Soundcloud based rapper Lil Pump released his self-titled mixtape this October. Lil Pump, a high school student born in Miami, Florida, grew in fame mostly due to his outrageous acts posted on social media, and soon became known for his flamboyant style and boastful nature. Besides his nature, portions of Lil Pump’s fame came from being mocked for videos uploaded to YouTube displaying his lack of knowledge and his constant yelling of the word “Esketit,” meaning “Let’s get it”.

Part of the new wave of music coming from Soundcloud, Lil Pump, SmokePurpp and many others are changing the hip/hop industry. For many true hip/hop fanatics, this change is looked down upon because of the fact that these new artists’ music lacks meaning and is just the instrumentals that are making the songs catchy.

This is shown in Lil Pump’s mixtape as his songs lacks lyrical depth, especially compared to many rap artists of today. Pump’s songs are full of hard-going beats meant to hype the listener and are quite catchy. Specifically his first song “What You Gotta Say” and “Gucci Gang” incorporate a piano part backed by a hard bass to give the songs a mysterious tone. However, compared to those artists who spend time and money to produce a hit, Lil Pump has found a way to rack up millions of streams without a studio budget to produce the songs.

His recent mixtape consists of fifteen songs only lasting about two minutes each, boasting the amount of fame and wealth Pump has gained besides the references to drugs and sexual intercourse. Some of the more prominent songs are “Gucci Gang” and “D Rose” which helped Lil Pump rise in fame. For many, Lil Pump’s mixtape is unique in that unlike many albums that artists produce reflecting on their lives prior to fame or issues within society, he instead uses simple non-meaningful lyrics to complement the hard-going beats.

To switch up the overall flow from the boastful tone of Lil Pump, the mixtape includes features from Lil Yachty, Smokepurpp, Chief Keef, Gucci Mane, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz. This gives the mixtape some variation in the overall flow since Lil Pump fails to provide the needed variation. Each song on the mixtape mentions the same thing and Lil Pump himself fails to provide any variation with his tone or musical capabilities. The features are what keep the listener continuing to listen to the mixtape. In addition, since the mixtape only lasts thirty-six minutes, the mixtape doesn’t feel as prolonged as the mixtape ends before it passes the barrier of getting too repetitive.

While the majority of the hip-hop community will never call Lil Pump a true artist, Lil Pump has definitely been clever in his rise to fame in the industry due to his outrageous style and behavior.