Following months of confusion and controversy, Hopsin debuted “ILL Mind Of Hopsin 8” for his fans in a packed North Hollywood screening room. True-to-form, the Panorama City, California rapper and co-founder of Funk Volume played up to the drama blending truth, pain and laugh-out-loud comedy. Those wanting to hear Hopsin’s side of the fallout are directed to this official declaration of independence and statement for his Undercover Prodigy company. The courtroom setting, the Damien Ritter impersonator and a more cleaned up Marcus Hopson only compliment his newly lit lyrical fire. However, does this mean Hopsin is ready to move on from his past or can this be considered a failed attempt?
Facts & Fiction
Justin: Funk Volume’s fallout just hit hyper-speed. Hopsin’s “ILL Mind Of Hopsin 8” is nothing short of jarring. Seeing the Panorama City, California-emcee turn his once-contact-lense’d eye on Damien Ritter—his former partner—so ruthlessly is ironic enough to require a possibly poorly placed pun over unnecessary alliteration. We’ve seen him unload on everyone from Ruthless Records’ Tomica Wright to Tyga. This one’s infinitely more personal. “I ain’t keeping this shit on the hush-hush,” Hopsin raps. “…I’m telling all of my people / He’s taking all of my c-notes / See he has a gambling issue / He takes the cash and blows it all at casinos.” Laundry. Dirty. It gets worse:
“What are your fucking motives, Dame? Let’s talk about it: You’re our manager, our label owner, our accountant / That’s kind of tricky / Something is fishy / That’s risky / We just don’t even know / We just go with the flow while you rowing the boat / You keepin’ us simple minded because you know that our only concern is just hoping we blow / So when all the money come in from our albums and tours you sit there and soak in the dough / When did we ever ask about the gross? When did we ever ask about the net? / You would just hand us money from the shows because you knew we wasn’t questioning the checks… fuck you bitch / You get no respect / This is why Hopsin’s coming for your neck.”
**And the entire courtroom dabs in concurrence**
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Look, there’s enough social media fodder here to run crazy off accusation. But at this point, that’s all Hop’s delivered: Accusation. So far, neither Dizzy Wright nor Jarren Benton has gone on record expressing similar financial frustrations. And since both still rock with Dame in one way or another (along with DJ Hoppa and obviously SwizZz), it’s doubtful they will anytime soon, even if they quietly feel the same. Then there’s the disconnect between the video’s commentary and what Hop told DX’s Victoria Hernandez during last night’s premiere. “It was boiling for about I guess like a month and a half, two months prior to the actual breakup,” he said. “But it wasn’t like years or nothing like that, just a couple months or so.” The latest “ILL Mind…” makes it seem like he’s been getting jerked since Knock Madness. To quote Hopsin, “Something is fishy.” Maybe he really just “needed something to get his buzz up.”
As a diss track “ILL Mind… 8” is actually dope. It’s entertaining. Surprisingly, he looks like he’s enjoying himself. There’s a gaggle of witty bars. But what resonates most after first listen is how Funk Volume generated an incredible amount of momentum while moving past internal strife. (Remember when Hopsin “retired” to move to Australia with his girlfriend?) The team always seemed more focused on motivation than money, and whether Funk Volume Fitness was on-brand, it signaled brand expansion and forward thinking. They were always pushing progress. They were always #stillmovin. It’s sad enough that FV folded. That they folded over c-notes is fantastically unfortunate.
But Is It Dope?
Trent: The unpredictable mind of Hopsin has delivered exactly what we would expect in the latest saga of Funk Volume crumbling. Industry Rule #5221 or so specifically outlines never underestimate an artist’s ability to win over fans with a turn-up record. Just look how the jury immediately begins to bounce and lap up Hopsin’s one-sided tale of the tape. A biased yet entertaining look on how just fractured the latest failed rap relationship unraveled in front of our eyes. In one line particularly zinged my spidey-senses, it’s when Hops broke down Mr. Dame Ritter with “You’re our manager, our label-owner, our accountant/That’s kinda tricky, something is fishy, that’s risky.” Obviously the facts will be ironed out in court but in the trial of public opinion, Hopsin is the Courtney B. Vance version of Johnny Cochran, giving a convincing argument that a murderer is a model citizen.
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The round goes to Hopsin, but I’m always looking at the big picture. Cold wars are as strategic as chess with twice as much carnage as a real shoot-em-up, musket and cannon scenario. There are proprietary values on the line. Actual livelihoods at stake. Things will get ugly but stepping back and seeing the overall landscape of this “beef,” it will be interesting to see if Hopsin can continue this momentum and create his own infrastructure now that he has made it crystal clear that a resolution is not in the cards. Whatever happens, “ILL Of Hopsin Mind 8” will forever live as notable footnote in this bizarre timeline.
Ural: There’s no doubt Hopsin’s brand of manic raps and eccentric aesthetic are an aquired taste. Regardless, he still managed to build a significant fan base and was overwhelmingly known as the creative force of Funk Volume. Damien played the background, giving the label a structure that felt like a Strange Music in the making. For the actual fallout, many questioned if this was all a publicity stunt or something very serious behind the scenes. Hopsin spells out all the details from his perspective perfectly on “ILL Mind Of Hopsin 8.” This is probably one of the best diss records I’ve had the pleasure of hearing in decades—better than “Badass” and “Back To Back” combined. It blends real emotion, hurt, anger and comedy that reminds me of “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’” and “No Vaseline.” That makes even more sense as he compares his current situation with Damien to the “bullshit” Tomica allegedly put him through. “ILL Mind Of Hopsin 8” is the perfect venting moment and a clever way of launching his new label Undercover Prodigy.
Being truthful, besides his features with Tech N9ne and “ILL Mind Of Hopsin 4,” I never found myself appreciating his musical output despite understanding his appeal. The contacts and do-rag stuff just wasn’t for me. Musically, he seemed like a valley kid who listened to too much Eminem while hating everything considered cool. For the first time in his career, Hopsin seems more contented and less of a character. Most importantly, his rhymes reflect that as well. He’s lyrically on fire. Yes, the former Funk Volume artist is spitting acid against Damien using facts and personal anecdotes while openly admitting that it’s also a ploy to get his buzz up. Even in the midst of everything, Hopsin is still self aware. Whether or not he can run Undercover Prodigy with the same mechanical business structure that Damien brought to the home of Dizzy Wright and Jarren Benton has yet to be seen. But, this is all about the music right now and Hopsin’s first post-Funk Volume release couldn’t have been a better reintroduction.
Justin “The Company Man” Hunte is the Editor-in-Chief of HipHopDX and has been featured on Revolt TV and the AllOutShow on SiriusXM. Prior to joining DX, he was the host of The Company Man Show and Brooklyn Bodega Radio on PNCRadio.fm and has covered music, politics, and culture for numerous publications. He is currently based in Los Angeles, California. Follow him on all socials @TheCompanyMan.
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Trent Clark is the Buckeye-born, Los Angeles-based Managing Editor for HipHopDX. With more than nine years writing about the culture, it’s a miracle he hasn’t cut a demo to the masses for free stream and download. Follow him on Twitter @ItsMeTC15
Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
