It's easy to see how the admiration of mainstream Hip Hop stars—including, but not limited to Eminem, Lupe Fiasco, and the previously mentioned Tyler, the Creator (they even wear the same contacts)—have formed the way Hopsin presents himself and wishes to be received. Those are mostly the Internet's comparisons, not mine, but they carry a certain truth. As long as there are artists to make fun of and people to get offended, then there's an audience for a slightly controversial figure. That's the appeal, and it will most likely provide a living for the next twenty years. More importantly, though, is that Hopsin's success sparked the creation of Funk Volume, his own label that features several artist bursting at the seams to blow into the spotlight. This has, of course, left a considerable amount of pressure into the hands off Marcus Hopsin.
Prior to the release of Knock Madness, 2013 hadn't been particularly kind to Hopsin. Aside with a very nice contribution to Dizzy Wright's mixtape, the two singles were met with widespread confusion among critics and fans. "Old Friend", originally titled 'Ill Mind Part 6", chronicles the downfall of Hopsin's friend that was apparently addicted to meth.(?) While I don't doubt the validity of the song, it has no place among the Ill Mind series, and I seriously doubt all that many teenagers are jumping on the crystal meth bandwagon. If anything, it would have been better served as a track found towards the middle of the album under a different name, which is exactly how it is presented on Knock Madness. The second single "Hop Is Back", while remaining a fan favorite, managed to make me even less excited for this release. Hopsin may have been tired of being called soft, or there may be genuine anger towards Kanye and Kendrick, but everything about the song felt forced. The lone positive was the hope that he would carry the same mentality to Knock Madness, in a more natural manner.
Those choosing to listen to Knock Madness will soon realize that setting the tone for one or two songs is completely different than carrying an entire album. Our host has already completed the task twice, releasing his debut on Ruthless, which sold upwards of around thirty five copies. His second album, RAW, gained some underground recognition, but remains unheard by many of the listeners who were awaiting the release of this album. Knock Madness is the first release that has the attention of the entire Hip Hop scene.
The tongue-in-cheek charisma and edge of Hopsin can be great for a couple singles, but you could listen to "Ill Mind of Hopsin 5" on a loop for an hour and it would have the same impact as Knock Madness. That's not a testament to the quality of that song either. Hopsin may appear as a fun hating misanthrope, but it's not hard to grasp the appeal of his lyrics. The problems is that he feels the need to repeat his message in almost every song. There's an obvious attempt to creat lyrical substance, but at the root of each song, its another reason that he's a better human being than everyone listening to the album. I'm not saying that can't be entertaining, some of my all time favorite albums (Funcrusher Plus) are nothing but straight boasting, but this lacks the factor of actually being entertaining. The album never really reaches a high point either. There's few moments that I would call utter trash, but there's not many songs on here that gives me any emotion. The aggressiveness of "Hip Hop Sinister" shows the best possible result of his persona, but even that feels slightly forced.
Knock Madness starts off on a bad note. The intro, "The Fiends Are Knocking", features one of the truly awful hooks on a hip-hop album you'll hear all year. (This whole album follows that trend) Hop rambles on for a few minutes about taking time on his music and not wanting to put out shit. I applaud his work ethic if that's true, but I see no evidence of it on the intro. To make matters worse, the third verse seems like a half assed rendition of "Stan", which doesn't work in the slightest. I don't think I need go into detail on the corniness of his lyrics, as Hopsin himself even said he embraces it. It's just hard to take social commentary from a song that could've been ghost-written by Lil B.
His corniness reaches several peaks, ("Good Guys Get Left Behind", "Tears to Snow") but an even bigger problem is the overall production. Hopsin isn't a bad producer. His instrumentals have a distinct sound and often fit his subject matter, but the decision to produce the entire album was baffling. Sure, the idea is admirable, but not when it sacrifices changes of tone. There's a fine line between cohesion and every song blending together, and Knock Madness is leaning far towards the latter. The only production instrumental that really separates itself from the pack is "Gimme That Money", which intentionally sounds like it could be found on an early Ma$e album. That again brings me back to the point that Hopsin is capable of making a very good song, but a full length album is another beast. Maybe if Hopsin was a better rapper I'd give him the benefit of Ras Kass Syndrome.
I hate to say this because it always feels like an overreaction, but the best part of the album is the features. "Who's There", a Funk Volume posse cut, showcases the rest of the stable's talent, with Jarren Benton (my personal favorite of the bunch) delivering the best verse. A couple songs later is "Rip Your Heart Out", one of the best songs on the album. Hopsin is actually spitting nice as hell, but Tech N9ne comes through with a fucking monster of a verse. If Hop would've been able to capture the energy of that song and apply it to even half of the other songs we would have a totally different story. Oh well.
1.5/5