friends pointed out that I play too much of Lil Uzi Vert’s music on a regular basis and remind me that Eternal Atake was released over a year ago. They also mention that nobody listens to him anymore, that he’s apparently just a phase. Along with that, Uzi is my top artist on Apple Music this year, along with numerous of his songs punctuating the list of my most played tracks.

If people really do consider his music to be something to grow out of, I guess I never stepped out of my comfort zone. Of course, why would I? Uzi continues to release projects that break the mold of typical rap that we often hear today. He is notably versatile, particularly highlighting his talents on Eternal Atake where he experimented with beats to create his greatest studio album to date.

When “Demon High” began popping up in the press, I was ecstatic to see what Uzi would try next and hopeful that the song would give some insight into what Pink Tapes, his next upcoming album, might sound like. Nonetheless, I think it’s important to touch on the fact that Uzi has always been a sort of “pick-me-up artist” for me—someone I listened to when I was already in a good mood or looking to be.

“Demon High” is impressive; it blends genres to create melodious notes sprinkled throughout the song while intertwining rap into verses of the three-minute and seventeen-second track. That being said, this song does think outside of the box as far as the rap genre goes, but not for Uzi. “Demon High” reminds me of “That Way,” a track from 2020’s Eternal Atake, which lies in this limbo he has created between rap and pop. That being said, I don’t want to see an entire album like this, especially since both of these tracks precede an anticipated album release—songs such as these are nice but don’t grab my attention the way that much of Uzi’s other music does.

In all honesty, “Demon High” left my feelings confused in the scope of my opinion on this song. Again, while it is nice to see that Uzi is still able to execute songs that set him apart from other rap artists, the lyrics were cheesy to me, encroaching upon unlistenable around my third take of the track. I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoy this type of music, especially from Uzi, and this song sounds like something the late Juice WRLD would create, somebody I could never really get into.

The only other thing I found noteworthy about this track was the beat switch in the middle of the song. While it makes things a little bit more dynamic, I truly believe that Uzi sort of threw this in there because he knew that, in his scope, “Demon High” wasn’t really all that special, borderline passible in the realms of his talent, even.