"That Way" is a song by American rapper

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their face tattoo, facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous ...

. It was released on March 1, 2020, by Generation Now and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

as the second single from their second studio album ''

Eternal Atake ''Eternal Atake'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil Uzi Vert. It is their first project since their 2017 studio album ''Luv Is Rage 2''. After being initially announced in 2018, the album was released on March 6, 2020, through Ge ...

''. The song prominently interpolates the hook of the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The gr ...

' "

I Want It That Way I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

" (1999).

Critical reception

Alphonse Pierre of ''

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'' viewed the song as the rapper's "return to the shoulder shimmying, eye-rolling, singing

Hayley Williams Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore. Born and raised in Missi ...

in the backseat of a car Uzi, whose animated personality made

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meteoric rise possible". In context of the album, Charles Homes and Elias Leight at ''

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'' described the composition of the song as "a jarringly saccharine sample of the Backstreet Boys' 1999 hit "I Want It That Way"" in connection "with a jittery, steamrolling track built around the music from Microsoft Windows' videogame Space Cadet 3D Pinball". As for Uzi's performance on the song, Carl Lamarre concluded that they are in their "element, spraying lighthearted bars over the breezy track" and called the song an "earworm".

Responses

member Nick Carter praised the song on his

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and told Uzi that he wants them to be "featured on our next album".

Cover Art Controversy

The cover art has been subject to allegations of plagiarism. On March 14, 2020, an online artist under the alias of 'hugeriver8' on

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claimed that the cover art plagiarizes a nearly identical piece they posted on their blog in 2014. The human figure on the cover art has also been claimed to be copied from a different artist under the alias of 'la_la_la_fries', for a piece of fanart of the guitarist

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

, which was first posted on Instagram in late November 2015. When prompted, the artist of the ''That Way'' album cover responded that he simply designed what Lil Uzi Vert had asked him to design, and that the picture he is alleged to have plagiarized was sent as reference work. Following this, Lil Uzi Vert left a comment saying, "Hey I’m not a mean person or a thief I get inspired a lot. If you want Money I will have my team contact and give you Money. Signed… Baby Pluto. P.S. You are a great artist." No further allegations have been made beyond this, and the comment appears to have settled the matter.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Lil Uzi Vert 2020 singles 2020 songs Lil Uzi Vert songs Songs written by Max Martin Songs written by Andreas Carlsson Songs written by Lil Uzi Vert