Review Summary: I'll be pretty 'til it kills me.
Uffie, for those who may not remember (for it's been a long time), is a pop/hip-hop artist who although is American, is more commonly associated with France and the UK, where she has lived for the majority of her professional career and has had the most success.
Tokyo Love Hotel is the long-awaited follow-up to her debut album
Sex Dreams and Denim Jeans, which was released in 2010, almost a decade prior. During her hiatus, Uffie had a child, claimed to be making new music several times, and claimed to be retiring from music as "Uffie" for good. Finally in early 2019, we were given the
Tokyo Love Hotel EP, which at that point no one would have ever believed would see the light of day until the moment of its release.
The main theme of
Tokyo Love Hotel is being a sad girl. The lyrics to every song are about how Uffie's life circumstances, whether they be relationship problems or financial reasons, are bringing her mood down considerably. But despite the gloomy nature of the lyrics, Uffie is determined to conquer her melancholy through her art, with beats that are minimalistic but danceable, production that is bass-heavy (this is one that always bumps in your vehicle even if your speakers were made in China), and hooks that are absolutely infectious. Uffie has significantly dialed down on the rapping from
Sex Dreams in favor of singing, a good decision because (a) her voice is lovely, (b) most of the beats here run at a slower tempo than they did on
Sex Dreams, and (c) it makes this sound like an overall much more mature release. Uffie is an artist that skirts the line between hip-hop and pop, and I've always felt that gravitating more toward the pop side is the best decision for these types of musicians later on in their careers.
Despite
Tokyo Love Hotel being only a seven track, 20-minute long EP after a nine year gap from
Sex Dreams (an album I still enjoy), I am immensely satisfied with it, and feel that it is a more than worthy follow-up. I am also proud of Uffie for finally getting her "stuff" together as far as keeping her word on delivering a project, as well as overcoming the depression that she is very apparently from her lyrics dealing with, and being able to turn it into something catchy and fun. As for the future of Uffie's career, if she sticks with the catchy-sad style she developed here, expands on it, and stays motivated, with some decent marketing and exposure (something this EP got none of) she has potential to make and release a killer album. But if there's one thing that longtime Uffie fans can tell everyone else, it's not to hold your breath.
