We are going out on limb here, but Hopsin is probably not a big fan of autotuned raps of Future, Young Thug and Fetty Wap, if his new music video for ‘No Words’ is any indication. “Man rap today fucking sucks bad,” Hopsin says in the track’s intro. “They’re not even saying words anymore, they just got a hard ass fucking beat to trick dumbasses like you to make you think you like the shit.” Full of cars, guns, and women, Hopsin does his best worse impression of rap today in his new video.
Last night, Hopsin brought his Funk Volume 2015 Tour to Milwaukee’s Turner Hall Ballroom with Dizzy Wright, DJ Hoppa and Jarren Benton. With some energetic sets from Benton and Wright, and even a short film played between performances, the man of the night and the whole Funk Volume crew definitely delivered. Hopsin performed a number of tracks from latest LP, Pound Syndrome, as well as a collection of his older tracks (including a few from his “Ill Mind of Hopsin” series. Hopsin gave his dedicated Milwaukee fans everything they asked for and more last night.
Check out our photos below and be sure to check out if the tour is coming to a city near you.
A conscious sense of self-importance is key for rappers who are attempting to stamp their place in the scene. In 2013, Kendrick Lamar displayed this on ‘Control’ with a verse that sent shockwaves through hip-hop as he declared, “I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder you niggas.” Of course, he had the respect of the entire community and a towering body of work to support his claims…but what happens when a rapper without the esteemed back-catalog attempts to make similar statements? Enter Hopsin, a fellow California artist whose fifth studio-album, Pound Syndrome, has a common thread of attempting to assert supremacy over groupies, struggle rappers, and hip-hop as a whole.
It should never come to anyone’s surprise when Hopsin calls out another rapper. This time around, Hopsin sent shots at (Donald Glover) Childish Gambino during his new interview with Ebro and Laura Stylez on Hot 97. However, to be fair, Hopsin wasn’t overtly disrespectful to his rap peers this time at least. When talking about rappers and their strategic styles and images, Hopsin said:
After making a career of taking shots at popular rappers through his music, rapper Hopsin has called it quits. Announcing the decision to his fans on Facebook, Hopsin decided that a profession in rap is just not for him while bidding farewell to his fans. His next stop? Australia. Check out his full message below.
Yearly, hip-hop magazine XXL does a freshman cover, showcasing nearly a dozen rising stars. Sometimes, these lists are underwhelming, leaving obvious choices out (Drake, Young Thug, Tyler, the Creator, A$AP Rocky, etc) but sometimes they can also be packed with to-be stars (2011’s issue).
Now that a couple years have passed, it would definitely be interesting to observe how well some of 2012’s freshman have fared, because frankly, the gap between superstars and unknowns is huge.
Let’s begin.
Photo by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
Future
The autotune crooner was already known by the time this cover was released and he’s done well for himself. While his record sales are mundane for someone at his status, his singles are still popular. Future Vandross has went completely left from his original trap persona to dive into writing for R&B artists and defying the odds, as most wrote him off to be a one hit wonder since his hit ‘Tony Montana’.
Kid Ink
Back in 2012, to the general public, this guy was just a Chris Brown look-a-like with an overly simple rap name/aesthetic. But to the mixtape circuit, he was moving around and grinding heavy. The grind finally paid off once he scored two Chris Brown features and DJ Mustard produced hits. The sad thing is he’s only known for singles.
Danny Brown
Detroit MC Danny Brown was known by 2012 but he’s only worked harder since the cover has passed, dropping a critically acclaimed album, opening for Eminem and touring worldwide. He has no plans of stopping and is fully satisfied with sacrificing radio spins for quality music.
French Montana
French’s album flopped. But he didn’t let that stop him, he instead continued to release hits as well as linking with Khloe Kardashian the goddess, solidifying his pop culture relevancy. Let’s see how he responds to the break-up.
Macklemore
Who would’ve thought? The seemingly random white rapper Macklemore, independent, corny and somewhat conscious, went on to release his Grammy award winning album in late 2012 and ran 2013 as the biggest pop artist. I still don’t get it.
While everyone knows that Drake used to be Degrassi’s Jimmy or Childish Gambino played Community’s Troy for several seasons, there are many musicians today that had more subtle and brief appearances on movie and television before their musical success.
The Early Registration 