Marcus Jamal Hopson, better known to most as simply Hopsin has been leaving his mark in the music industry for several years now. Sporting his unique colored contacts to set himself apart he has seen his share of ups and downs that come along with any music career. In 2007 Hopsin signed with Ruthless Records. It took nearly two years for his debut album “Gazing at the Moonlight” to be released. To say Hopsin was disappointed with how the release of his album was handled by Eric “Eazy E” Wright’s widow Tomica Woods-Wright, former A&R for Ruthless Records, would be an understatement.
She’ll blow $40,000 on a music video when I’m telling her I can do dope-ass videos, that can get a bunch of views, for $500, she was sleeping on me. she doesn’t put out any of her artists. She is the definition of an idiot.
That was the first taste the music industry left in Hopsin’s mouth. So many young artists are quickly spit out by the industry based on variables most will never see behind the scenes. This did not deter Hopsin. Instead of cutting his losses and calling it a day he went on to form his own independent label, Funk Volume. Haywire was set to be the first album released by his newly formed label, but the contract with Ruthless Records did not allow a major release. The album had success as a mixtape reaching gold status on a popular mixtape website called DatPiff. (At the time of writing this article it has seen 145,249 downloads)
Fast forward to today and Hopsin could break into the top 20 of the Billboard Top Album Sales chart with his album “Pound Syndrome.” This would mark the highest Hopsin ever topped the charts (#76 was his previous highest). There is a slight shift in the way music is being marketed and it makes sense that Hopsin would be one to capitalize on this. He reaches out to fans on social media in ways most people would not even dare. Look no further than his YouTube channel Hopsintv, where he personally called fans who pre-ordered his new album. Perhaps you are thinking this is a one and done gimmick, but he has gone as far as giving out his phone number for fans to text him as well. Hopsin even took things further to promote his new album. Back in December 2014 Facebook, Instagram posts, and blogs told fans that he was done with the music industry completely.
I just wanted to take time out to say I appreciate all of u who have supported my music over these past few years. A Lot of u have told me stories about how I have changed your life. You too have changed mine in ways that u can never imagine. Unfortunately, tonight is the night that I am actually moving away to Australia. Over the past couple years I have come to conclusion that this profession just isn’t for me, so im going to venture out into new areas of life. I will always be an MC at heart, but this rap stuff just isn’t for me. I hope Youguys can respect it. I’ve signed over my half of the funk volume label to my business partner Dame. I also wished Swizzz, Dizzy Wright and Jarren Benton good luck in their careers. Thank u all! I’m out.
Sincerely,
Marcus Jamal Hopson aka “Hopsin
Two weeks later he dropped the gag on YouTube letting people know he was not leaving for Australia (to fans that follow Hopsin this was not out of the realm of reason since he is open about many things including his fianace who lives in Australia) but be ready for “Pound Syndrome.”
This may have been risky to do on his part, but Hopsin does not take the traditional approach to most things. Listening to his new album a light shines brighter on his life than most rappers would allow. He speaks about how some closest to him act as if the money he makes is theirs in the track “No Hope.” The song “My Love” is a modern day love story touching on the struggles a couple may endure, but one of the most powerful tracks on the album is “Ill Mind of Hopsin 7.”
This is one of the deepest tracks in rap to drop in quite some time. The inner conflict that most would keep to themselves reveals the spiritual struggle he is dealing with. Controversy over this song found it’s way onto social media when the video was released. Back in a 2012 interview with Hard Knock TV Hopsin said,
In my heart, I’ve always wanted to do right but I never knew what right was…but it’s weird, God reached down, he said ‘boom! This is what you are’ and I was like whoa! Not literally, I didn’t fly into the air, but this happened like a few months ago. It’s like I just opened my eyes and I saw everything differently.
People often question most of what they believe within themselves, however Hopsin is not like most people and continues to share exactly what he is thinking about in his music. This should not be a refreshing idea in rap music, but it is. When other artists are rapping about getting money, poppin’ bottles in the club, shooting up the block, drugs and whatever other stories they tell, Hopsin takes a look at the other side of these things. Not often you find a guy that wants to talk about their feelings let alone rap about them all for everyone to hear.
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