Two mainstream superstars returned to music in a major way on Friday (June 30). Along with teen pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo releasing her lead single for her sophomore studio album, genre-bending rap icon Lil Uzi Vert also dropped their first solo album in over three years. Right when this song and album came out at midnight ET, though, Spotify experienced some technical difficulties due to an influx of visitors.
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After discovering the streaming app malfunctioned and was not able to play Rodrigo and Uzi’s new music, the two artists’ respective fans took to Twitter to complain about the platform. With each side claiming their favorite musician’s release was the cause of the problem, a debate ensued.
Whether it was Rodrigo fans writing, “(Uzi) not crashing no damn spotify can y’all be (for real) in the comments?” or Uzi fans tweeting, “Who (the fuck) is Olivia Rodrigo? Uzi crashed Spotify,” both fanbases felt their artist was the more powerful force. While the true source of the Spotify collapse likely will not be revealed, it’s abundantly clear that both Rodrigo and Uzi’s releases were monumental.
Rodrigo’s song “Vampire” is the 20-year-old’s first output since the release of her 2021 debut album Sour. Dropping in promotion of her upcoming LP titled Guts, “Vampire” sees Rodrigo hope to put a proper foot forward in her attempt to replicate the success of Sour, which landed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and won the 2022 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album. Guts is slated to arrive on September 8.
As for Uzi, Pink Tape is looking to become hip-hop’s first No. 1 album of 2023, as previous projects from Gunna and Young Thug fell short of the mark. Consisting of a whopping 26 songs, Pink Tape includes songs of many different influences and genres, such as rap, rock, pop, punk, and more. An all-encompassing demonstration of the sounds that have impacted Uzi’s artistry, the album was surely worth the wait for their millions of fans.
(Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)
