It’s not inconceivable for sub-par rappers to impress with their debut albums. Late in 2018 Tekashi 6ix9ine’s Dummy Boy surprised many listeners with excellent production and stellar features. Similarly Kodak Black came out of prison swinging on Dying to Live. In other words, given time and a large helping of financial aid, an ugly duckling can certainly be forced fed to become Foie.
Unfortunately, Lil Pump proves to be little more than a fart in the wind with Harverd Dropout. Despite some heavy hitting features and original production, Pump weighs down the music like a wet flannel. In signature style, his lyricism is repetitive and stymied by typical trap tropes like women, money and crime. His lack of articulation leaves lyrics bleeding into one another and hooks indistinguishable from verses.
Harverd Drop out opens strong with ascending synth pulses that invite you to give Lil Pump a chance, but his opening lyrics instantly let you down.
Dropped out, then I got rich (Yeah)
Dropped out, then I put a Patek on my wrist, ooh (Brrr)
Dropped out for my teacher ’cause she ain’t shit (Huh)
Dropped out, spent a half a million on my whip (Yeah, ooh)
The only songs worth giving attention to are Be Like Me which is saved by Lil Wayne, and I Love It which is, for all intents and purposes, a Kanye West song.
The genius of this masterpiece is best captured in its origin story — a meme. Twitter began to circulate the joke that Lil Pump dropped out of Harvard University to save the rap game and Pump played along with the joke, even going far enough to make an album about it. It’s disappointing that albums like this can be successful when many other hard-working rappers go unnoticed but as Kanye West says: Listen to the Kids Bro. Labeling this music ‘the end of rap’ is naive. This is one trend of many new hip-hop waves that show evolution and development. The art form is growing in many positive ways, but there will be a few growing pains along the way.
