Lil Pump's self-titled mixtape has, for better or worse, solidified Soundcloud rap's presence as a viable commercial commodity in the music industry. The young Florida emcee has gained notoriety over the past year as much for his antics as he had for his music, but now, there's no denying that the "Gucci Gang" artist has come into his own and is presently taking the world by storm. In fact, that aforementioned song has recently been the gateway to Billboard chart success for Pump, who now finds himself the holder of a very interesting record when considering other Top Ten hits in the company's history.
Some Billboard Hot 100 investigations will tell you that "Gucci Gang" has become the shortest song to enter into the Top Ten in 42 years. The track's running time is two minutes and four seconds, a length that hasn't been the norm for top-selling single since the 1960's. In fact, since 1968, only two track that broke into the Top Ten of the Hot 100 were shorter than "Gucci Gang" - Dickie Goodman's "Mr. Jaws" and the celebrated TV theme “Hawaii Five-O” by the Ventures. The former came in 1975 and was the last time a track this brief had climbed so high on the singles chart. Call it short attention spans, call it whatever you want, but Lil Pump has done something that hasn't been seen for two generations. You can (re)listen to "Gucci Gang" below.
The music video for the track had 71 million plays at the time of this writing, with visuals that spoke to exactly what Lil Pump stands for and, to a certain degree, what the whole culture of Soundcloud rap is about as well. Walking through a school hallway with bags of weed and a tiger at his side, the young rapper evokes this sense of joyfully negligent behavior, showing everyone watching the effects of his wild child mindset on his surroundings. It will be interesting to see if Lil Pump's success can be sustainable over time, in the same way that XXXTentacion's window of opportunity already seems to be closing. While listeners be able to help Pump nurture and grow his career into a longstanding, profitable one? Or will impatience and apathy set in as the world waits for the next Soundcloud rap success story? Let us know what you think in the comments.