Hopsin

Marcus Jamal Hopson (born July 18, 1985), better known by his stage name Hopsin, is an American rapper, record producer, director and actor from Los Angeles, California. In 2007, he was signed to Ruthless Records, and has since founded his own record label, Funk Volume, in 2009. Hopsin has released four studio albums, Gazing at the Moonlight through Ruthless Records, Raw, Knock Madness and Pound Syndrome along with the collaborative project Haywire (with SwizZz) through Funk Volume. He is well known for his use of white colored eye contacts in music videos, performances, and interviews.

Early life

Marcus Hopson was born on July 18, 1985 in Los Angeles, and was raised in the Panorama City neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended James Monroe High School, where he was placed into special educational classes. Hopsin has been an avid skateboarder since the age of twelve, as many of his music videos feature him skateboarding. He 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. He dropped out of high school during his senior year in 2004 to pursue a career in music, purchased a microphone, and installed FL Studio (known as FruityLoops at the time) on his computer. While starting his music career, Hopsin decided to sport colored eye contacts while performing in his music videos. He stated that he used the contacts to give himself a memorable appearance and differentiate himself from other African American rappers with the cliché appearance. He credits Eminem as the rapper that initially got him interested into hip hop music.