Lil Pump

Lil Pump knows how to get the world’s attention: repetitive boasting of the highest order. Born Gazzy Garcia in Miami in 2000, the MC got kicked out of school in 10th grade for fighting, and turned to making music with fellow Floridian Smokepurpp. Together, the pair helped push the punk-inspired SoundCloud rap scene from underground to mainstream. Pump’s self-titled 2016 single, produced by Smokepurpp, saw the rapper freestyling and ad-libbing over a simple, lo-fi beat. The next year, Pump would release his proper debut album, also named after himself; the project housed Pump’s breakthrough song, “Gucci Gang,” an ominously constructed track that sounds darker than its gleefully wealth-focused subject matter. In 2018, Pump collaborated with hip-hop visionary Kanye West on the lustful single “I Love It,” which was driven by a funky bassline that differed sonically from Pump’s usual blown-out production choices. Pump’s 2020 braggadocious single, “Life Like Me,” found him exploring a more mature sound, capped off by a deepened voice, but staying in the topical realms he’s accustomed to. Lil Pump lives an opulent life, and he wants us to know it. He’s willing to tell us as many times as he needs to, but it works because he can make even the simplest reiterations sound compelling.