Lil Pump

Gazzy Fabio Garcia was born on August 17, 2000, in Miami, Florida. His parents are from Colombia and divorced when he was six years old. He grew up in Miami with an older half-brother, and his father, Fabio Garcia, died in April 2022. Garcia has discussed his experience living with dyslexia, sharing in interviews and on social media that the condition caused him long-standing difficulties with reading.

During his adolescence, Garcia attended Charles W. Flanagan High School and later enrolled in an opportunity high school. At age 13, his cousin Lil Ominous introduced him to Omar Pineiro, who would become known musically as Smokepurpp. The two formed a close friendship, though Garcia faced frequent disciplinary trouble and was ultimately expelled in the tenth grade for fighting and inciting a riot.

Garcia began rapping in 2016 after Smokepurpp produced an instrumental track and encouraged him to freestyle over it. The resulting track, titled "Lil Pump", was uploaded independently to SoundCloud. He quickly built a devoted online following by releasing a string of tracks, including "Elementary", "Ignorant", "Gang Shit", and "Drum$tick", each accumulating millions of streams and making him a breakout name in the South Florida underground.

His momentum accelerated in 2017 with the singles "Boss" and "D Rose", the latter accompanied by a popular music video directed by Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade. In June 2017, Garcia signed a record deal with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records shortly before turning 17. That summer, he released "Gucci Gang", which became his definitive hit. The track surged to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and received quintuple platinum certification from the RIAA.

On October 6, 2017, he released his self-titled commercial debut album, Lil Pump. The project peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and featured guest appearances from Smokepurpp, Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty, Chief Keef, Rick Ross, and 2 Chainz.

In January 2018, Garcia's initial contract with Warner Records was voided because he had entered into it as a legal minor. Following an intense bidding war among major record labels and hip-hop imprints, he re-signed with Tha Lights Global and Warner Records in March 2018 under an $8 million deal. In June 2018, he was named to the XXL Freshman Class.

Throughout 2018, Garcia released several high-profile singles. "Esskeetit" peaked at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the single "Drug Addicts" gained widespread attention for a music video co-starring actor Charlie Sheen. In September 2018, he teamed with Kanye West and comedian Adele Givens for the single "I Love It", which topped the Canadian Hot 100. That October, he was featured alongside Maluma, Swae Lee, and posthumous vocals from XXXTentacion on the Skrillex-produced track "Arms Around You".

Garcia released his second studio album, Harverd Dropout, on February 22, 2019. The project debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and included collaborations with Lil Wayne, Quavo, Offset, YG, and Lil Uzi Vert.

Following Harverd Dropout, Garcia explored independent releases and new digital ventures. In March 2021, he collaborated with the NFT platform Sweet to launch a digital collection featuring themed trading cards and virtual jewelry. In December 2021, he teamed up with producer Ronny J to release the collaborative studio project No Name.

Garcia returned to studio album work with Lil Pump 2, which was released on March 17, 2023. Preceded by singles such as "All The Sudden", "Mosh Pit", and "Tesla", the album featured guest contributions from YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Ty Dolla $ign, and Smokepurpp. A deluxe edition containing four additional tracks followed in September 2023.

Garcia has been involved in several widely publicized legal incidents. In February 2018, he was arrested in California for discharging a firearm inside his residence. Later that year, in August 2018, he was arrested in Miami for driving without a valid license. In December 2018, Danish police detained him in Copenhagen for marijuana possession, resulting in a fine and a two-year ban from entering Denmark after he taunted law enforcement officers on a livestream.

Later in December 2018, Garcia faced disorderly conduct charges after an argument with airport security and police in Miami over a luggage inspection. In December 2020, he received a lifetime ban from JetBlue after refusing to follow onboard mask regulations on a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles. In November 2021, the IRS filed a $1.6 million tax lien against his Miami property for unpaid taxes.