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I just woke up the other day, he said in a video to his 17 millionplus followers.
I got bored, so you know what I did?
I went and dropped $4.5 million on a house.
Its Airbnb porn for the wealthy, worth anestimated $8 million.
Ive agreed to reinterview Pump on the one condition that hell stay conscious at least most of the time.
Its clear, as he puts it to me later, that hes not a good communicator with people.
But hes also worked hard to keep his star image remarkably literal.
Its made the start of his career more elusive than even the Weeknd andH.E.R.
Lil Pump does drugs.
Lil Pump hates school.
Lil Pump is sleeping with his teacher.
Lil Pump is sleeping with your girlfriend.
Lil Pump is giving your girlfriend drugs.
When I arrive at the mansion a little past 1 p.m., Lil Pump is just waking up.
He suggests the service elevator instead.
Pump first started rapping three years ago, almost by fluke.
At the time, the streaming platform was acrowded nest of unsigned, raw talent.
Suddenly, the labels came calling.
Pump ended up signing a multimillion-dollar contract with Warner Bros. Records.
But Pump clearly breaks beyond all of that.
Hes a SoundCloud visionary, he says.
It comes with a lot more shit.
An Uber driver only catches it by the lone street-side mailbox.
It was just ghetto, he says of his old neighborhood, sitting across from me on the balcony.
It was a huge switch-up for me, going from that to this.
But I got used to it.
Or, he has done a good job pretending to have adjusted.
I dont care about fame, he pauses.
For as long as Pump has been famous, hes been under the thumb of the law.
They see us with face tats [and arrest us].
Pumps groomer interjects, So howd yall get out of it?
We paid the fine, what you think?
We gotta be able to go back.
They look at social media now, on top of everything, he says.
Theres evidence to back up his theory.
After his good friendXXXTentacions murderlast summer, he started to realize fame does not make him untouchable.
It kind of fucked my head up.
You was just here yesterday and you just died out of nowhere …, he trails off.
You gotta be safe.
After that X shit happened, I knew I couldnt just be riding around alone no more.
Pump no longer travels anywhere without an entourage.
People are crazy out here, he says, his voice dropping.
They look at one thing and think its more than what it is.
So does his drug use.
(The one drug Pump doesnt touch, I learn later in the night, is alcohol.)
At our previous meeting in September, lean was very much still a part of his diet.
Since then, a young Australian woman was brought on as Pumps personal assistant.
Theres no visible trace of the stuff at the house either.
Pumps manager, Dooney Battle, is sober and keeps close watch on him throughout the day and night.
But the lines between Pumps reality and the one he presents remain blurred.
Were approaching sunset on the roof.
Pump starts shooting some hoops on the court until he realizes the balls a little deflated.
Pump smirks, pausing to double-check everyones got their phones out and pointed at him.
He gets a running start, then launches the ball straight into the river.
He stubs his toe in the process and curses.
Battle rolls his eyes and gives Pump a big-brother slap on the head.
Its also what gives him clout, the word he and his generation use most to define his success.
When I ask Pump to define it, he cant (clout is everything).
You could have two followers and write a song and be Grammy-nominated but have no clout, Pump explains.
The rappers with the most clout are internet celebrities first, rappers second.
Music video treatments are approved by Pump down to every last detail.
His teams eyes fixate on Pumps facial reactions like a room trained to dread Miranda Priestlys pursed lips.
Those at the label maintain that Pump is running the show.
Watching him, it seems true.
But they understand that Pump, and artists like him, are best left to create their own clout.
But clout, alone, is meaningless.
How does he want to use it?
