Lil Pump dropped his self-titled album in early October and it is a new experience for all of his fans and haters. The 16-year old rapper is seen as a joke to many people, but in this album he seems to takes his music to the next level. Most of the songs sound like what you would expect from Lil Pump, trash. However in comparison to his songs on Soundcloud, they are an improvement.
With him being labeled a “mumble rapper,” it was interesting listening to the album and being able to actually understand what he was saying on songs like “Back” featuring Lil Yachty where the beat, dictation and lyrics all seem to be better and less repetitive than his earlier work on songs like “Flex Like Ouu.” His beats and flow seem a lot cleaner now, however they still aren’t perfect (I mean, it’s f***ing Lil Pump) as some of the songs on this album still keep his old formula of overpowering beats and repetitive lyrics.
This is most notable on the previously-released “Boss,” which to me this song is an assault on both the ears and the mind. Another song where this was evident was the intro “D Rose” which mostly consists of him repeating “D Rose” until the only verse of the song begins which lasts about 30 seconds. However “D Rose” became one of his most popular songs, clocking in 63 million views on Youtube, which shows that although not all of his songs have mainstream appeal, he knows his audience.
The most impressive part of the album is its features which include Lil Yachty, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, Smokepurpp and Chief Keef. Each of them also happen to add something to Lil Pump’s songs that they’ve lacked – a second verse. In addition to solving his problem of only having one verse on his songs, the features also make him seem like a legitimate artist and viable candidate for XXL’s 2018 Freshman Cover, but that remains to be seen.
While this album is an improvement to Lil Pump’s work, the question that remains is how it stacks up compared to recent albums from his generation that dropped earlier this year (Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv is Rage 2, XXXTentacion’s 17, Ugly God’s The Booty Tape, 21 Savage’s Issa, and Lil Yachty’s Teenage Emotions). Unlike these artists, Pump has only been rapping for a year, so the true improvement will be seen in how his career progresses.
Lil Pump’s debut album is better than I expected from him. There are definitely some great elements and good songs in there, but it still sounds incomplete.
Chris, 15, is a sophomore at DeKalb School of the Arts. He mainly reports on Hip-Hop and entertainment.
