Career beginnings, rising popularity, and Lil Pump (2015–2017) Garcia's rap career began when Smokepurpp produced a track and asked him to
freestyle over it. The single produced was independently released in 2016 on the music streaming website
SoundCloud, as his debut single, "Lil Pump". Garcia quickly followed the song with singles "Elementary", "Ignorant", "Gang Shit", and "Drum$tick", each garnering over three million streams. The success of his tracks on SoundCloud earned him recognition among the
South Florida underground rap scene, in a style known as "
SoundCloud rap". He co-headlined the No Jumper tour in 2016, and also performed at the
Rolling Loud Festival. While rising in popularity and releasing underground hits, Pump would also meet other rappers like
XXXTentacion,
Ski Mask the Slump God,
Fat Nick and
Pouya. Garcia began gaining attention in 2017 by releasing the singles "
D Rose" and "
Boss", which were major hits on SoundCloud, collecting a combined 70 million streams. On June 9, 2017, Garcia signed a record deal with Tha Lights Global and
Warner Records, just two months before his seventeenth birthday. However, in January 2018, his contract with Warner Bros. Records was voided because he had been a minor at the time of signing. In July 2017, Garcia announced on
Twitter that his debut mixtape was in the works and would be released in August. However, the album was not released in August and was pushed back. He instead released the song "
Gucci Gang", which became his first
Billboard Hot 100 entry, peaking at number three on November 8, 2017. The song was
certified gold and platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America on January 11, 2018, and as of July 31, 2018, is certified triple platinum.
Harverd Dropout (2018–2019) Garcia released "
I Shyne" on January 18, 2018, with producer
Carnage. Following reports that he had left his former labels Tha Lights Global and
Warner Records and the contract had been voided on the grounds of him being a minor when he signed, competition rose to sign Garcia with offers reportedly as high as $8 million to $12 million or more, and artists such as
Gucci Mane and
DJ Khaled taking interest in him. Garcia sparked rumors he had signed with Gucci Mane's imprint,
1017 Records, in February 2018. Nonetheless, he re-signed another contract with Tha Lights Global and
Warner Records for $8 million on March 12. In June, he was featured on
XXL Freshmen Class. In July that year, he released the single "
Drug Addicts" alongside a music video which features the actor
Charlie Sheen. On September 7, 2018, Garcia collaborated with
Kanye West and comedian
Adele Givens for the track "
I Love It". The track went straight to number 1 on the
Canadian Hot 100. Garcia announced in August 2018 a tour to promote his unreleased album
Harverd Dropout, but it was cancelled a month later due to "unforeseen circumstances". He released "
Multi Millionaire" on October 5 as a single featuring
Lil Uzi Vert. On October 25,
dubstep producer
Skrillex released the song "
Arms Around You", which is a collaboration he made with Garcia,
Maluma,
Swae Lee and posthumous vocals from
XXXTentacion. On December 16, 2018, Garcia was accused of being racist towards Asians after previewing a snippet of his new song "
Butterfly Doors"; the lyrics contained Asian stereotypes and slurs including "
Ching chong" and "they call me
Yao Ming cause my eyes real low". While rapping the latter lyric, Garcia mockingly
pulled his eyes back. This generated negative press coverage and caused Chinese rappers, including
CD Rev and
Awkwafina, to release
diss tracks against him. On December 24, he uploaded an apology video on
Instagram regarding the incident and later released the single with the offensive lyrics edited out. On February 21, 2019, Garcia released the song "
Be Like Me" featuring
Lil Wayne. A music video featuring both of the artists was also released. He performed "Be Like Me" on
Jimmy Kimmel Live! on February 25. On February 22, he released his debut studio album
Harverd Dropout, featuring
Kanye West,
Lil Wayne,
Offset,
Quavo,
Smokepurpp,
Lil Uzi Vert,
2 Chainz, and
YG. In the same year, he was featured on
Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Subsequent ventures, No Name, and Lil Pump 2 (2020–present) On February 13, 2020, Garcia stated on his Instagram story "I'm done doing music I quit..."; he did not elaborate. However days later he said on the same platform, "Yall Thought I Quit Bitch Im Back", and previewed a new song. He also announced that
Lil Pump 2 was the title of his upcoming album. On September 16, 2020, Garcia released a new single "Life Like Me" on his SoundCloud account. The song was first previewed in 2018. Later that same year, Garcia released various
SoundCloud exclusives including "Lil Pimp Big MAGA Steppin" and "I'monna"
. In March 2021, Garcia went into partnership with the
NFT marketplace
Sweet to release a special NFT collection that includes digital jewelry and Lil Pump trading cards. On August 12, 2021, "Racks to the Ceiling", featuring Canadian rapper
Tory Lanez, was released. On December 14, 2021, Garcia and producer
Ronny J silently released a new album titled
No Name. Unlike Garcia's previous release,
Harverd Dropout, the new album was never mentioned on social media, leading it to become a commercial failure. On April 12, 2022, Garcia released the lead single for
Lil Pump 2, "All The Sudden". He released four more singles for the album after this, "Splurgin", "Mosh Pit", "She Know" and "Tesla". In March 2023, Pump would announce the cover and tracklist for his long-awaited second studio album
Lil Pump 2, which features
guest appearances from
Smokepurpp,
YoungBoy Never Broke Again,
Ty Dolla Sign, among others. The album was released on March 17. Despite receiving more promotion on social media, the album was another commercial failure with the album failing to land on any chart. The deluxe version of
Lil Pump 2, was released on September 15, 2023, containing new tracks: "6 Rings", "Glow in the Dark", "I Sell" and "Rick Rubin". ==Personal life==