The ill mind of Hopsin

On July 19 2012 15:49 Bobbias wrote:
Great to hear rappers making a point. He's certainly not the first to make some of these points, but he's definitely one of the more direct in how he does it.

Expert production, brilliant lyrics, great flow... and a brain. This guy has it all.

On July 19 2012 15:55 Jealous wrote:
If you or anyone else enjoys Hopsin, you should take a look at his lyrical ancestor, Immortal Technique ^^

On July 19 2012 16:05 bGr.MetHiX wrote:
he is a member of Techn9ne.pretty good mc,but i kinda dislike his attitude.


and eyedea is the god of freestyling, i doubt many mcs can come close to his rhyming

On July 19 2012 16:35 xodarap wrote:
This track is just like every other track dissing the entirety of rap culture over the past twenty years. Nothing new.
I was expecting an actual message similar to ATCQ or De La Soul.

On July 19 2012 15:49 xodarap wrote:
I'm over shock value rap. Also, this guy brags about being a high school drop out. He's nice for what he does, but it's just not my cup of tea anymore.

On July 19 2012 15:59 Silidons wrote:

and then check out Eyedea who annihilated him freestyle....

that guy actually has some skills, i won't be listening to him, but he's 100x better than emninem/wayne/khalifa/etc.

my two favorites....
Eyedea & Abilities
Binary Star

Expert production, brilliant lyrics, great flow... and a brain. This guy has it all.

On July 19 2012 17:34 Joedaddy wrote:
Wow. Just wow. Thanks so much for sharing this OP. I've got a secret love (lol) for rap. But, so many rappers don't seem to have anything real to say. I've always loved Eminem because I always felt like he was actually saying something. Same thing for this song by Jedi Mind Trick, Rockwell Knuckles' song "Play Catch", and Louis Logic's "The Ugly Truth".

There are a lot of truly great rap/hip hop artists out there with something real to say, and its so crazy sad that they don't get the same recognition that the poisonous mainstream artists get.

I'm not black so I'm probably not the best person to opine about this though. I still have always said that its so terribly... fucked up. I don't know what else you'd call it. Young people growing up in a disadvantaged environment where so many of the biggest success stories are dealers, thugs, gang bangers, etc turned hip hop superstar who write songs about sleeping around indiscriminately, doing drugs, excessive alcohol abuse, etc. etc etc. What are young people supposed to grow up thinking when they don't have anyone around them telling them anything different?

Love this song and I can't thank you enough for sharing it.

On July 19 2012 16:38 Cedstick wrote:

I'm sorry? Telling the mass of retards to smarten the fuck up and contribute to society is a pretty good message to me.

On July 19 2012 18:09 plogamer wrote:


It's easy to tell people to 'smarten the fuck up and contribute' when you come from a priviledged background. Rap isn't about that shit. It's gotta be real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ITYdcs4WM

On July 19 2012 16:38 Cedstick wrote:

I'm sorry? Telling the mass of retards to smarten the fuck up and contribute to society is a pretty good message to me.

On July 19 2012 18:21 Tsutchie wrote:


You're born into problems but the problem isn't inherently you. he's saying smarten up and get out of the loop you're so blindly walking in in a very aggresive manner. its a unique style that i haven't heard before. at least i think its uncommon

On July 19 2012 16:44 Kazius wrote:
The guy has good technique, delivers solid, straight-up music and lyrics, and has fantastic production. Seems to be doing his own thing - doesn't sound as fake as the heavily commercialized hip hop in the mainstream media. Anyways, his sound is refreshing. I like.

On July 19 2012 19:39 Sinensis wrote:
I don't support artists that got famous by going viral on youtube. I think if no one did the music industry would be a better place.

On July 19 2012 18:09 plogamer wrote:


It's easy to tell people to 'smarten the fuck up and contribute' when you come from a priviledged background. Rap isn't about that shit. It's gotta be real.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ITYdcs4WM

On July 19 2012 19:14 plogamer wrote:


If you listened to the song I posted, the solution is to empower, not to berate. Its a thin line, but significant.

On July 19 2012 21:24 NeMeSiS3 wrote:


That's a good way to look at it... Has to come from a shitty background to REALLY GET IT -.- "It's gotta be real", nothing about the message I heard was unreal.

This gotta come from the ghetto to understand bullshit really frustrates me, a lot of people have been poor and got away from it (including myself) because I put my fucking left foot forward... I come from shit, and I think it was "real" enough for me to equate the message. I didn't know you needed to be in the shit to see the shit.

To many stupid fucking kids, with stupid ideologies and stupid ideas of what is fun... To many stupid fucking parents who allow there kids to do whatever the hell they want. You want to know what's "real"? Human beings being idiots, one thing that's never changed, no matter the carrier of the message.

And if this is not "new" than the entire rap community (which evidently must be a piece of shit since it's been "dissed" so hard) should simply peace out, because I'm tired of gangstas from the motherfucking hood walking around in 200 dollar shoes living in 500 a month rooms raping/killing and shitting on everyone around them because they're "ill" or "tough"...

TLDR: This shits real, because the message is real, you don't have to be in it to know it. I heard the message, I was living in a one room house with 6 people (2 parents 4 kids) and I completely agreed with it.

EDIT: If you like this type of message, I'd check out the album Harakiri by Serj Tankian (released recently) it's sick but it more or less deals with the world (not just people from poverty)

This is the title song.
+ Show Spoiler +

but my favorite (for symbolism, gotta watch the video) is this
+ Show Spoiler +

On July 19 2012 22:00 guN-viCe wrote:
This guy is pretty much copying Eminem.. slight variations.

He's got skill, I'll admit that.

On July 19 2012 16:38 Cedstick wrote:

I'm sorry? Telling the mass of retards to smarten the fuck up and contribute to society is a pretty good message to me.

On July 19 2012 22:57 Equity213 wrote:
I love how whenever some rapper avoids criminality in one song, were all supposed to praise what a great message he has. Fuck that shit.

Dont get me wrong, I actually like some rap, but dont pretend its got some deep meaning, its trash.

On July 19 2012 16:38 Cedstick wrote:

I'm sorry? Telling the mass of retards to smarten the fuck up and contribute to society is a pretty good message to me.

On July 19 2012 15:59 Silidons wrote:

and then check out Eyedea who annihilated him freestyle....

that guy actually has some skills, i won't be listening to him, but he's 100x better than emninem/wayne/khalifa/etc.

my two favorites....
Eyedea & Abilities
Binary Star

On July 19 2012 23:52 farvacola wrote:

Substantiate your claims, our wise Finnish brother. Then again, your obvious nod to racial essentialism when it comes to formulating a critique of black music indicates that you don't even value your own opinion, so why bother.

On July 19 2012 23:10 AnYvia wrote:
This just proves to how our generation is 95% sheep following the fucking mainstream. This guy is not original and is too simple compared to people like Pac and Nas who have said the same shit 20 years ago and have done it even better but still people jump on his dick like he is the first rapper to try and change people's minds. When you tell stupid kids who listen to Wayne to try to listen to old school rap and see how meaningful it is they just blush you off and call it whack and boring. Then 1 year later this dumb ass who has a different money plan compared to other rappers in our time comes up as the next hot shit and people say you should listen to him because he actually has a message. Fuck that.

On July 19 2012 15:49 xodarap wrote:
I'm over shock value rap. Also, this guy brags about being a high school drop out. He's nice for what he does, but it's just not my cup of tea anymore.

On July 20 2012 00:33 Soulstice wrote:
This guy's alright, but ill stick to my other 50+ hiphop artists with a better message, flow, and rhymes.

How can you name 50+ rappers with a better flow let alone rhymes?

The reason what he's saying is so awesome is it's essentially Eminem in the Shady Era saying it

On July 20 2012 01:41 TheKwas wrote:

Some people listen to a lot of hip hop? He raps in a pretty simplistic style: 4x4 with a less than impressive vocab. He has good vocal dynamics but that's about it.


The reason it's awesome is because someone else did it (better) before him?

On July 20 2012 01:54 GreggSauce wrote:


yet you can list no one. Also what is a 4x4? That doesn't make sense to me, what I hear is a constant changing of flow and delivery that sounds much different than anything that could be considered "simplistic."

On July 19 2012 23:56 Arkless wrote:

Uhhh coz he's right........ Not a new message really, flow from the 90's (he is from tech9 afterall) beats are pretty lame.
Meh.......

Don't want to spark any debate or act like a hater, but I've seen this guy's career since day one and can truly say that his lyrics are nothing out of the ordinary. The story portrayed in this video (one could say he's referring to the teenagers of today's society en masse) has been told 100 times over by various rappers, including Eminem who's touched on this about half a dozen times through different songs.

His flow is smooth but can be compared to dozens of rappers that have the same rhythm, and the only reason people are hopping on the bandwagon (by no means an I speaking about you, just in general from the Reddit post this morning) is because he portrays a "positive" story which is apparently a rarity in hip hop by society's standard.

I can name a dozen underground artists that don't reach 1/10th of Hopsin's exposure that have stories of their actual lives that are a lot more realistic than this. I suppose that's the way YouTube works. My bad, just seen this posted about 30 times on FB and have knowledge that you're in the know regarding music

On July 20 2012 02:21 Epoch wrote:


Saying that it's 4x4 is a funny criticism because the only mainstream hit song ever written that isn't 4x4 is money by Pink Floyd. It just refers to the time signature of the song and there's nothing inherently wrong with it.

Hopsin is sick, he obviously has substance and is incredibly impressive because he's done everything for himself. He started his own record label, he produces all his own music and videos and content, he directs his own videos, he literally does EVERYTHING himself which is extremely rare and impressive. He built everything.

He is a legit living legend of independently produced music careers.

Haters gonna hate.

On July 20 2012 02:43 Bibbit wrote:
I'm pretty big into hiphop and thought he was spectacularly meh. Rhymes were pretty nice but I find his flow is worse than even a lot of mainstream rappers (except Kanye West, f that guy). And yeah, like a billion people before me have said, its nothing super original like some people seem to think it is.

On July 20 2012 02:39 frogrubdown wrote:


A few things.

First, there have been a ton of non-4/4 mainstream hits, largely in 3/4 or 6/8. "Money" is probably one of the only big hits in a truly irregular time signature though, but I'm not positive.

Second, he wasn't talking about how the songs are in 4/4, which is expected. Even in a 4/4 song, you expect better flow than simply following all the natural stresses of the beat. You shouldn't rap in a mechanically 4/4 way over a 4/4 song. It's far more impressive to add an additional rhythm and source of syncopation with your own flow.

edit:

Trying to think of some irregular time signature hits off the top of my head. "Spoonman" by Soundgarden was pretty big and its verses are 7/4 (same as "Money"). Does "Schism" by Tool count as a hit? It got a decent amount of radio play.

On July 20 2012 02:33 viOLetFanClub wrote:
I'll just copypaste what I wrote on FB regarding another bandwagon fan of this horrible song, as I'm too tired to rewrite the entire note:



To name a few that are just becoming recognized that deserve more attention than this (just a few):
SoulChef
Logic
Intuition
Dumbfoundead
D-Pryde (his older music, not so much his new pop-influenced shit)

Also a list of a few artists both new and old that one should consider listening to before considering Hopsin as a god:

http://pastie.org/private/m9nfhub9uc9qzqrkjcti0a

On July 20 2012 03:06 GreggSauce wrote:


Oh so thats what was being talked about, thats almost completely irrelevant regarding a rappers flow though imo. Bar structure was what I thought he was talking about which would've made sense.

On July 20 2012 03:04 matiK23 wrote:


Uhhh who's flow in the mainstream better than his? You have two choices: Pitbull or Flo Rida

On July 20 2012 04:33 Anktious wrote:




I lol'd pretty hard when I saw your post. Mostly cause I was thinking of that shitty song by Pitbull where he goes

"or better yet go to times square and take a picture of me with a kodak"

That little "flow" of his always makes me cringe when I hear it at a club or something. Good god Pitbull is awful.

On July 20 2012 02:28 PhiliBiRD wrote:


hes not from tech, dont make shit up. lol

all his beats are self made, and self produced.

On July 20 2012 04:41 Arkless wrote:


I'm not, go check his wiki, and know what you're talking about. Who cares if he self made his beats or not, either way. They are pretty bland and lame.

On July 20 2012 02:33 viOLetFanClub wrote:
I'll just copypaste what I wrote on FB regarding another bandwagon fan of this horrible song, as I'm too tired to rewrite the entire note:



To name a few that are just becoming recognized that deserve more attention than this (just a few):
SoulChef
Logic
Intuition
Dumbfoundead
D-Pryde (his older music, not so much his new pop-influenced shit)

Also a list of a few artists both new and old that one should consider listening to before considering Hopsin as a god:

http://pastie.org/private/m9nfhub9uc9qzqrkjcti0a

On July 20 2012 03:04 matiK23 wrote:


Uhhh who's flow in the mainstream better than his? You have two choices: Pitbull or Flo Rida

On July 20 2012 05:34 viOLetFanClub wrote:
The number of bandwagoners that think Hopsin is the second coming of Jesus Christ and have no knowledge of hip hop in this thread is OVER 9,000!

On July 19 2012 16:05 bGr.MetHiX wrote:

and eyedea was the god of freestyling, i doubt many mcs can come close to his rhyming

On July 20 2012 06:35 huehuehuehue wrote:
Why the fuck do you guys take hip hop so seriously. If you like this shit then listen to it, if you don't like it then listen to something else, you don't have to insult him or overanalyze his music or whatever.

On July 20 2012 06:28 McDrew wrote:
He's essentially just ragging on people who do stupid shit. There isn't any subtlety or creativity in his lyrics, and personally any sort of meaningful message (which I don't really see) in this song is spoiled by all of the negativity.

On July 19 2012 17:06 zulu_nation8 wrote:
backpacker

On July 20 2012 07:13 Custard wrote:
The things he says in this particular song are interesting, but over all he seems to be the exact same as everybody else. I also remember last time I heard about him he was trying to grab up attention with some Tyler the Creator diss or something. I love the backpackers talking about "real hip hop" though. I like ATCQ as much as anybody else, but it's not like they are all about a message. I used to like underground hip hop more, until I realized it was almost all about talking about how "nobody wants to hear my message, it's so hard putting out real hip hop..." This is sorta what this reminds me of.

On July 20 2012 07:21 ShoCkeyy wrote:


Lmao Zulu, I don't think people know what you mean by this and yes, yes he is.

On July 20 2012 07:37 Soulstice wrote:

I think you missed the true message of most underground hip hop.

On July 20 2012 05:21 BroOd wrote:
Every time I see posts like this I get excited because even though I don't listen to that much rap or hip-hop (comparatively, at least), I love unique voices and original approaches. Unfortunately, in my mind, Hopsin is neither. In place of eloquence or striking word craft, it's another middle-of-the-road rapper with ham-fisted, on-the-nose lyrics and insulting, patronizing delivery. He sets up these inane amalgamations of stereotypes that are supposed to be at once hyper-specific and universal, but it comes across, at least to me, as him propping up scarecrows and then knocking them out with his titanic right hooks. It's accusatory, self-satisfied and doesn't really have any depth to the commentary beyond some Foxworthyesque, hokey "you might be a waste of life if..." routine. Then, almost inexplicably, he lays the weight of his criticism, which from the narrative you would believe was aimed at the people whose avatars he was barking at in the video, at the foot of modern rappers and rap culture. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

I think Saul Williams was more compelling in his indictment of rappers, anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kRsgavuG4sg#t=144s

But, that's just me speaking as a relatively ignorant consumer of this genre.

On July 20 2012 08:08 Custard wrote:



It's hard to get to that when the majority of it is comprised of whining about how "real emcees" don't make it anywhere. Hip-hop is still my favorite genre by far, but I just can't stand backpackers and underground rappers who only talk about how persecuted they are and how "nobody keeps it real", or "nobody has a real message." I guess it's just a pet peeve of mine, a similar thing would be how the "hashtag" style of rap is so popular. It just bothers me.

On July 19 2012 21:24 NeMeSiS3 wrote:


That's a good way to look at it... Has to come from a shitty background to REALLY GET IT -.- "It's gotta be real", nothing about the message I heard was unreal.

This gotta come from the ghetto to understand bullshit really frustrates me, a lot of people have been poor and got away from it (including myself) because I put my fucking left foot forward... I come from shit, and I think it was "real" enough for me to equate the message. I didn't know you needed to be in the shit to see the shit.

To many stupid fucking kids, with stupid ideologies and stupid ideas of what is fun... To many stupid fucking parents who allow there kids to do whatever the hell they want. You want to know what's "real"? Human beings being idiots, one thing that's never changed, no matter the carrier of the message.

And if this is not "new" than the entire rap community (which evidently must be a piece of shit since it's been "dissed" so hard) should simply peace out, because I'm tired of gangstas from the motherfucking hood walking around in 200 dollar shoes living in 500 a month rooms raping/killing and shitting on everyone around them because they're "ill" or "tough"...

TLDR: This shits real, because the message is real, you don't have to be in it to know it. I heard the message, I was living in a one room house with 6 people (2 parents 4 kids) and I completely agreed with it.

EDIT: If you like this type of message, I'd check out the album Harakiri by Serj Tankian (released recently) it's sick but it more or less deals with the world (not just people from poverty)

This is the title song.
+ Show Spoiler +

but my favorite (for symbolism, gotta watch the video) is this
+ Show Spoiler +

On July 19 2012 15:49 xodarap wrote:
I'm over shock value rap. Also, this guy brags about being a high school drop out. He's nice for what he does, but it's just not my cup of tea anymore.

On July 20 2012 08:46 plogamer wrote:


Sigh, that's not what I meant by 'real'. I didn't mean that your struggles are not 'real'. It was not an attack on struggles of people who are not from ghettos. But a rap song that does not represent the ghetto is not 'real'.

I do believe that you gotta be from the ghetto to truly understand the ghetto. I don't know your background, so I don't know what struggles you faced. But if you think your experience translates fully with other 'poor' people, then you are mistaken.

Ghetto is more than just poverty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto#African_American_ghettos

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. But I hope it helps.

On July 21 2012 02:01 AnYvia wrote:
Compared to other underground rappers like Immortal Technique or Dumbfoundead this guy is trash.

On July 22 2012 15:09 Dankleteer wrote:
Andrew Noz, a hip hop writer, I think I agree with this: "Hopsin is corny, bruh. He’s alright at rapping on a purely technical level, I guess, but there’s this persistent theater kid try hardness to his style and delivery that makes it pretty difficult to stomach. I have roughly the same complaint about Tech N9ne but Tech is actually incredibly talented when it comes to writing and chopping and styling. Hopsin’s just wandering aimlessly through old Eminem flows. His continued baiting of Odd Future is beyond desperate too. What the fuck is that beef supposed to be about? Contact lenses?".

On July 22 2012 20:35 ArrowInTheKnee wrote:

Noz also said that Roscoe Dash, Danny Brown and Future all have better rapping skills than Hopsin lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR4e79n4nYc

Edit: http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=7211#more-7211
The blog being refrenced if you want the direct quotes.

On July 22 2012 20:35 ArrowInTheKnee wrote:

Noz also said that Roscoe Dash, Danny Brown and Future all have better rapping skills than Hopsin lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR4e79n4nYc

Edit: http://www.cocaineblunts.com/blunts/?p=7211#more-7211
The blog being refrenced if you want the direct quotes.

On July 24 2012 05:29 Leporello wrote:
I find it weird people say the video in the TC is being "positive" and "meaningful". Because that sounds like basic trash-talk. Trash-talking drug-users, gangsters and other rappers might be warranted to some of you, but it is still trash-talking.

Arrested Development would be a hip-hop group that I can think of (an old one) that I think is actually positive and meaningful in their lyrics, as opposed to lyrics that are simply insulting the people that "deserve" to be insulted.

On July 19 2012 15:59 Silidons wrote:

and then check out Eyedea who annihilated him freestyle....

that guy actually has some skills, i won't be listening to him, but he's 100x better than emninem/wayne/khalifa/etc.

my two favorites....
Eyedea & Abilities
Binary Star

On July 24 2012 04:44 Dankleteer wrote:


If you don't think Danny Brown can outrap Hopsin you need to study more rap, learn some things about cadence and delivery. I can't speak for Roscoe, but as far as Future is concerned Noz is right in that Future doesn't really put together traditional rap songs, so technically skilled rapping isn't really part of his artistic MO. You think mechanically biting Eminem's flows is skillful rapping? Please. There is no creativity to his verse and flow structure.

On July 20 2012 08:17 Soulstice wrote:


I see where you are coming from, but i feel the "nobody keeps it real" aspects of underground is more filler than the main idea. Thats the thing about underground, the true meaning is never in your face, but very cryptic and subtle.

I can think of a LOT of artists that have something real to say, but ill post Killer Mikes "Reagan" as it is a fresh track.
+ Show Spoiler +

On July 24 2012 09:46 ROOTT1 wrote:
he stole the idea of having an alter ego from eminem and delivers exactly like him, huge wannabe