On ‘Pluto x Baby Pluto,’ Lil Uzi Vert Shines and Future Sleeps

This past month, Lil Uzi Vert and Future released their long-awaited collaborative album “Pluto x Baby Pluto,” delivering endless chemistry and straightforward thrills. While the album as a whole is a success, Future’s failure to innovate on his signature style leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Future is a veteran of the joint album. In the past five years, the rapper has released projects with Gucci Mane, Young Thug, and Drake. A Future-Uzi collab album has been in the works for some time. Separated by a ten-year age gap, the junior Uzi has been vocal about Future’s influence on his music. Uzi’s “Baby Pluto” alter ego is inspired by Future’s 2012 debut album, “Pluto.” This year, the duo has churned out a steady run of team-ups. In March, Future featured on the deluxe version of Uzi’s album “Eternal Atake.” In May, Uzi appeared on Future’s eight album, “High on Life.” And in August, the rappers released a pair of singles. “Pluto x Baby Pluto” is the highly-anticipated first full-length collaboration from the “Pluto” rappers.

On the album, the pair are solidly supported by straightforward production that forsakes artistic growth in the name of fun. The best beats on the project come from known hit-makers Zaytoven, London on da Track, and veteran executive producer DJ ESCO. The opening track “Stripes Like Burberry” is a fitting introduction, nicely cradling Uzi and Future’s melodic delivery in a landscape of synths, high hats, and bass. The production is consistently high quality, but it doesn’t break any new ground. The album lacks the overall cohesion and experimentation that made Uzi’s “Eternal Atake” such a success. It is equivalent to a really great playlist — a project that can be played just as well on shuffle as in order. Nevertheless, the excitement of hearing Future and Uzi together is enough to forgive most of the missed opportunities.

First and foremost, the album is a showcase of Future and Uzi’s stellar musical chemistry. The rappers feed off each other’s energy, throwing verses back and forth with infectious confidence. On the chorus to “Plastic,” Future passes the song off to Uzi, “Yeah, late for church / Yeah, switch your purse / Yeah, swap to Vert.” Uzi matches Future’s cool flow, “Yeah, gettin’ them racks / Yeah, spendin them racks / Yeah, makin’ it back.” The duo’s effortless bar for bar delivery makes the song one of the best on the album. The track, “That’s It,” features similar thrills with Uzi and Future rotating hook duty.

However, for much of the project, Uzi outshines Future; the student has surpassed the teacher. Future’s main problem is his lack of versatility, utilizing a similar flow and cadence on a majority of the tracks. Perhaps a result of the rapper’s lengthy career, very few of the songs on the album stand out as unique among his discography.

In contrast, Uzi displays an impressive toolkit that keeps his outings diverse and exciting. On “Million Dollar Play,” Uzi experiments with a rapid delivery that gives the track a rhythmic drive unfamiliar to his previous work: “I got a lot whole lot of bands in my pants, they from France / My girl from Chicago, she said she don't like rappers.” The song features an entirely new flow from Uzi and contains his strongest verse on the project. Uzi also leaves room for his signature melodic sound. On “I Don’t Wanna Break Up,” he breaks out the pipes, achieving a similar catchiness to his emo-inspired 2017 mega-hit “XO TOUR Llif3.” Uzi’s stylistic dynamism continually pushes the album forward and accounts for Future’s sleepiness.

“Pluto x Baby Pluto” mostly lives up to the hype, delivering a number of very high quality tracks that have the potential to do big numbers. Even with its flaws, the album is a landmark achievement in rap, with Uzi at the arguable peak of his career and the veteran Future still able to produce hits. The album is another trophy on Future’s wall of joint projects, and another rocket boost to the career of Lil Uzi Vert.