Lil Pump, also known as Gazzy Garcia, is an American rapper. Garcia is one of the most well-known members of the SoundCloud rap industry.
People know Lil Pump for his hyperactive public persona and minimalist music. Oftentimes, he is portrayed taking illegal substances such as Xanax, Lean, and Marijuana. His actions have gained tons of controversy.
Lil Pump became famous because of his single “Gucci Gang” in 2017. The song peaked at the top 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Aside from that, the Recording Industry Association of America also certified his single 5-times platinum. He featured his single on his debut album called “Lil Pump” in 2017.
The album peaked at Top 3 on the US Billboard 200. After that, he released several other singles. This includes “Be Like Me” featuring Lil Wayne, “Racks on Racks”, “Butterfly Doors”, “Drug Addicts”, “Esskeetit”, and “I Love It” featuring Kanye West.
He also released a song that was featured as a soundtrack in Deadpool 2 called “Welcome to the Party”.
In 2019, Lil Pump released his second studio album called “Harvard Dropout” and peaked at the top 7 on the Us Billboard 200.
Lil Pump Early Life
Lil Pump was born in Miami, Florida on August 17, 2000. According to an interview with J. Cole in 2018, Lil Pump stated that his parents are from Colombia. Unfortunately, they separated when he was still 6 years old.
Lil Pump’s cousin introduced him to Omar Pineiro when he was 13 years old. Omar Pineiro is also known as Smokepurpp. Eventually, Pineiro and Lil Pump became collaborators.
Pineiro and Lil Pump were expelled from a couple of various district schools.
Lil Pump had the chance to enroll in an opportunity high school. Unfortunately, he was expelled in 10th grade after he incited a riot and fought other people.
Lil Pump Early Career
Lil Pump’s rap career started when Smokepurpp produced a track and requested him to freestyle over it. In 2016, they released the single independently on SoundCloud.
The song was Lil Pump’s debut single. It was titled “Lil Pump”. After that, Lil Pump released other singles on the music streaming site. This includes “Drum$tick”, “Gang Shit”, “Ignorant”, and “Elementary”.
Every single he released on SoundCloud gained more than 3 million listeners. The success of his singles on the website gained him a reputation among the underground rap scene of South Florida.
In 2017, Lil Pump started getting attention by releasing the singles “Boss” and “D Rose”. These songs were a huge hit on the website. It collected more than 70 million listeners.
Since “D Rose” was so popular, Cole Bennett decided to produce a music video for it.
Lil Pump signed a record deal on June 9, 2017, with Warner Records and The Lights Global. However, Warner Bros. Records voided his contract in January 2018 because he was still a minor during the time of signing.
Lil Pump announced via Twitter in July 2017 that he is still working on his debut album. He said that he’s planning to release the album in August.
Unfortunately, the release of the album was pushed back. Instead, Lil Pump released a single “Gucci Gang”. This was his first song that reached the Billboard Top 100.
On January 11, 2018, the Recording Industry Association of America certified the song gold and platinum. It was certified triple platinum on July 31, 2018.
Achievements and Awards
Since Lil Pump is quite new to the rap industry, he has not obtained awards. However, the rapper was nominated for MTV Video Music Awards for Push Artist of the Year in 2018.
Lil Pump was also nominated for Billboard Music Awards for Top Streaming Song.
Legal Problems
Lil Pump was arrested on August 29, 2018, in Miami for driving without a license. He also announced on September 3 that he will be going to jail for several months for a parole violation.
However, the rapper appeared on the show Saturday Night Live. According to his manager, Lil Pump had served a prison sentence. However, he didn’t provide any further details.
Lil Pump was arrested on December 4, 2018, by Danish police after he performed in Vega, Copenhagen for possessing weed.
The rapper was fined $700 to $800. After that, Lil Pump streamed himself flipping his middle finger at a police officer while being arrested. Because of that, the rapper was banned from entering the country for 2 years.
Though the security didn’t find any drugs, Lil Pump got mad with the police during the encounter and started loudly arguing with the employees. Because of this, he was taken into custody.
Lil Pump Total Net Worth
As of this year, Lil Pump has a net worth of $8 million. He gained most of his net worth from his album sales.
Lil Pump’s net worth in 2017 was only around $1 million. However, that greatly improved because of his recording contract with Warner Bros. Records worth $8 million.
According to the contract, the rapper would obtain $8 million in advance. Then, he would get $9,000 during the first year and $12,000 in the second year.
After that, the contract would pay him $15,000 every year through the 17th year. However, that is not all of it. Lil Pump received a 14% share of his royalties in the United States.
Aside from his album sales, Lil Pump also earns money from campaigns and monetized videos on his social media channels. This includes YouTube.
In September 2018, Lil Pump had gained more than 11 million subscribers and around 2 billion views on YouTube.
As of today, Lil Pump is only 21 years old. However, he is already making a huge name in the music industry.
While he has been in the news more for his controversies, his songs and raps are what made him popular.
