Lil Pump

Gazzy Fabio Garcia (born August 17, 2000), known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as part of the SoundCloud rap scene in the late 2010s, gaining distinction for his minimalist music and rambunctious public persona. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he gained mainstream attention following the release of his 2017 single "Gucci Gang", which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded his self-titled debut studio album, released by Warner Records in October of that year.

"Gucci Gang", despite being panned by critics, received quintuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while its parent album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. In the following two years, he saw continued success with his singles "I Love It" (with Kanye West featuring Adele Givens), "Esskeetit", "Drug Addicts", "Butterfly Doors", "Be Like Me" (featuring Lil Wayne), and "Welcome to the Party" (with Diplo and French Montana featuring Zhavia Ward) for the Deadpool 2 soundtrack. His second album, Harverd Dropout (2019), peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200 and was panned by critics. His third album, Lil Pump 2 (2023), was met with mixed critical reception and failed to chart in any known territory.

Early life

Gazzy Fabio Garcia was born on August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida. In a 2018 interview with J. Cole, Garcia stated that his parents are from Colombia and divorced when he was 6 years old.

When Garcia was 13 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, rising popularity, and Lil Pump (2015–2017)

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. While rising in popularity and releasing underground hits, Pump would also meet other rappers like XXXTentacion, Ski Mask the Slump God, Fat Nick and Pouya.

Garcia began gaining attention in 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. 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.