Gazzy Garcia was born on August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida.[2][11] In a 2018 interview with J. Cole, Garcia stated that his parents are from Colombia and divorced when he was 6 years old.[12]
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 schoolbut was expelled in the tenth grade for fighting and inciting a riot.[13]
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.[14] The single produced was independently released in 2016 on the music streaming website SoundCloud, as his debut single, "Lil Pump".[15]Garcia quickly followed the song with singles "Elementary", "Ignorant", "Gang Shit", and "Drum$tick", each garnering over three million streams.[16] The success of his tracks on SoundCloud earned him recognition among the South Floridaunderground 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.[17][18] 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.[16] The popularity of "D Rose" led to a music video being produced by Chicago-based director Cole Bennett, also known as Lyrical Lemonade.[19] On June 9, 2017, Garcia signed a record deal with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records, just two months before his seventeenth birthday.[20] However, in January 2018, his contract with Warner Bros. Records was voided because he had been a minor at the time of signing.[21]
In July 2017, Garcia announced on Twitter that his debut mixtape was in the works and would be released in August.[22] However, the album was not released in August and was pushed back. He instead released the song "Gucci Gang", which became his first Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at number three on November 8, 2017.[10][23][24]The song was certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 11, 2018, and as of July 31, 2018, is certified triple platinum.[8] At age 17, Garcia rose to fame after he released his debut studio album, Lil Pump (released October 6, 2017), featuring Smokepurpp, Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty, Chief Keef, Rick Ross, and 2 Chainz.[25]
Garcia released "I Shyne" on January 18, 2018, with producer Carnage.[26] Following reports that he had left his former labels Tha Lights Global and Warner Records and the contract had been voided on the grounds of him being a minor when he signed,[27] competition rose to sign Garcia with offers reportedly as high as $8 million[28] to $12 million or more,[29] and artists such as Gucci Mane and DJ Khaled taking interest in him.[30][31]Garcia sparked rumors he had signed with Gucci Mane's imprint, 1017 Records, in February 2018.[32][33] Nonetheless, he re-signed another contract with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records for $8 million on March 12.[29]
On December 16, 2018, Garcia was accused of being racist towards Asians after previewing a snippet of his new song "Butterfly Doors"; the lyrics contained Asian stereotypes and slurs including "Ching chong" and "they call me Yao Ming cause my eyes real low" the lyric at which, Garcia mockingly pulls his eyes back. This caused a fair amount of negative press coverage and caused Chinese rappers to release diss tracksagainst him.[43][44] On December 24, he uploaded an apology video on Instagram regarding the incident and later released the single with the offensive lyrics edited out.[45] On February 21, 2019, Garcia released the song "Be Like Me" featuring Lil Wayne. A music video featuring both of the artists was also released.[46] He performed "Be Like Me" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 25.[47] On February 22, he released his debut studio album Harverd Dropout, featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Offset, Quavo, Smokepurpp, Lil Uzi Vert, 2 Chainz, and YG.[48] In the same year, he was featured on Forbes 30 under 30 list.[49]
Subsequent ventures, No Name, and Lil Pump 2 (2020–present)
On February 13, 2020, Garcia stated on his Instagram story "I'm done doing music I quit..."; he did not elaborate.[50] However days later he said on the same platform, "Yall Thought I Quit Bitch Im Back", and previewed a new song.[51] He also announced that Lil Pump 2 was the title of his upcoming album.[52] On September 16, 2020, Garcia released a new single "Life Like Me" on his SoundCloud account. The song was first previewed in 2018.[53] Later that same year, Garcia released various SoundCloud exclusives including "Lil Pimp Big MAGA Steppin"[54] and "I'monna".
In March 2021, Garcia went into partnership with the NFT marketplace Sweet to release a special NFT collection that includes digital jewelry and Lil Pump trading cards.[55][56][57] On August 12, 2021, "Racks to the Ceiling", featuring Canadian rapper Tory Lanez, was released. On December 14, 2021, Garcia and producer Ronny J silently released a new album titled No Name.[58] Unlike Garica's previous release, Harverd Dropout, the new album was never mentioned on social media, leading it to become a commercial failure.[59]
On April 12, 2022, Garcia released the lead single for Lil Pump 2, "All The Sudden". He released four more singles for the album after this, "Splurgin", "Mosh Pit", "She Know" and "Tesla". In March 2023, Pump would announce the cover and tracklist for his long-awaited second studio album Lil Pump 2, which features guest appearancesfrom Smokepurpp, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Ty Dolla Sign, among others.[60] The album was released on March 17. Despite receiving more promotion on social media, the album was another commercial failure with the album failing to land on any chart. The deluxe version of Lil Pump 2, was released on September 15, 2023, containing new tracks: "6 Rings", "Glow in the Dark", "I Sell" and "Rick Rubin".
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