Anthony Fantano has built a reputation for sharing extremely critical opinions on his YouTube channel, TheNeedleDrop. Throughout his career, he has awarded disappointing ratings to several records that many listeners consider classics. His response to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy remains a notable example, as Pitchfork rated the album a perfect 10 while Fantano scored it a 6.
The music critic is now attracting attention online because of his reaction to Lil Uzi Vert’s latest EP, Almost Forever. Fantano awarded the release only 1 out of 10, making his assessment especially brutal. He also described it as the weakest and most unnecessary project Uzi has released.
“I literally think this is like one of the worst and most pointless projects Uzi has ever released into the world,” Fantano said. “Honestly, some of the worst music I've heard in 2026, some of the worst music of Uzi's career.”
Fantano objected to what he considered homophobic lyrics on the EP, especially because Uzi identifies as nonbinary. He felt that the references undermined Uzi’s queer identity and came across as disrespectful. The critic was also frustrated by the lyrics involving lean.
“How are you going to be non-binary and have an unironic no homo bar on your song?” Fantano asked. “We're literally writing cough syrup guzzling anthems with emo trap vocal leads at the age of 31. You didn't want to grow out of this at any point? Didn't want to switch it up or just kind of try something else?”
Uzi’s recent releases have faced plenty of negative reactions, and Almost Forever has received similar treatment. However, Fantano’s rating clearly stands out as the most severe criticism so far.
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