Lil Pump should be every parent’s worst nightmare. Sure, there are plenty of rappers these days that continuously spew ignorance into the mainstream but over the past 18 months, Pump has really turned up the dial on not-giving-a-fuck about even a fuck.
It’s crazy to think that less than three years ago, little Gazzy Garcia was a 15-year-old, single tattooed hype man for Smokepurpp waving around an assault rifle in the “Ski Mask” video. Now, he’s damn near Michael Jackson to today’s high school kids thanks to this wildly untroubled attitude and infectious hooks.
His latest project, Harverd Dropout, stands as the long-awaited litmus test, for his self-titled “debut album” which was essentially a roundup of his previously released SoundCloud cuts with some originals thrown in to add some streaming numbers.
Other than polished vocals and drastically better mixing, Lil Pump sounds the exact same as he did when he dropped Lil Pump; zooted on Xans, lean, and without a care in the world. The rapping is simple, the concepts are easy to grasp as he pretty much gets straight to the point on all 16 tracks (said point being the drugs and money he bathes in excessively). The biggest and most noticeable piece of growth comes from the instrumentals. These beats aren’t finished with a crackling distortion like on his SoundCloud tracks but with a pulsating EDM ambiance. It isn’t full Pitbull circa 2011 but the Top 40 tones Diablo are definitely in full effect.
Remarkably so, Pump really hammers home the “dropout” theme with multiple mentions of smashing the teachers who used to doubt him, eschewing responsibility and getting rich despite not being able to read or write. On the opener “Drop Out,” he quickly claims dropout status by declaring “Dropped out, then I got rich/Dropped out, then I put a Patek on my wrist/Dropped out for my teacher ’cause she ain’t shit/Dropped out, spent a half a million on my whip.”
The previously released promo tracks like Kanye West-assisted “I Love It,” “Racks on Racks” and “Butterfly Doors” are already confirmed hits be aren’t actually the album’s best and most ig’nant cuts. A track like “Be Like Me” featuring Lil Wayne slaps extra hard thanks to CBMix and actually proves a point for Pump; he birthed a lot of today’s wanna-be-viral rappers.
As abrasive, silly, fearless and eccentric an album like Harverd Dropout is, it’s hard to grade with perfect marks — especially when it comes to songs like “Drug Addicts.” Its intentionally frivolous undertones are nearly impossible to defend with madness like, “I been smokin’ since I was 11/I been poppin’ pills since I was seven” and the terribly troubling “Start the day off with a pint/I’ma show you how to live life/Take a lot of drugs, don’t think twice/I do this every day and all night.” If that isn’t poison to an impressionable teen mind, then Pump might as well succeed Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
The beats are big and brazen. The choruses are wildly catchy and some of the featured guests even get off some decently solid verses. It may be easy to declare that Lil Pump and his face-tat cohorts are giving Hip Hop a bad name, but at the end of the day, we’re being entertained by rich 18-year-old who is living out every angsty teen’s Grand Theft Auto-style wet dream.
This is the part where you stare at who’s in the mirror and see yourself as a kid again, and you get embarrassed.
Mumble rap needs to disappear.
Loser
I Love It Alone gets this album a 5
WORST ALBUM I’VE EVER HEARD FROM ANY GENRE
Hopefully this marks the beginning of the end for these throw away rappers.
WACK ALBUM BUT THE WAYNE VERSE IS FLAMES.
That verse was not fire. It was just better than anything Lil Punk was saying. Wayne just collected a check.
Put it in the basura! Warm garbage.
Another rating better than the Lupe album?
I’m shaking my head too fam.
An embarrassment to the hip hop culture
Embarrassing really depends on which angle you’re looking at it from. Though from your angle, mine as well, it is embarrassing.
As the article pointed out, it’s just youth on steroids with a lot of camera time and financial backing (looking for more financial backing).
Also, I dig hip hop so much, but it’s a bit young and scattered to call “the whole thing” a culture, don’t you think?
cheers
Cant wait till he moves up to Fentanyl
I really hope he dies too.
This writer has some of the worst reviews in the history of this site. 3.6 is a joke. Lil Pump didn’t “birth” anything. He’s the Doink the Clown of hip hop, only he’s far less cool.
And this is the garbage you promote to our children???
3.6? OMG why do I even visit this website anymore.
WTF, me?
*slaps self in face, hard*
I totally agree there is no artist is in the trap swag mumble rap era that should be getting over a 1.2 for any album they are all wacker than wack. Scarface vs Wane face is 100 time Grammy winner vs Drake 100 time Grammy winner vs Kodak Black face is 500 time Grammy winner vs Young Gay Thug face is 550 times Grammy winner. I do not care if your offended by this it is just a fact.
Not a hip hop representative this write up was a waste dude is horribly wack on some teeny bopper clown shit thank god for hip hop and the real mcs djs and producers out there
#boombapvs.everybody
SHZA
Three point SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIX ?
3.6 today S M H Artist back in the day Scarface Nas Ice Cube Bone Thungs and Outkast would be getting like a 7000 out of 5.
The editor is right. I don’t want teens listening to this garbage crap.
TRBL.
I’m an oldhead who knows he’s an oldhead. I already know I don’t like most of this new mumble rap and trash rap, and it’s not meant for me. But never would I ever let any kids around me listen to any trash bragging “I’m a millionaire and I don’t know how to read.” That’s a new level of highlighting ignorance. All these older rappers wishing they had more education so they could have signed better deals, and Pump is on here basically saying “I don’t know sh** and I don’t care because I’m rich.” Smh. The kids are in trouble man.
Hot garbage
Why do we pump this garbage to our children???
Let’s stop acting like this is hurting the kids. There’s way more shit to worry about. This shit is just lazy no effort and music for people with no identity or sense. This stuff you be drunk at the club too nothing more nothing less