Childhood & Early Life
Lil Pump was born Gazzy Garcia on August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida, to a Cuban mother and a Mexican father. He was born into a lower middle-class locality that contributed to his aggressive behavior. He got into a lot of fights in school and was never a disciplined pupil.
Soon, Lil took to drugs. He would often consume heavy amounts of marijuana, and his academic performance was affected.
He was a trickster and was expelled from almost every school he attended as a teenager. He once beat up a girl very badly. In another incident, he started a riot in school, which led to his expulsion. The riot that he caused resulted in the school being closed down. The police had to intervene to get the rioters under control. Soon, he started selling drugs.
He was interested in rap music but never imagined he would make a career in the industry. He primarily listened to Chief Keef.
He bonded with a young music producer named Smokepurpp when he was 13 years old. One of his cousins introduced him to Smokepurpp. They usually bonded over drugs and other illegal stuff. Soon, Lil Pump was drawn to Smokepurpp’s music.
By the time he was 15 years old, he had dropped out of school. Being close to Smokepurpp, he began visiting recording studios more often.
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Career
As Lil Pump began getting involved in the music production process more, he also ganged up with Smokepurpp and got involved in illegal activities, such as beating people up and breaking into houses. After sometime, Lil decided to teach himself how to make music. Despite working hard on his beats, he had trouble finding rappers who would want to use his music.
Unable to find suitable rappers and apt lyrics, Pump decided to create freestyle music. Smokepurpp loved what he heard and encouraged Pump to write raps of his own. Initially, Pump avoided such suggestions but finally decided to go ahead.
The single thus composed was titled ‘Lil Pump’ and was uploaded on ‘SoundCloud.’ The song became a huge hit on the platform.
This led them both to come up with several more singles such as ‘Elementary,’ ‘Ignorant,’ ‘Gang Shit,’ and ‘Drum$tick.’ Each of these singles earned millions of “views.” They became hopeful about a successful future career in rap music.
Owing to this success, Lil Pump became a well-known face in the South Florida underground rap arena. His music was a good example of ‘SoundCloud Rap,’ a term coined by listeners due to the rising number of rap artists uploading their work on the platform. Owing to his fame on ‘SoundCloud,’ Pump got a chance to participate in the ‘No Jumper’ tour in 2016. He also performed at the ‘Rolling Loud Festival.’
In 2017, Pump released two singles early in the year, titled ‘D Rose’ and ‘Boss,’ and both the songs broke all his previous records. Together, they garnered more than 70 million hits on ‘SoundCloud.’ Their increasing popularity reached a Chicago-based director named Cole Bennett who offered to direct music videos for them for free.
The music video for the song ‘D Rose’ was released in early 2017. Within a year, it earned more than 140 million views on ‘YouTube.’ By that time, several record labels had started approaching Lil Pump. He signed a deal with ‘Warner Bros. Records’ and ‘Tha Lights Global.’
However, it was later revealed that he was still a minor when he had signed the deal with ‘Warner Bros.’ The deal was not legal, and the contract was declared void in January 2018.
Prior to that, in mid-2017, Lil had revealed that he had been working on his debut studio album that was slated to be released later that year. The album was supposed to be released in August, but the release got delayed. In August, he released a song called ‘Gucci Gang,’ which became his first major breakthrough success single.
The song was released on ‘SoundCloud’ in late August and became the biggest hit of his music career. It reached the third spot on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart. Although the song was commercially successful, it was also criticized by many, especially for its repetitive nature. Several parodies of the song were made and shared on various social-media websites.
In October 2017, Lil’s debut self-titled studio album was released to an instant grand reception. The album debuted at the second spot on the ‘Billboard 200’ chart. Lil continued to collaborate with his rapping idol, Chief Keef. The album sold over half a million records in the US alone and was certified “gold” by the ‘Recording Industry Association of America’ (RIAA).
Following the end of his contract with ‘Warner Bros.,’ several leading record labels rushed in to acquire him. However, he decided to sign another contract with ‘Warner Bros.’ In March, he announced that he was working on his next album, ‘Harverd Dropout,’ which was to be released in August. The singles ‘Drug Addicts’ and ‘Esskeetit’ were released prior to the release of the album.
Personal Life
In February 2018, Lil Pump was arrested for firing a bullet in his house. His mother was also apprehended for endangering a minor and keeping a dangerous firearm at her house.
Although there has been no official confirmation about his relationship, he continues to refer to Miranda Cosgrove as his girlfriend. He has mentioned her name in several social-media posts.
In March 2018, he sparked a controversy when he uploaded a picture with a child and declared online that he had had a daughter with Miranda.
