Getty Lil Pump arrives at the Warner Music Group Pre-Grammy Celebration
While Lil Pump dubbed his new studio album Harverd Dropout, the American-Columbian rapper, singer and songwriter claims to be going to the correctly spelled Harvard to deliver the university’s 2019 commencement speech. The 18-year-old will be making history as the youngest speaker ever chosen address the prestigious school. Or will he?
On Monday, February 25, Warner Bros. put out a statement that Lil Pump was heading to Cambridge, which was then confirmed by WHRB radio, even though the Harvard Gazette had already recently announced in December that German ChancellorAngela Merkel would be giving the university’s speaker at the 368th commencement ceremony on May 30.
Typically, the illustrious ivy league school selects from an elite group of Nobel Peace prize winners, former Presidents, and tech billionaires to deliver the keynote graduation speech, but maybe this year they decided to go in a new direction with Lil Pump, the multi-platiunum selling rapper who’s best known for his 2017 hit “Gucci Gang” and recent collaboration with Kanye West on the track “I Love it.”
Possibly joining a list of luminaries that includes Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg, Steven Spielberg, and J.K. Rowling, Lil Pump, real name Gazzy Garcia, claims the he’s excited to receive such an honor.
“You don’t gotta graduate from Harvard to do this speech,” Lil Pump said. “I dropped out, so they called me like they called the guy that made Windows and PCs and shit before I was born. You just need a cap and gown, which I got. When I found out, I was happy to give everyone a lesson. I’m all about the youth. Yes, they are the future. This is a preview of my speech, one word: ESSKEETIT!!!!!!”
Or is the rapper merely trolling Harvard to drum up publicity for his recent album? In August 2017, the Florida native tweeted, “I REALLY DID DROP OUT OF HARVARD TO SAVE THE RAP GAME.” But alas, it was just a rumor. In fact, Lil Pump didn’t even graduate high school.
Lil Pump first came onto the scene as a “Soundcloud rapper” before releasing his first eponymous album in October 2017, featuring songs with Gucci Mane, Lil Yachty, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz. After signing an $8 million one-album deal with Warner Bros., Harverd Dropout was released on February 25, 2019.