Lil Pump

by Lil Pump

Released October 6, 2017 via Tha Lights Global / Warner Records

Reviewed October 5, 2022

Top tracks (based on community voting)

D Rose (59%), GucciGang (41%), Iced Out (41%)

While it all depends on who you talk to, the general consensus is that SoundCloud and the “SoundCloud rap” scene peaked somewhere between 2016 and 2017. Lil Pump was one of several names to experience a meteoric rise during this time period, with “Gucci Gang” managing to peak at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was virtually inescapable, and for a brief moment in time, Lil Pump (and Smokepurpp) made “essketit” a regrettable part of the cultural lexicon.

While Lil Pump was capable of making bangers, it never quite translated to the album format. Better suited as a one-off after one-off artist, Pump found success on SoundCloud with tracks like “Elementary,” “Drum$tick,” “D Rose,” and more. “D Rose” is probably the most notable of those pre-album singles to be featured on the album, and one of the few standouts. Strangely, it might also be the most repetitive, with him saying “D Rose” 84 times in just over two minutes. Nonetheless, the backbone of Lil Pump is repetition. His bread and butter is a combination of absurd bars and constant flexing in the verses and aggressively repetitive hooks over the most barebones, bass-heavy trap beats.

The formula works, sometimes. Lil Pump isn’t a bad album, but it certainly hasn’t held up. And it was never truly needed. Lil Pump’s rise truly benefited from the SoundCloud platform and the ability for him to release periodic singles to be enjoyed in short bursts. Build up a playlist with them over time and you’ve got a collection of solid bangers. Lil Pump doesn’t accomplish that. It’s got some bangers, but they’re overshadowed by how forced the rest feel. – Dominick (6/10)

Hadley: 7.5/10 | Cam: 6.8/10 | Jared: 6.5/10

Dominick: 6/10 | Pax: 5/10 | Daniel: 4.5/10 | DeVán: 2.5/10

Community Reviews:

There's only a song or two where the stupidness is somewhat funny and you can bop your head to it. Otherwise, Lil Pump is an arrogant, unlikeable, terrible rapper, and a one trick pony whose career was never going to last. – anonymous community member (1/10)