The popular hip-hop and trap music artist, Lil Pump, released a new album this year and his most known song features advertising in the name and throughout the lyrics. "Gucci Gang" was released earlier this year and quickly became Lil Pump's most played song. Gucci Gang follows the style of trap music with negative and aggressive messages and many references to drugs and bad language. Today's generation loves their rap and trap music and recently, white rappers have been making their debuts and hitting top charts. Lil Pump is a seventeen year old who started off as a Soundcloud rapper and his identity grew to where he is today.
The song Gucci Gang mentions how Lil Pump is spending so much money on the brand because he can. He's rapping about all the stuff he can now afford and all the expensive and exclusive things he has access to. At the beginning of the song, the lyrics: "Gucci Gang, Gucci Gang, Gucci Gang, Gucci Gang" are repeated eight times and continue coming up throughout the song. Lil Pump also mentions his interest in a few other brands: "I can't buy a ***** no wedding ring, rather go and buy Balmains". Balmain is a very expensive French brand featuring four-thousand dollar blazers and thousand dollar jeans. When Lil Pump sings about brands like this, he advertises for them because people who listen to the song will go on repeating the brand names. This process is called branding and usually the artist is part of a deal with the brand or hoping for a future deal if they're using the name frequently.Lil Pump sings about such expensive brands that common folk don't have access too. His audience hears the music and wants to feel affiliated with him, so they turn to the brands and buy products from them. Also, Lil Pump refers to the people wearing Gucci as a "gang" which creates an exclusive environment that people want to be a part of. Everyone who likes Lil Pump will want to fit in with the crowd and this is how Avante Garde works. The listeners want to buy Gucci so they can be ahead of the trends and they can feel like they're part of Lil Pump's exclusive club when in reality they're not because everyone who can afford it has access to Gucci products.
I agree; this in-depth analysis accurately brings to light the subtle techniques used in Gucci Gang of which Lil Pump may not even be aware. Even though they may not be intentional, each different technique definitely works to make listeners subconsciously feel the need to belong to the "Gucci Gang" whether or not they can afford it; I also agree that the song plays on listeners' need for affiliation because rather than singing about only himself and his wealth, the mention of a "gang" implies that through purchasing Gucci products, people can be more similar to him by becoming members of his group. Using the Snob Appeal technique combined with the audience's need for affiliation make people feel that by being in a group of such elite and wealthy people, they also stand out from average people simply because of their connection to Lil Pump, making the song and the lifestyle it portrays all the more appealing. Despite the fact that the majority of Lil Pump's fans are people of average wealth, Gucci Gang's use of the Snob Appeal technique still manages to appeal to them because it also appeals to their needs for prominence and attention. The branding technique used creates a feel of luxury and expensive taste sought after by the average customer as a result of their subconscious needs targeted by all other sources of advertisement. Lil Pump's song Gucci Gang is subtle advertising, but successful in its attempt to attract listeners.
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