I was introduced to Lil Pump’s music a couple of years ago by a friend, and my reaction was the same as many who listen to the rapper’s music for the first time: what is this? Keep in mind, this was before “Gucci Gang” and the Kanye collaboration “I Love It.” At the time, Lil Pump had only a handful of singles to his name and may have been best known for his repeated disses of J. Cole, as well as his online courting of Miranda Cosgrove.

If you’re not familiar with Lil Pump and therefore have no idea what I’m talking about, let me give you an idea of who exactly he is. Lil Pump is a rapper from Miami, Florida who started to gain notoriety in 2016 through a stream of singles on SoundCloud and plenty of antics on Instagram. His biggest hit is the aforementioned “Gucci Gang,” which released in 2017. He bought a Porsche and then crashed it. He claims to have dropped out of Harvard to save the rap game, as evidenced by his latest album, Harverd Dropout (misspelling intended), which released last Friday.

I didn’t like Lil Pump’s music when I first heard it. I saw it as too repetitive and devoid of any kind of substance. I had no real intention of listening again. But as time went on, you know what happened? I found myself getting mind-numbingly ignorant to Lil Pump’s music, despite my initial reaction. I even started using his catch phrases “ouu” and “esketit” with some regularity, and sometimes not even ironically. I didn’t know what was happening to me.

You may not care for Lil Pump’s music, and you may not even consider his music to be “music,” but you can’t ignore his energy. It’s infectious. There’s no way around it.  It’s proven to be successful, too; Lil Pump is one of the most talked-about rappers in the world. However, much of that talk comes with controversy, whether it’s about his brash musical style or his equally brash behavior, and with that controversy comes criticism and even hate. Lots of hate, actually. Why? I’m not sure; I guess people don’t have anything else to do with their sad lives.

Here’s my point: what’s with all the hate? Sure, Lil Pump may not be mentioned alongside rap greats like Jay-Z and 2Pac, or modern titans like Kendrick Lamar. Who cares? I didn’t care for Pump’s music when I first listened, but I just left it there – there’s no reason to go any further. Growing up, my mom used to tell me “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” That always annoyed me as a child, but now, that’s my exact message to everyone who’s still reading this column: why be a hater?

This isn’t an endorsement of Lil Pump and/or his music, nor is it a positive review of Harverd Dropout, or anything of the sort – I’m just saying, if you’re going to say something hateful, maybe just be quiet instead.

Jackson Bayer is a senior creative writing major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at jcbayer@eiu.edu.