The rapper Lil Pump has joined the growing cohort of celebrities boycotting Gucci, after the brand was accused of employing blackface in the design of a wool balaclava sweater. Early Wednesday afternoon, the 18-year-old Soundcloud rapper-turned-Kanye collaborator took to Instagram live to announce that he would no longer be supporting the brand. “Hey listen, with all that sh*t going on with Gucci- I am not supporting that sh*t…All that racist shit, no sir! No, sir!” he said.
In 2017, the song “Gucci Gang” propelled the South Florida artist from regional notoriety to international fame. Since then, the Italian fashion house has been a mainstay in Pump’s lyrics and social media aesthetic. This past November, even, Pump and fellow frequent collaborator Smokepurpp announced that they had started a record label called “Gucci Gang.”
This is all to say that few celebrities have as much skin in the Gucci game as Pump. And while Pump is taking steps to distance himself from the now defamed brand, he will is not cutting ties entirely. “That song changed my life,” he said, speaking about his breakout hit. “That’s the only reason that I will keep performing that song. I went from broke to rich with that song. You know, it is what it is.”
