Gucci Gang

Lil Pump insists he’s the coolest, most perpetually high rapper around. It doesn’t convince me. But something about the pink dreadlocks and the sheer lack of self-consciousness makes me look twice. Almost.

He’s from Miami, making bratty trap music with lyrics so dumb they loop back to something. His album hit number 3 on the charts. Smokepurpp’s there, Lil Yachty, Gucci Mane, the whole crew. A few years ago this was underground or a joke. Now it’s just the cultural moment.

The Gucci Gang video is what you’d expect: his crew getting high, girls everywhere, a tiger in there somewhere. The whole thing’s such a self-parody that you can’t tell if Lil Pump’s in on it or deadly serious. Maybe he is. Maybe I’m the one who doesn’t get it.

He’s got nearly 4 million Instagram followers. The music’s dumb, the aesthetic’s even dumber, but it lands. Not because he’s talented, but because he doesn’t care whether you think he is.