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Caden Wagnon

Harrison Erdiakoff

English 134-49

15 November 2017

Listen Between the Lines

WHY are we letting rappers like Lil Pump excel in the rap music industry? This man is

using his major success as a platform to promote drug use instead of using his influence for the

good of society. His idea of a hit single is repeating the same line fifty times over a simple beat

and says yeah or ooh after every line so listeners think he is saying something of importance.

It baffles me how American teenagers have fallen in love with Lil Pumps catchy hooks without

taking a second to question what this music is actually saying. The energy and the upbeat tempo

of his music seems to mask the endless lyrics about drug addiction, violence, disrespecting

women, and materialistic ideals. Turning this image of an imbecile holding a Xanax cake into an
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image of success takes away from rappers who are trying to tell a story and inspire positive

change through their music.

The problem here is that once teenagers start to look up to somebody like this they could;

start trying all of the drugs he discusses, treating women horribly, and walking around with the

same I do what I want attitude. The solution to this problem is to stop supporting rappers like

Lil Pump and start appreciating true masterminds such as J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Logic. I

plan on explaining this idea by comparing and contrasting rappers who are on the two different

sides of the rap music spectrum. To start it off, here are some snapshots of what Lil Pump has

been sharing to more than 500,000 viewers via Twitter.

Lil Pump calls out actress Miranda Cosgrove on Twitter to let everyone know that he is

interested in sexual relations with her. What a gentlemen.

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Lil Pump claims that he and friend Smokepurpp cause an altercation in Walmart.

First of all, notice that he jumped from 4,000 to 60,000 likes on his tweets from

2016 to 2017. So, the number of people who support this nonsense is increasing at an extremely

frightening rate. Second, I want you to observe the blatant disrespect that he exemplifies through

every single one of those tweets. He makes obscene sexual remarks to an actress, calls a fan a

b****, and wreaks havoc at a Walmart. But, instead of putting a stop to his recklessness, we

support him by giving him likes, views, and plays. Lastly, I want to question everyone as to why

people choose to support and idolize this guy. I mean just take a look at what his most popular

song is actually saying!

Gucci gang, gucci gang, gucci gang, gucci gang,

gucci gang, gucci gang, gucci gang,

Spent three racks on a new chain,

My b**** love doing cocaine

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These are the lyrics that launched Lil Pumps song Gucci Gang to nearly 50 million

streams on Soundcloud, #2 on the Top Charts of Apple Music, and #7 on the Billboard 100 top

hits. The Florida based rapper is seeing huge amounts of success due to the fact that music

standards in America are at an all time low. People love this type of stuff because Lil Pump

makes it seem like his life is a party. He raps about his Gucci clothing and his b**** doing

drugs just so fans can dream about how nice of a life he lives. Since most people arent wealthy

enough to buy fancy clothes and jewelry, they see Lil Pump as an image of success and strive to

be like him and do the things that he does. But, how productive would our world be if everyone

was fixed on personal growth rather than societal growth?

For those who dont know, a rack refers to one thousand US dollars. So, after Lil Pump

repeats the same thing seven times (very creative), he brags that his new jewelry costs $3,000.

Hyping up a selfish lifestyle that focuses on personal gain causes listeners to want to adopt that

type of mindset. This same mindset neglects the idea of working together to accomplish goals.

So how are we supposed to come together to fix social issues such as police brutality, racism,

and gun violence when we have icons promoting selfishness? Luckily, there are other artists out

there that spread motivational messages and positivity.

N***** die over b****es, disrespect, and dollar bills,

Bloodshed that turn the city to a battlefield

I call it poison, you call it real

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Thats how you feel?

These lyrics from J. Coles song Change shed light on how much of an issue

gun violence is in our society. Unlike Lil Pump, he pinpoints social issues and uses his rhymes to

promote a change in how society functions. In this verse, J. Cole explains that so many people

are dying in Fayetteville, North Carolina from gun violence that it has turned his hometown into

a warzone. I did some research about this issue and it turns out that J. Cole was not exaggerating.

Our youth crime and killings are totally out of control, Fayetteville City County member Ted

Mohn reports according to WRAL News on WRAL.com. So rather than brag about his major

success, Cole uses his music to educate and bring people together. This is the type of music that

should be appreciated and not forgotten about because this music actually means something.

Another artist with the same type of purpose goes by the name of Logic. This year, he made a

song that is intended to help people who are going through a rough time and thinking about

commiting suicide. Here are some lyrics from that track.

I want you to be alive,

I want you to be alive,

You dont gotta die today,

You dont gotta die

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These lyrics are from his single titled 1-800-273-8255 that came out earlier this

year. Suicide is a huge issue among teens in America. According to mentalhealthamerica.net,

suicide is the second leading cause of death among people ages 15-24. In an attempt to change

that statistic, Logic reaches out and lets everyone know that theres always help available for

them. Another creative aspect of the song is that the title is the phone number of the National

Suicide Prevention Lifeline. This gives people direct access to free and confidential support in

order to prevent a crisis. So, Logic is spreading love and positivity instead of selfishness and

hate. This is the type of music that should be maxing out the volume of your cars speakers, not

Lil Pumps garbage.

Now that we all can see the difference between quality music and poisonous music, we

all have a choice to make. We can either continue glorifying Lil Pump and his music for years

into the future, until his ignorant attitude becomes a social norm? Or we can forget about Lil

Pump forever and start using music from artists like J. Cole and Logic to make social progress.

Hopefully your morality will lead you to make the correct decision.
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Works Cited

Mental Health America. Suicide. http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/suicide. 2017. Accessed

15 November 2017

Rap Genius. 4 Your Eyez Only, J. Colegenius.com/albums/J-cole/4-your-eyez-only. Accessed

2 November 2017.
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Rap Genius. Gucci Gang, Lil Pumpgenius.com/Lil-pump-gucci-gang-lyrics. Accessed 2

November 2017.

Rap Genius. 1-800-273-8255, Logicgenius.com/Logic-1-800-273-8255-lyrics. Accessed 2

November 2017.

Schwartz, Danny.Everything you Need to Know About Lil Pump. 26 April 2017,

www.hotnewhiphop.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-lil-pump-news.31687.html.

Accessed 8 November 2017

WRAL News. Fayetteville struggles to stem tide of youth gun

violence.www.wral.com/fayetteville-struggles-to-stem-tide-of-youth-gun-violence/13774090/.

Accessed 2 November 2017

Writers Memo

Im glad that this assignment gave me an opportunity to get all of my thoughts down on

paper about a topic that I feel so strongly about. I felt like I put a lot more time and care into this

piece compared to some of my work earlier this year because I chose a topic that I actually enjoy

discussing. If I had a little bit more time with this assignment, I think I would have tried to make

a web page and add songs, videos, and other visuals to help people understand my stance a little
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bit better. Overall, I hope this opens up peoples minds to see that music contains rhetorical value

that impacts what society thinks and does.