Lil Pump Bio
Gazzy Fabio Garcia, known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper and songwriter born on August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida. He rose to prominence as part of the SoundCloud rap scene in the late 2010s, earning recognition for his minimalist, high-energy tracks and a rambunctious public persona. Active in music since 2015, he first reached mainstream audiences with the 2017 single “Gucci Gang,” which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and with his self-titled debut studio album released the same year. Over the following years, Lil Pump released two more studio albums, Harverd Dropout (2019) and Lil Pump 2 (2023), and remained a defining voice of internet-driven hip hop.
Early Life and Background
Gazzy Fabio Garcia was born on August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida, to parents of Colombian origin. In a 2018 interview with J. Cole, he shared that his parents divorced when he was six years old, an experience that shaped his upbringing in the Miami area. He grew up surrounded by the city’s vibrant South Florida music culture, which exposed him to local hip hop and the emerging underground rap movement during his teenage years.
When Garcia was thirteen, his cousin, known as Lil Ominous, introduced him to Omar Pineiro, the rapper better known as Smokepurpp. The two became close collaborators and friends, bonding over a shared love of rap music. Garcia and Pineiro attended the same schools in the Miami area and were eventually expelled from multiple district schools together, a period that pushed Garcia toward a more independent path.
Following these expulsions, Garcia enrolled in an opportunity high school designed to support students who had struggled in traditional settings. He was expelled from that school as well in the tenth grade after a fight and an incident in which he was accused of inciting a riot. It was during these teenage years, away from conventional schooling, that he began spending more time recording music and developing the style that would later define his career.
Path to Music
Lil Pump’s entry into rap began informally, when his friend and collaborator Smokepurpp produced a beat and asked him to freestyle over it. That early collaboration led to the 2016 release of his debut single, titled “Lil Pump,” which he independently uploaded to the music streaming platform SoundCloud. The track’s immediate traction introduced him to listeners in the South Florida underground rap scene and helped him build a small but loyal audience online.
He followed his debut with a string of similarly titled singles, including “Elementary,” “Ignorant,” “Gang Shit,” and “Drum$tick,” each of which accumulated more than three million streams on SoundCloud. These early releases positioned him as a rising voice in the growing SoundCloud rap movement. During this period, he also co-headlined the No Jumper tour in 2016 and performed at the Rolling Loud Festival, two important milestones that connected him with wider audiences in the hip hop community.
In 2017, Lil Pump released the singles “D Rose” and “Boss,” both of which became major hits on SoundCloud, collecting a combined 70 million streams. The popularity of “D Rose” led to a music video produced by Chicago-based director Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade. These achievements helped him attract major-label attention, and on June 9, 2017, he signed a record deal with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records, just two months before his seventeenth birthday.
Lil Pump Career
Early Career (2015–2017)
Lil Pump’s early career was defined by his rapid rise through online streaming platforms. After establishing himself on SoundCloud, he released “Gucci Gang,” which became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number three on the chart on November 8, 2017. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the song gold and platinum on January 11, 2018, and it eventually reached triple platinum certification.
On October 6, 2017, at age seventeen, Lil Pump released his self-titled debut studio album, Lil Pump. The project featured guest appearances from Smokepurpp, Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty, Chief Keef, Rick Ross, and 2 Chainz, and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. The album helped cement his place within the new wave of internet-driven hip hop and introduced his sound to a global audience.
Breakthrough (2018–2019)
Following the success of his debut album, Lil Pump continued building his profile with a series of high-profile singles in 2018. In January, he released “I Shyne” with producer Carnage. His contract with Warner Records was voided in early 2018 because he had been a minor when he signed, leading to competitive bidding that resulted in a reported $8 million deal. He released “Esskeetit” in April 2018, a single that debuted and peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, and performed the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in May 2018.
That summer, he was named to the XXL Freshmen Class and released “Drug Addicts,” a single accompanied by a music video featuring actor Charlie Sheen. In September 2018, he collaborated with Kanye West and comedian Adele Givens on “I Love It,” which reached number one on the Canadian Hot 100. He also released “Multi Millionaire” featuring Lil Uzi Vert and collaborated with Skrillex, Maluma, Swae Lee, and the late XXXTentacion on “Arms Around You.”
On February 22, 2019, Lil Pump released his second studio album, Harverd Dropout. The album featured contributions from Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Offset, Quavo, Smokepurpp, Lil Uzi Vert, 2 Chainz, and YG, and peaked at number seven on the Billboard 200. In 2019, he was also featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, a recognition of his commercial impact on modern hip hop.
Notable Works and Milestones
Lil Pump’s signature work remains his 2017 self-titled debut album and its lead single “Gucci Gang,” which earned quintuple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. He is widely recognized as one of the defining artists of the SoundCloud rap era, having helped popularize a minimalist, high-energy approach to hip hop. His commercial success, including chart-topping singles and major-label deals, established him as a key figure in late-2010s internet-driven music.
Lil Pump Family
Lil Pump was raised primarily by his mother in the Miami area after his parents divorced when he was six years old. His father, Fabio Garcia, was of Colombian origin, and on April 8, 2022, the rapper shared on his Instagram account that his father had died. His cousin, known as Lil Ominous, played a significant role in his teenage years by introducing him to Smokepurpp, the future collaborator who helped launch his music career.
Personal Life
Lil Pump has publicly discussed having dyslexia, stating on social media and in his lyrics that the condition makes reading difficult for him. In December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was banned from JetBlue after refusing to wear a mask on a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles. Politically, he endorsed Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign and later expressed continued support for Trump in 2024, including announcing plans to release a song in support of the campaign.