Confusion and concern ran rampant last summer when South Florida rapper Lil Pump posted a video to his Instagram account asking his fans to help him locate his Harverd Dropout LP, which he claimed he lost right before its scheduled release on his 18th birthday (August 17th). A relatively swift resolution to this missing album case appeared to be in play when a September 14th launch date started to make the rounds on the hip-hop news wires, but that tidbit ultimately proved to be false. In late January, this 5-month search reached a joyous conclusion when Pump revealed the cover art, track listing and a February 22nd release date for his long-missing musical child. Now that its tumultuous origin story is finally over, I'm happy to report that Harverd Dropout is a roaring set of flashy trap anthems that sees Mr. Pump properly utilizing the party-starting magnetism that only shined through in spots on his mostly average self-titled debut.
Off-the-charts natural charisma and a strong sense of self-awareness are what stood out to me about Pump after hearing his debut. On Harverd Dropout, he wisely weaponizes these traits and it makes this record a fun little journey through his gleefully immature mind. The wobbly bass and frantic keys that are at the center of nearly every beat are a divine match for Pump's abundant energy on the mic and just about every one of these 16 odes to codeine, sports cars and banging the female relatives of his haters features at least a couple of punchlines that made me smirk-if not legitimately laugh-out-loud. While Harverd Dropout's refusal to stray from its noisy path for even a second results in it becoming a bit monotonous at times, it remains a slick, cohesive and very efficient record that serves as a more than welcome departure from the glut of downtempo trap releases (Offset's FATHER OF 4, Future's THE WIZRD, Gunna's Drip or Drown 2) that have headlined the early portion of the 2019 hip-hop calendar.
Off-the-charts natural charisma and a strong sense of self-awareness are what stood out to me about Pump after hearing his debut. On Harverd Dropout, he wisely weaponizes these traits and it makes this record a fun little journey through his gleefully immature mind. The wobbly bass and frantic keys that are at the center of nearly every beat are a divine match for Pump's abundant energy on the mic and just about every one of these 16 odes to codeine, sports cars and banging the female relatives of his haters features at least a couple of punchlines that made me smirk-if not legitimately laugh-out-loud. While Harverd Dropout's refusal to stray from its noisy path for even a second results in it becoming a bit monotonous at times, it remains a slick, cohesive and very efficient record that serves as a more than welcome departure from the glut of downtempo trap releases (Offset's FATHER OF 4, Future's THE WIZRD, Gunna's Drip or Drown 2) that have headlined the early portion of the 2019 hip-hop calendar.
Grade: B
Standout Tracks
1.Nu Uh
2.Racks on Racks
3.Stripper Name (feat. YG and 2 Chainz)
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