The Official Knock Madness Hype Thread

[Trimss]

Honestly, who is gonna buy it?

I know I will.

[Atone]

Wonder if it will be a rehash of Raw, like Raw was of GATM. He really needs to think bigger, with more innovative ideas if he wants to be remembered.

Is Funk Volume just him and SwiZzz ? He needs to get a few more big names in the camp

I think Cryptic Wisdom is on Funk Volume to

[Trimss]

Wonder if it will be a rehash of Raw, like Raw was of GATM. He really needs to think bigger, with more innovative ideas if he wants to be remembered.

Hopsin On New Album, Knock Madness’ Positive Message

DX: On “Ill Mind 4,” you warn fans to “Get ready for Knock Madness.” What would you say that fans can be ready for? What can they expect and when is the album being released?

Hopsin: The album is going to be released in January-February, latest March of 2012. That album is, I’m hoping it’s going to be that album that puts me on the map. I want to be that independent artist. I’m not really looking to sign with any record deals. I’m just gonna roll with my Funk Volume record label. I just want that album to really put me on the map in a way where people are like, “How did this guy get to this point and he’s working out of his home.” I want that album to be so big to where people are like, “What is this guy doing? He must be cheating. How is he getting this type of production? How is he getting these types of music videos? How is he getting this type of exposure and he’s not signed to any of these major label? He doesn’t have P Diddy behind him or anything.” I want it to be that album. And, I um, I know this may sound crazy, forgive me, but hey, I’m only human and I have high expectations for myself. I don’t know what [Dr. Dre's] Detox is going to sound like, but in my heart, in my mind, I’m like, “Whatever Detox sounds like, this has to be better than that.” That’s just what it is. I’m not saying it will. I’m not saying it won’t. But, in my heart, that’s what I’m aiming to do, but we’ll see. [Laughs] I don’t know what Detox sounds like, like I said, but that’s just the route I’m going down. I want it to be in competition with that album. And, it ain’t gonna sell more than Detox, nowhere near. I’m just talking about, just listening to it, just the overall sound of it. I want people to be like, “The vibe of Knock Madness was sick as hell.” But, yeah, man. I’m really going to go hard on it in every song. You know, I’m not looking to do any type of filler tracks at all. Every song is going to have so many hours and hours put into it. I’m going to go in and make sure all the lyrics are done properly and that there aren’t any filler words as well. I’m just going to break everything down in detail, and tweak it as much as I can, until it sounds right.

DX: Lyrically, where are you trying to take fans on this album?

Hopsin: Lyrically, I’m still going to have the raw that I had on my previous album. I also want to enhance it and I also want to go in a more motivational type of direction as well. That’s because, I’m at a point in my life where I realized that it’s not cool to do just raw shit and not really have a good message behind it. You know what I’m saying? It’s not cool to just be rebellious for no reason and not have a positive outcome, because that doesn’t, it doesn’t benefit society. I’m still learning. I’m not the perfect human being right now and I’m growing. I’m 26 and I’m still growing. I just want to have, overall, a positive message but in a raw way. I’m not sure if that’s been done before but I’m definitely going to aim for that. So, I’m not saying my album’s going to be all Gospel-type and stuff like that but there’s a way to do it. I’m going to pinpoint it and I’m going to get it done. It’ll have the raw feel to it but I want to show people the realness of life. Don’t just be mean and crazy and cuss people out and diss rappers or diss ex-girlfriends for no reason. You can still express your anger but have a positive outcome at the end. Overall, when people listen to that album, I want them to feel inspired to be better in life and not just be crazy and do wild stuff to get attention without trying to benefit someone else’s life and make someone else see the positive side. We’ll see how it turns out, man.

DX: It seems like your motivated to not just talk about problems, but also talk about solutions. What do you think awakened you to that realization?

Hopsin: When I went out on tour, I just saw so many people and I understood life in a different way that I never saw before. People were coming up to me like, “Man, you changed my life,” or “This song made me want to do this.” I was like, “Wow, if I have this much control over this amount of people, then what is the government doing? What is the news doing? What are these bigger record companies doing, who have access to millions of people? They’re promoting alcohol, sex and drugs and all that stuff.” It let me know, I can’t steer these people in the wrong direction if they’re depending on me. Some people, it’s bad thing, but some people look at Rap artists as gods and that’s a horrible thing but unfortunately, it’s the truth. Some people will praise their favorite rapper but they won’t even give The Bible a try or any book of religion a try but they’ll praise their favorite rapper. That’s a big statement. That means, a rapper has the power to change one’s life. I want to make sure, if anybody looks at me in that way, which they shouldn’t, but if they do, I want to contribute to life in a positive way and not in a negative way. So, I’ve gotta be careful with what I say now because it’s serious. One little thing I say could result in somebody shooting up a school or beating up an ex-girlfriend or doing something crazy. So, I’ve gotta make sure there’s a positive message at the end so they know what the realness is, that it’s not cool to make the world a bad place.

DX: Do you feel like anyone has influenced you in that same way?

Hopsin: Well, I’m a big fan of Will Smith. He’s one I really look up to, not musically, but as a person. I also look up to Michael Jackson, just the way he went about things as far as being really humble towards his fans and not really spreading negative messages towards people. I want to be that type of figure towards society because it’s hard to find artists who are real, who aren’t money-driven, who just want to see the world become a better place. I want to be that figure towards a younger generation so they can say, “Yeah, Hopsin’s cool but he’s also not doing drugs. He never drank or smoked in his life. He doesn’t go around fucking groupies and all that and he’s still living cool. He’s happy. Everything’s going good.” I want people to see that and realize that there is a better side to life so when they reach their mid-twenties, they don’t have to deal with these stupid struggles and all this drama. I want them to create their own lane and find their own happiness without giving into all the influences and the whole sinister world.

DX: What can fans expect from your next album and Funk Volume as a whole in 2012?

Hopsin: Well, we’re definitely coming for that number one spot. [Laughs] So, whoever thinks they have that number one spot, I’m not saying whether it’s in commercial or underground but we are aiming to be number one. I honestly believe we will achieve that. We’ve got SwizZz on deck. He’s going to drop his album, though there’s no release date for that, yet. Then, I’m going to drop my album. We’re gonna sign another artist. We haven’t found another artist yet but we’re looking and when we do find one, it’s going to be even better. We just want to expand the brand. We want Funk Volume to be a household name and we just want people to appreciate. We want people to know that there’s still a lane for real music and real lyrics. People are like, “Ah, nobody wants to hear real shit anymore, they just want that poppy shit.” True, but nobody makes real music anymore for anybody to really know what the deal is with real music. So, Funk Volume is definitely putting use to real lyrics and it’s working. Now, people know there’s still a lane for this and it’s giving other emcees hope. Some people put down their pens, like “Ah, man, I can’t do this no more. You’ve got Waka Flocka [Flame] and Gucci Mane. They’re doing their shit and that’s what’s hot right now and I can’t be lyrical no more.” You still can be lyrical, you just gotta do it right. Good music never stops being good, and that’s what people don’t understand. Dope music is still dope. It doesn’t matter. Music is timeless. If it’s dope, it’s dope and people never stop liking dope music. I don’t know why everybody thinks that. Whether I sound like, a lot of people say I sound like [Eminem as] Slim Shady back in the day, it doesn’t matter because the shit is still dope. If you listen to his old shit, it’s still dope. Whether or not I’m doing that type of style, that doesn’t mean that it’s not dope. Dope is dope. If you watch an old Bruce Lee movie and he’s fucking round-house kicking somebody and then you’re doing it in 2012, it’s still sick. Mother fuckers still can’t do that. So what? Dope is dope. That’s what Funk Volume represents. We’re just doing some dope shit and there’s still lanes for dope shit and not just brainwashed commercial type stuff to sell records. It’s real shit. Funk Volume, we’re making moves right now. A lot of people know our name and it’s growing every day. It’s growing very fast through word of mouth and we have really supportive fans starting street teams all over the world. Things are going great. We can’t complain right now.

If you wanna read lmao.

[Sekou]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz3f3wc3Lzg

Apparently it won't be like RAW, which is a good thing. Even though RAW was a great album, he needs to grow as an artist in order to be successful/relevant