Lil Pump


Gazzy Garcia, known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper and songwriter. He is known for his hyperactive public persona, where he is often portrayed taking drugs, particularly marijuana, lean, Xanax and MDMA; he is often criticized for his behavior seen on social media. He is also known for shouting his catchphrase "Esskeetit". Garcia was named as one of the 30 Under 30 by Forbes in 2019.
Lil Pump rose to popularity in 2017, after he released his single "Gucci Gang" from his debut album Lil Pump, which peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and is certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. He has since released other songs, including "I Love It", "Esskeetit", "Drug Addicts", "Butterfly Doors", "Racks on Racks", and "Be Like Me". He released his debut studio album, Lil Pump, in October 2017. His song "Welcome to the Party" was featured in the soundtrack for Deadpool 2. He released his second studio album Harverd Dropout on February 22, 2019.

Early life

Garcia was born August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida. In a 2018 interview with J. Cole, Garcia stated that his parents are from Colombia and they divorced when he was six years old.
When Garcia was thirteen years old, his cousin, Lil Ominous, introduced him to Omar Pineiro, better known as Smokepurpp; the two eventually became collaborators. Garcia and Pineiro were expelled from multiple district schools. Garcia, thereafter, enrolled in an opportunity high school but was expelled in the tenth grade for fighting and inciting a riot.

Career

Career beginnings (2016)

Garcia's rap career began when Smokepurpp produced a track and asked him to freestyle over it. The single produced was independently released in 2016 on the music streaming website SoundCloud, as his debut single, "Lil Pump". Garcia quickly followed the song with singles "Elementary", "Ignorant", "Gang Shit", and "Drum$tick", each garnering over three million streams. The success of his tracks on SoundCloud earned him recognition among the South Florida underground rap scene, in a style known as "SoundCloud rap". He co-headlined the No Jumper tour in 2016, and also performed at the Rolling Loud Festival.

Rising popularity and ''Lil Pump'' (2017)

Garcia began 2017 by releasing the singles "D Rose" and "Boss", which were major hits on SoundCloud, collecting a combined 70 million streams. The popularity of "D Rose" led to a music video being produced by Chicago based director Cole Bennett, also known as Lyrical Lemonade. The music video was released on YouTube on January 30, 2017, and has gained 145 million views as of July 2018. On June 9, 2017, Garcia signed a record deal with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records, just two months before his seventeenth birthday. However, in January 2018, his contract with Warner Bros. Records was voided because he had been a minor at the time of signing.
In July 2017, Garcia announced through Twitter that his debut album was in the works and would be released in August. Although the album was not released in August it was pushed back and he instead released the song "Gucci Gang", which became his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at number three on November 8, 2017. The song was certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 11, 2018, and as of July 31, 2018, is certified triple platinum.
On October 6, 2017, Garcia released his debut commercial studio album, Lil Pump, featuring Smokepurpp, Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty, Chief Keef, Rick Ross, and 2 Chainz.

''Harverd Dropout'' (2018–2019)

Garcia released "I Shyne" on January 18, 2018, with producer Carnage. Following reports that he had left his former labels Tha Lights Lobal and Warner Records and the contract had been voided on the grounds of him being a minor when he signed, competition rose to sign Garcia with offers reportedly as high as $8 million to $12 million or more, and artists such as Gucci Mane and DJ Khaled taking interest in him. Garcia sparked rumors he had signed with Gucci Mane's imprint, 1017 Records, in February 2018. Nonetheless, Garcia re-signed another contract with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records for $8 million on March 12, 2018.
On April 13, 2018, Garcia released the single "Esskeetit", which debuted and peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. On May 24, 2018, Garcia performed "Esskeetit" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
In July 2018, he released the single "Drug Addicts" alongside a music video which features the award winning actor Charlie Sheen.
On September 7, 2018, Garcia collaborated with Kanye West and comedian Adele Givens for the track "I Love It". The track went straight to number 1 on the Canadian Hot 100.
Garcia announced in August 2018 a tour to promote his unreleased album Harverd Dropout, but it was cancelled a month later due to "unforeseen circumstances". On October 5, 2018, he released "Multi Millionaire" as a single featuring Lil Uzi Vert.
On October 25, 2018, dubstep producer Skrillex released the song "Arms Around You", which is a collaboration he made with Garcia, Maluma, Swae Lee and posthumous vocals from XXXTentacion.
On December 16, 2018, Garcia was accused of being racist towards Asians after previewing a snippet of his new song "Butterfly Doors"; the lyrics contained Asian stereotypes and slurs including "Ching chong" and "they call me Yao Ming cause my eyes real low" the lyric at which, Garcia mockingly pulls his eyes back. This caused a fair amount of negative press coverage and caused Chinese rappers to release diss tracks against him. On December 24, 2018, he uploaded an apology video on Instagram regarding the incident and later released the single with the offensive lyrics edited out.
On February 21, 2019, Garcia released the song "Be Like Me" featuring Lil Wayne. A music video featuring both of the artists was also released. On February 25, 2019, Garcia performed "Be Like Me" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.
On February 22, 2019, he released his second studio album Harverd Dropout, featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Offset, Quavo, Smokepurpp, Lil Uzi Vert, 2 Chainz, and YG.

Subsequent ventures (2020)

On February 13, 2020, Garcia stated on his Instagram story "I'm done doing music I quit..."; he did not elaborate. However days later he said on Instagram "YALL THOUGHT I QUIT BITCH IM BACK" and previewed a new song. Lil Pump 2 will be his next album.

Personal life

Garcia has stated on social media and in lyrics that he is unable to read due to having dyslexia.

Legal issues

On February 15, 2018, Garcia was arrested for discharging a weapon in an inhabited place. According to his manager, three men attempted to break into his home in San Fernando Valley at around 4 pm before shooting into the door. Police found the bullet may have come from inside the home, coming back later with a search warrant before finding an unloaded handgun below the balcony with ammunition elsewhere in the residence. Garcia's mother was subsequently investigated for endangering a minor and having an unsecured firearm at the home.
On August 29, 2018, Garcia was arrested for driving without a license in Miami.
On September 3 he announced that he would be going to jail for 'a few months' for a parole violation stemming from the arrest. However, he appeared on the live American television show Saturday Night Live on September 29. Garcia's manager told Billboard in October 2018 that the rapper had served a prison sentence, but did not give any further details.
On December 4, 2018, Garcia was arrested by Danish police after a performance in Vega, Copenhagen for possessing marijuana, Garcia was fined $700–800. He later live streamed himself flipping his middle finger at a police officer while being detained. He was subsequently banned from entering the country for two years.
On December 13, 2018, Garcia was arrested at a Miami airport for disorderly conduct as he was about to take off on a flight; security wanted to search Garcia's luggage for cannabis but Garcia insisted he did not have any. While no drugs were found, during the encounter with police Garcia became angry and began arguing loudly with the security employees. He was subsequently taken into custody.

Discography