Lil Pump, he is potentially one of the most memed rappers in the game today and someone
that not a lot of people take seriously, but there have been a lot of recent events that
have made me ask one question more and more.
And that question is; is Lil Pump unhappy, potentially depressed, and if so why is that?
There’s some new information that has came out recently that could help explain this,
so first we’re gonna look at evidence of Pump being unhappy, and then why I think this
is due to a revealing article that came out in the past couple days.
So with that being said, this is CDTVProductions, here today with BlackySpeakz who is helping
me out with this video, the link to his channel will be in the description below, and let’s
talk about this situation.
Proof that Pump Is Unhappy (Evidence):
First, let me just show you a little bit of evidence that Pump hasn’t been feeling all
that great.
There’s nothing super concrete, except maybe him straight up tweeting “I’m depressed”
in August 2017, and maybe Pump is feeling better now, but there is stuff that’s worth
noting.
The most recent example I can think of was on October 18th this year, when he posted
an ironic meme about depression and suicidal thoughts with the caption “mood” and those
laughing cry emojis.
This definitely looks like someone using jokes to kind of cover up their true feelings, whilst
simultaneously letting people know that they’re not actually ok.
As you can see, a lot of the comments mentioned this.
Additionally, the name of his clothing line is “Unhappy”, maybe a bit of a stretch,
it could just be playing into the idea of the emo rap wave, but this could be him further
suggesting that he really isn’t satisfied with things.
On top of this, back in July 2018, Lil Pump posted an Instagram story saying “I’m
going through some s***, I’m on probation, I can’t do s***, I’m at the worst point
in my life rn, I don’t wanna be here no more”.
The real sad thing about that one is a lot of people didn’t take it seriously because
of Lil Pump’s image and persona, but someone saying they don’t want to be alive anymore
isn’t something that should be taken lightly.
This is the closest thing Pump has ever done to outright saying that he’s not happy with
how things are going in his life.
But why does he feel like this?
Obviously there could be numerous reasons, it’s something that is complex and impossible
to boil down to one thing, but I think it’s fairly easy to assume one thing that could
be going on here especially with some new information that has come out recently.
Why This Is & What I Think:
Like I said there could be numerous things that are causing Lil Pump to feel this way,
but I think one of the biggest ones might have just been revealed in an article by the
publication Vulture.
You may remember a while back I made a video saying why I think Lil Pump’s whole persona
is fake and used purely to market himself within meme culture, and this article acts
as the final piece of evidence needed to definitively say; that IS the case.
In the article, it was revealed that record label owners Rojas and Alex Gelbard created
a 10 step plan to help build Lil Pump into the viral sensation he is today, through specific
tactics such as “meme-ing the artist” “worldstar promotions” and creating “controversy
projects” such as fake beef.
This was so successful that they now call it “the Pump Plan”.
Now I have a feeling most of us could tell Lil Pump was at least exaggerating aspects
of his character to draw people in, but I didn’t really picture it being this manufactured,
being created with the help of a label who might essentially be telling him what to do.
I figured it was a little more organic and just Pump having fun.
At this point you have to ask; how much creative control does Pump have over how he portrays
himself now?
And is this something that is causing him to hint at his possible negative thoughts?
And this actually brings me right back to a comparison I made in the “Is Lil Pump’s
Personality Fake?”
Video, one that applies even more in this mental health discussion, and that is the
George Miller aka Filthy Frank parallel, which I’m using specifically purely because I
know a lot of my audience is familiar with the content he made.
Filthy Frank was someone who outside of his persona is a completely regular person, but
he plays a very different character on camera.
And this comparison is all we need to see why portraying someone who is pretty different
to who you actually are can be very mentally taxing on a person.
You may recall that one of the reasons George wanted to stop the Filthy Frank character
was because of the insane amount of stress it was causing him, to the point where it
actually triggered stress-induced seizures.
So, eventually, George Miller would stop playing that character and transition into being Joji,
something that is going extremely well for him.
Now take that information and apply it to Pump’s situation, where he has a label behind
him most likely telling him to keep playing this dumb, ignorant character, that’s telling
him not to stop otherwise his success might slow down, and it’s not hard to imagine
that this could very much be causing a lot of issues for him.
While George had millions of fans that didn’t want him to change up, he still had the independence
to make the choice and go in the direction he wanted creatively, even if it was a risk.
I’m completely hypothesizing here, but I’m assuming Pump doesn’t have nearly that level
of control, with his label wanting to keep him as marketable as possible.
And this could apply to the bigger picture of hip hop too.
The Bigger Picture (BlackySpeakz):
As
I don't have Blacky's script, I can't transcribe this part, sorry :(
Conclusion/Outro:
So
in conclusion, this is an industry wide issue that is probably only gonna become worse and
worse due to how easy it is to make instant rap superstars through a manufactured personality
nowadays.
I want to close this out by saying this; if you see Lil Pump or any other rapper making
posts that hint towards them struggling, whether it’s with ironic memes or otherwise, we
should show our support for them and not point and laugh because of the persona they have
and are most likely encouraged to keep having.
Because at the end of the day, behind all the shouting of a popular catchphrase, behind
all the jewellery, behind the colourful hair and the extravagant music videos, there is
a young human being that just might not have it as easy as you
think they do.