"Be Like Me" is a song by American rapper

Lil Pump Gazzy Fabio Garcia (born August 17, 2000), known professionally as Lil Pump, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as part of the SoundCloud rap scene in the late 2010s, gaining distinction for his minimalist music and rambunctious pu ...

featuring fellow American rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

from the former's second studio album, '' Harverd Dropout'' (2019). It was released for digital download and

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

as the album's seventh single on February 21, 2019 by Tha Lights Global and

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. Written alongside producer CBMix, the song sees Lil Pump calling out the rappers copying his style while Lil Wayne looks at how he birthed a generation of them. "Be Like Me" was mostly praised by music critics, with some seeing it among the best tracks on ''Harverd Dropout''. An accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was released on the same day. Directed by

Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is an English music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song " ...

, the visual is reminiscent of the video for

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

's "

The Real Slim Shady "The Real Slim Shady" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his third studio album ''The Marshall Mathers LP'' (2000). It was released as the lead single a month before the album's release. The song peaked at number four on the ''Billboard ...

" (2000) and sees Lil Pump leading an army of people that want to be like him. The song charted in the United States, Ireland, and Canada. For promotion, Lil Pump performed it on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', sometimes shortened to ''JKL'', is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show tapes and is based out of the Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywo ...

'' in February 2019.

Background and composition

The involvement of Lil Wayne was first known to the public when Lil Pump shared a photo of the ''Harverd Dropout'' tracklist that revealed him as being featured on "Be Like Me". He stands alongside the likes of

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commer ...

and

Quavo Quavious Keyate Marshall (born April 2, 1991), better known by his stage name Quavo (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman of the now-defunct hip hop group Migos. Formed with his nep ...

as one of the fellow rap artists to be featured on the album. The song was produced by CBMix, standing as one of the four tracks on ''Harverd Dropout'' that was solely produced by him. Lil Pump, CBMix and Lil Wayne wrote the song. "Be Like Me" has a "bouncy" instrumental minimalistic in its arrangement. Lyrically, Lil Pump calls out those copying his style in

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

, rapping lines such as: "Everybody wanna be like Pump / Everybody got fake dreads and love to take drugs." Pump references

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

, whom he collaborated with on " I Love It" (2018), with the lyrics: "Everybody wanna be like Ye / Everybody wanna go and smash Kim K." Utilizing Lil Pump's flow during his verse at the end of the track, Lil Wayne looks at how he birthed the next generation of rappers.

Release and reception

The song was released for digital download in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on the eve of the album's release as its seventh single. That same day, it was also made available for

. "Be Like Me" is the twelfth track on Lil Pump's second studio album ''Harverd Dropout'', released on February 22, 2019. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. It was viewed by Luke Morgan Britton of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' as being one of "the rare moments where things do click on ''Harverd Dropout''." The staff of ''

Rap-Up ''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the ...

'' called the song a "CB MIX-produced banger." Alphonse Pierre of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' pointed out "unleashing Pump's purest

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

form" on the song as being an example of when the album's "high-budget production does have some bright spots." In a more negative review, Brody Kenny of '' The 405'' labelled the song as "a pretty underwhelming track."

Music video and promotion

An accompanying

for "Be Like Me" was released on February 22, 2019 and directed by

. The theme of the video is the same as

's visual for "

" (2000); Lil Pump hinted at this when tweeting a screenshot reading "IM THE REAL SLIM SHADY". Eminem criticized Pump in his 2018 track " The Ringer", with the latter responding to the diss with "Thank you I deserved that." It is a fluorescent visual that includes Lil Pump leading an army of look-alikes and imposters that want to be like him. Lil Wayne's cameo sees him with a

Styrofoam Styrofoam is a brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), manufactured to provide continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and as a water barrier. This material is light blue in ...

cup and blunt in hand while rapping or being reflected in multiple mirrors. For further promotion, Lil Pump performed "Be Like Me" on ''

'' on February 25, 2019. The performance began with him breaking a banner and confetti raining afterwards. Pump dressed in a way that resembled the cover art of ''Harverd Dropout'', wearing a decked-out purple and white graduation robe, with a bedazzled cap on his head. During the performance, Lil Pump was backed by an all-purple drumline and cheerleaders.

Commercial performance

Upon its release as a single, "Be Like Me" debuted at number 72 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 35 on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts respectively. The track descended 14 places to number 49 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart the next week. On the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are ...

, it entered at number 71. The track further charted at number 47 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

. The song became Lil Pump's final charting single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

– performer, lyricist, composer *

– performer, lyricist, composer * CBMix – lyricist, composer, mixing, mastering, recording

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Lil Pump songs Lil Wayne songs Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Songs written by Lil Pump Songs written by Lil Wayne Warner Records singles