He rose to prominence as part of the SoundCloud rap scene in the late 2010s, gaining distinction for his minimalist music and rambunctious public persona.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he gained mainstream attention following the release of his 2017 single "Gucci Gang", which peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded his self-titled debut studio album in October of that year.

"Gucci Gang", despite being panned by critics and audiences, received quintuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),[8] while the album of which it preceded peaked at number three on the Billboard 200.

[15] Garcia quickly followed the song with singles "Elementary", "Ignorant", "Gang Shit", and "Drum$tick", each garnering over three million streams.

[17][18] While rising in popularity and releasing underground hits, Pump would also meet other rappers like XXXTentacion, Ski Mask the Slump God, Fat Nick and Pouya.

Garcia began gaining attention in 2017 by releasing the singles "D Rose" and "Boss", which were major hits on SoundCloud, collecting a combined 70 million streams.

[16] The popularity of "D Rose" led to a music video being produced by Chicago-based director Cole Bennett, also known as Lyrical Lemonade.

[26] Following reports that he had left his former labels Tha Lights Global and Warner Records and the contract had been voided on the grounds of him being a minor when he signed,[27] competition rose to sign Garcia with offers reportedly as high as $8 million[28] to $12 million or more,[29] and artists such as Gucci Mane and DJ Khaled taking interest in him.

[35] In July that year, he released the single "Drug Addicts" alongside a music video which features the actor Charlie Sheen.

[38] Garcia announced in August 2018 a tour to promote his unreleased album Harverd Dropout, but it was cancelled a month later due to "unforeseen circumstances".

[41] On October 25, dubstep producer Skrillex released the song "Arms Around You", which is a collaboration he made with Garcia, Maluma, Swae Lee and posthumous vocals from XXXTentacion.

This generated negative press coverage and caused Chinese rappers, including CD Rev and Awkwafina, to release diss tracks against him.

[53] Later that same year, Garcia released various SoundCloud exclusives including "Lil Pimp Big MAGA Steppin"[54] and "I'monna".

[58] Unlike Garica's previous release, Harverd Dropout, the new album was never mentioned on social media, leading it to become a commercial failure.

The deluxe version of Lil Pump 2, was released on September 15, 2023, containing new tracks: "6 Rings", "Glow in the Dark", "I Sell" and "Rick Rubin".

[61] In December 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was banned from JetBlue after refusing to wear a mask on a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.

[63] On October 26, 2020, Garcia endorsed the campaign of President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, citing Joe Biden's tax plan as his reasoning.

[64][65] Lil Pump has made posts on social media wearing the Trump campaign's Make America Great Again baseball cap.