1. Hopsin is known for his use of white colored eye contacts in his music videos and performances.
62 Facts About Hopsin
1. 2.
Hopsin was first signed by Los Angeles-based record executive Jerry Heller to his label Ruthless Records, through which Hopson released his debut studio album, Gazing at the Moonlight.
3.
Hopsin attended James Monroe High School, where he was placed into special education classes.
4.
Hopsin has been an avid skateboarder since the age of twelve, and many of his music videos feature him skateboarding.
5.
Hopsin started rapping at sixteen years old, and took his hobby more seriously by 2003 which is the year the majority of the tracks from Hopsin's self-produced album Emurge were recorded.
6.
Hopsin, who dropped out earlier that year, was sent to Los Angeles County Jail where he spent 8 days.
7.
Hopsin began recording his debut project Emurge in 2002 and was eventually released locally in 2003, copies of the project are very sparse and hard to find, a bootleg version appeared online in 2008 and had many extra songs on it, however to this day the album has never been released officially.
8.
Hopsin initially signed with Ruthless Records in 2007 and even began recording his debut album as early as 2004.
9.
Hopsin was originally hailed as one of the driving forces behind attempting to bring Ruthless Records back to previous glory.
10.
Shortly after the album's release, Hopsin sought his release from Ruthless Records due to lack of financial compensation, artist support, and promotion.
11.
Shortly before the departure from Ruthless Records, Hopsin founded his own independent label, Funk Volume, with Damien Ritter.
12.
Funk Volume originally wanted to sell it for retail sale, but were unable due to Hopsin still being contracted by Ruthless Records at the time.
13.
Hopsin released "Nocturnal Rainbows" as the first single off of his upcoming second album Raw on August 1,2010.
14.
On October 8,2010, Hopsin released a music video for the song "Sag My Pants", the second single off Raw on YouTube.
15.
In March 2011, Hopsin went on a two-month nationwide tour to promote Raw with the I Am RAW tour.
16.
In July 2011, Hopsin released the fourth installment of his "Ill Mind of Hopsin" video series which later received over 21 million views on YouTube.
17.
On October 31,2011, Hopsin was featured in a mobile battle rap game, Battle Rap Stars by Jump Shot Media.
18.
In February 2012 Hopsin appeared on the front cover of XXL as part of their annual "Top 10 Freshmen list" along with fellow rappers French Montana, MGK, Danny Brown, Roscoe Dash, Iggy Azalea, Macklemore, Don Trip, and Kid Ink.
19.
In July 2012, Hopsin released the fifth installment of his "Ill Mind of Hopsin" video series which hit YouTube with huge success.
20.
In October 2012, Hopsin made an appearance on a BET Cypher during the 2012 BET Hip Hop Awards alongside Schoolboy Q, Mac Miller and Mystikal.
21.
Hopsin's album, Knock Madness was released on November 26,2013, to fairly good success in US Rap Charts.
22.
In December 2012, Hopsin had hinted on his Facebook and Twitter pages that he and Travis Barker are working on a project together, further details on the project were yet to be released.
23.
On July 18,2013, Hopsin released "Ill Mind Six: Old Friend" on his YouTube channel.
24.
Hopsin later said that the song is not the sixth song in the "Ill Mind of Hopsin" series, and is instead a track on Knock Madness titled "Old Friend".
25.
On January 30,2014, while on tour, Hopsin was scheduled to perform a show in Fort Collins, Colorado, but feeling deeply depressed and even suicidal he walked out the back door of the venue before the performance.
26.
Hopsin hid in a house under construction until he called a friend to pick him up.
27.
On July 1,2014, Hopsin posted a picture of his mugshot stating that he would be releasing "Ill Mind of Hopsin 7" on July 18,2014.
28.
Hopsin then stated that it was for sure the realest song he has ever wrote in his career.
29.
The video for "Ill Mind of Hopsin 7" had gotten over 1 million YouTube views in a day.
30.
Hopsin had revealed on his Instagram that he would be retiring from rap and moving to Australia.
31.
However, on December 25,2014, Hopsin shared a video on his YouTube channel called "The REAL reason Hopsin left the music industry" with label mate Jarren Benton inspired by the film Dumb and Dumber To which stated that he was not quitting rap and it was all a joke, revealing that he will be releasing a new album called Pound Syndrome in 2015.
32.
Also in July 2015, it was announced that Hopsin had signed a distribution deal with Warner Bros.
33.
In January 2016, Hopsin had announced on social media that his label Funk Volume, is "officially dead", due to ongoing business issues and financial disputes with his business partner and co-founder of the label, Damien Ritter.
34.
In March 2016, Hopsin released "Ill Mind of Hopsin 8".
35.
Hopsin officially left Funk Volume after the song's release and went on to create a new label called Undercover Prodigy.
36.
In February 2017, Hopsin confirmed he was working on his next studio album and released the singles "All Your Fault", and "Bus That" on April 17.
37.
On September 22,2017, Hopsin released the lead single to his fifth album titled, "The Purge".
38.
On November 1,2017, Hopsin released the third single, "Witch Doctor", and announced and revealed the album's title and cover of his fifth studio album titled, No Shame.
39.
In December 2018, Hopsin released the singles "Low-Key" and "Hell's Carol".
40.
On January 28,2019, Hopsin released another collaboration with Dax titled, "You Should've Known".
41.
On July 15,2019, Hopsin released a new song titled, "I Don't Want It".
42.
On February 16,2020, Hopsin uploaded a video to his YouTube channel announcing his return from his hiatus and announcing an upcoming album.
43.
In September 2020, Hopsin joined the advisory board of music social networking startup Artist Republik.
44.
In July 2011 Hopsin released "Ill Mind of Hopsin 4" which in the second verse he disses Tyler, the Creator of the Los Angeles hip hop collective, Odd Future and his "Yonkers" music video.
45.
Hopsin said that he hates Odd Future's music, noting its negativity and "random" lyrical content and criticizing the group's production values.
46.
Hopsin later said he did not have a beef with Tyler.
47.
On September 3,2012, Soulja released a Hopsin diss entitled "That Nigga Not Me", to which Hopsin has not responded.
48.
Some witnesses claim Hopsin tried to settle the argument verbally, while Hopsin claims he tried to defuse a fight outside of the club on his way to 7-Eleven.
49.
At one point, Hopsin even offered 15 minutes of his own set to help find a solution to the problem.
50.
Hopsin was detained shortly thereafter once police responded to the initial call stemming from the altercation inside the club.
51.
Hopsin later commented on the case, referring to the police officer as a racist.
52.
Hopsin's critically panned 2017 single "Happy Ending", off of No Shame, revived criticism for its depiction of Asian women as hyper-sexualized and submissive massage parlor workers.
53.
The video was initially taken down by YouTube for including nudity; Hopsin criticized the decision, stating that there were no visible nipples and he wore a "dick sock" to hide his genitalia.
54.
Hopsin later apologized for any offense he caused to the Asian community with the video.
55.
Hopsin got his start in entertainment appearing as a background extra in movies and Disney Channel TV shows such as John Tucker Must Die, Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, Cold Case, Malcolm in the Middle and Gilmore Girls among many others.
56.
Hopsin made an appearance in the 2009 film Fame as a rapper.
57.
In 2015, Hopsin co-starred in the second season of the TV drama series Murder in the First.
58.
In 2004, Hopsin began wearing colored eye contacts in appearances in interviews, music videos, and performances.
59.
Hopsin stated that he used the contacts to give himself a memorable appearance and differentiate himself from other African American rappers.
60.
Hopsin is against drug and alcohol usage, and has criticized how mainstream entertainers promote usage of drugs and alcohol to youth.
61.
Hopsin has stated that he tries to be a hip hop musician who can instill positive influences in people who listen to his music.
62.
Hopsin follows a straight edge lifestyle, and has claimed to have never drank alcohol, taken recreational drugs, or smoked.