16-year-old rapper, Lil Pump is making waves with the first album of his young career

Written by Blake Laurita

Staff Writer

From anonymity to the top of the rap scene, the 16-year-old rapper, Lil Pump is making waves with the first album of his young career.

Up and coming SoundCloud rapper, Lil Pump impresses with his debut album self-titled “Lil Pump.” Managing to maintain his status as one of the most prominent new artists of the year without a full album, the latest album solidifies the young rapper as part of the new wave of Hip-Hop artists in this impressive first project.

The South Florida rapper has launched his relatively new career by dropping singles on SoundCloud, where he has gained a massive following of 592,700 people. He first came onto the scene with his first hit song “D Rose,” released in 2016.

Lil Pump debuted the album on October 6, 2017, after facing multiple delays. “Lil Pump” was produced by RonnyJ, CBMix and Bighead. “Lil Pump” also features Lil Yachty, Gucci Mane, Chief Keef, 2 Chainz and Rick Ross.

The first highlight of this work was his smooth yet straightforward flow. By doing this, Lil Pump did not stray from his style and stuck to his strengths. The hook featured in the song “Crazy” provide his fans with a memorable line and allows them to sing along.

“Lil Pump” is filled with catchy hooks as well as a myriad of features by prolific rappers such as Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty and 2 Chainz. Lil Pump’s distinct style, characterized by repetitive lyrics, shines the brightest in his arguably most famous song, “Boss.” However, his style does become repetitive, and the lyrics turn bland in the album’s weak link “Pinky Ring.”

The artists showcased on the album are currently some of the biggest names in rap and subsequently have a significantly beneficial impact on the record as a whole by delivering solid performances. His best collaboration to date was “Back” featuring Lil Yachty. Although the two rappers have two completely different styles, they complemented each other and delivered a dynamic performance.

Lil Pump’s best work on the album comes from the song “Boss,” which was a single released prior to the album’s debut in October. The song’s focal point bass drop is its, fitting in perfectly with the new emerging subculture of rap in which Lil Pump shines.

One downfall of the album is the underwhelming one line hooks that usually end up having an adverse effect and subsequently fall flat. This can be attributed to the fact that the bland and distasteful lyrics are abundant throughout the songs.

Arguably the album’s weakest song, “Pinky Ring” offers an unusual beat that does not flow with the poorly written lyrics. The inclusion of Rick Ross’ vocals adds nothing of value to the trainwreck with his mediocre and meaningless lyrics.

Overall, Lil Pump’s debut record is a definite triumph for the young rising star and although the lyrics and repetitiveness are detrimental to the album, the fantastic features and well produced beats help the project overcome its faults.

“Lil Pump” is available on all streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and can be purchased on iTunes for $7.99.