Hopsin

Initially known for his public rupture with the trailblazing Ruthless imprint, Hopsin watched that episode recede once the Los Angeles-born rapper, producer, and actor—Marcus Hopson—independently dropped the hit track “Sag My Pants” in late 2010. He had inked with Ruthless in 2007, and the label issued his Gazing at the Moonlight album two years later. A heated exchange in the press ensued after Hopsin asserted he had never approved the project’s release, while owner Tomica Wright—Eazy-E’s widow—maintained that he had, ultimately producing a clean professional break. Operating without support proved advantageous; the track spread rapidly across Internet video-sharing platforms that year and appeared, together with several Ruthless-directed diss records, on his 2010 RAW mixtape. By 2011 the emcee had adopted stark white contact lenses that lent an ominous edge to his presence, yet the same period found him embraced by Tech N9ne’s Strange Music collective after pairing the striking look with an uplifting outlook. The two parties confirmed in 2012 that they were collaborating on material for Hopsin’s 2013 album Knock Madness. Pound Syndrome arrived on the imprint in 2015, featuring Jarren Benton and Dizzy Wright, and entered the Billboard 200 at number 17. After Funk Volume—the company Hopsin had started in 2009 with Damien Ritter—folded in 2016, he established Undercover Prodigy and inaugurated the venture with the Ritter-targeted diss “Ill Mind of Hopsin 8.” Following the advance singles “The Purge” and “Happy Ending,” he released his fifth album, No Shame, in November 2017.