Controversy is something hip hop has certainly seen a lot of in it's existence. Some rappers through the years have actually made their name off of nothing but sheer controversy. Whether it be their behavior away from the studio and in public, their thoughts or ideas about certain issues, or simply the content within their music and/or lyrics. Let us now enter the twisted and demented mind of Hopsin. An underground lyricist since 2009, it wasn't until 2010 when myself and many others took immediate notice. When I heard his single "Sag My Pants" along with "Ill Mind Of Hopsin 3", listened to his sinister lyricism and gazed upon his demonic like appearance (with the eye contacts and all), I knew this was a artist I had to keep an eye on. That year he dropped his sophomore album Raw. An album I was very impressed with. Filled with controversial lyrics about an abundance of things. Mostly taking shots at other big name rappers and other figures in pop culture. Along with many other jaw dropping topics. Hopsin is basically a perfect example of horror-core and/or shock value rap. Now as the ring leader of the up and coming rap group Funk Volume, and with all the heads he has turned for the last three years, the anticipation for the next project was beyond eager. Here is his third album Knock Madness. I didn't have any kind of particular expectation for it because Hopsin doesn't change anything so I expected typical Hopsin. Well...that's exactly what I got. I don't know if I can say this is better than Raw or Gazing At The Moonlight just yet, but I did enjoy this. Again, Hopsin changes nothing. Everything on this album is why Hopsin has become so popular on the underground scene. There were some moments of emotion but he doesn't shy away at the thing that got him here. Which, again, is really his controversial shock value lyrics. They're insanely graphic, vulgar and at times disturbing. Granted a lot of it is still quite funny and entertaining because his high energy just gets you amped regardless of what comes out his mouth. Him taking pages out of Eminem's playbook (as far as flow and content) has certain done wonders for him and it shows more than ever on Knock Madness. In fact, a lot of the production on here sounds like material Dr. Dre would have given Eminem in '99 (even though the production wasn't that strong for me). Here now are the things I liked about the album. The album starts off in typical Hopsin fashion. The second track "Hop Is Back" finds him blurting out his shock lyrics and calling out rappers in the process. He even takes shot at Kanye West and how bad Yeezus was and also takes a shot at Kendrick Lamar regarding his height and stuff. That's the Hopsin I know. It continues on the next track "Who's There". It features fellow Funk Volume members Jarren Benton and Dizzy Wright and is a lyrical slaying with each bringing their own unique style. Jarren and Hopsin making threats to industry folks while Dizzy is more chill and bring his mainstream style. I think my one stand out track to me had to be "Nollie Tre Flip". On an album that had just decent beats, this was hands down the best beat. What was really coll was how he rapped with a old school DJ Quik like voice. The skateboarders will certainly enjoy this one as well. The following track "Gimmie That Money" is a song many celebrities can relate to. He talks about how people only comes to him for money or they want to be his friend for that reason. Also how girls that turned him down in the past now are all on him because of his money. These are topics I love hearing talk about because you can tell how bad it pisses him off by his tone and his words. "Lunch Time Cypher" may be the unique and creative track. He gets help from Passionate MC and G-Mo Skee and put together a actual cypher where they all are just taking turns rhyming. Just like back in school during lunch time. The simple beat boxing production makes it more of a stand out. Really dope track. "Hip Hop Sinister" is a track that screams pure anger...literally. He's literally yelling on this track in a extreme aggressive manner. He almost sound like a member of Onyx on here. He also continues to cross the line as well with lines about George Zimmerman and such. Still I like this son, just with the volume down a little. Time and time again he always talk about how he hates collaborating with anyone outside of FV but he gets Tech N9ne for the track "Rip Your Heart Out". Another track with more threats to industry lames. I'm starting to believe he has a fantasy of just going on a violent killing spree throughout hip hop and taking out all these rappers he hates so much. The "madness" continues on "Bad Guys Get Left Behind". This was a short two minute track of nothing but spitting the most extreme yet humorous shit on the album. With lines like "i've come to conclusion that life sucks/the only good that comes out of it is sticking my dick in nice butts", "you Hollywood niggas that write songs/I'll give you a black eye now that's a good reason to put some ice on", "my niggas we only fuck with the dopey blonde broads/we play them and trade them like they was Pokemon cards", "fuck these niggas I'm a racist bastard/you hear the devil speaking in tongus on this song if you play it backwards". Just to name a few. This track was actually a part two to a previous track before it which I'll address later. "Old Friend" is a emotional track about an old friend of his whose life he tried to save from making bad decisions. Specifically drug use. Another situation some can relate to. Now the things I didn't like. The most glaring negative about this album and something that has been an issue with m about Hopsin for some time is his lack of making good hooks. This kinda killed the album a little bit. I know he doesn't like to collaborate with artists because well...he hates them, but I think he might want to consider it. At least for the hooks because that's a major weakness for him. The worst hook on here was on "I Need Help". Whatever that little singing thing was that he was doing was terrible. He actually sounds like he's impersonating Lil Wayne, which might be the case. Could have been intentional. But either way it's a terrible hook that ruined the song for me. I mentioned that the song "Bad Guys Get Left Behind" is a part two. Well part one is "Good Guys Get Left Behind". The track right before it. Surprisingly Hopsin had quite a number of songs regarding females on this album. This was one of them. Here he talks about a girl he met a while back that basically played him. She got with someone else behind his back, had a baby with him and just giving Hopsin lie after lie about being busy when he wants to chill. This is something that happens all the time but never would I have imagined Hopsin would be a victim of this. I disliked the song because of again, another poorly sung hook. I think the two songs basically explain how good guys and bad guys get played and how women are confused about who they want. But one song was better than the other here. The award for worst beat on the album goes to "Jungle Bass". I understand the whole thing with the jungle drums and all feeding into the theme but he could have did something better than this. Then I was kind of disappointed with SwizZz's verse as he usually kills these type of tracks. The women problems continue on "Tears To Snow". This one he talks about the goods and bads (mostly bads) about being a rapper in a relationship. This is another poor hook but I really didn't like the aggressiveness on such a mellow track either. Well I'll end it here. In closing, I enjoyed the album. As I said Hopsin continues his lyrical assault and trash talking on the industry and shows no fear in doing it. I give this a final grade of a B. In short, Hopsin is the definition of a rapper who simply does not give a fuck. He will say whatever he wants and talk about whoever he wants to talk about. That's honestly why I dig him. He's always embraced his underground/independent status and always sounds off on never wanting to sign a major deal. I agree. He is a rapper that mainstream land simply is not ready for anyway. Plenty of MC's stayed underground their whole career and still became recognized by everyone. At this pace Hopsin will too. End.
Final Grade: B
CREDITS
Executive Producer
Marcus Hopson
Lead Artist
Marcus Hopson
Production
Marcus Hopson
Collaboration
Jarren Benton
La'Reonte Wright
Aaron Yates
Justin Ritter
Kyle Gobern
Label
Funk Volume/Empire Distribution
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