Hopsin

May 8, 2024

Reviews > Album Reviews > Hopsin – Knock Madness

Knock Madness

Saturday 30th November, 2013 by BeZerkaveli | 1 Comment

Our Rating

User Rating

(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)

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Juggalos and Juggalettes! TURN IT UP! Because I got something special for you. Well, I don’t have something special technically, but the Facebook homie Kayla has something ultra special for you guys. I stumbled over her album review and noticed, hey, we ain’t got one on FLH, so why not use hers. She was down with it, so here’s a very very very well written album review by Kayla Q.

“My number ratings are solely my opinion on how well I personally liked the song, and are not so much an objective stance.

1. Fiends are Knocking 9.0/10

I think this was a great track to start the album off with. The trademark Hopsin sound to open the album was a consistent feature of familiarity. I love the vibey bluesy chorus. Hopsin is talking about his struggles of becoming more famous and his mindset on things over the past couple of years. He addresses how he hears fans’ views and criticism towards him and his lack of releasing new material.

2. Hop is Back 9.5/10The Dr Dre style beat immediately caught my attention. This song goes in from the beginning with a hard hitting chorus and in your face verses. I loved the beat to this song especially, it made me want to move. The aggression, lyrics and delivery is on point with a strong hook. There is nothing I disliked about this track.

3. Who’s There featuring Jarren Benton and Dizzy Wright 8/10
I like the fun-apocalyptic style instrumental. Benton started this song with the first verse, which I found to be solid. Dizzy’s verse didn’t interest me much, it felt like he was just talking to talk. Hopsin took back over with the third verse in this song with his aggression, his lyrics in the third verse were strong and entertaining.

4. Tears to Snow 8.5/10
Unlike the three previous songs that are upbeat, you get a slower orchestral sounding song in the beginning that turns into an aggressive emotional verse. I liked the emotion here. A strong detail is the second part of the hook where Hopsin goes in. Everyone said this sounded Jokerr influenced, and I can see the influence but I don’t really see it sounding like Jokerr. The subject matter on this song consists of relationship struggles and having the life of an entertainer.

5. Rip Your Heart Out featuring Tech N9ne 9/10
This instrumental won my heart immediately with it’s industrial factory hardcore vibe. I felt like this was a unique choice for both Hop and Tech and was glad to hear them collaborate again. I really like the evolution of style here. Hopsin’s verse style is definitely different here than it usually is. I enjoyed hearing him rap fast. Tech N9ne did not fail to go in on this track either and it reminded me of an older style of Tech as well. Hopsin goes back in on the third verse with another fiery verse, as he states in it with a chopper style which I liked a lot.

6. Nollie Tre Flip 8.5/10
Imagine a scene where you have urban sports culture of people interacting with break-dancing, basketball, and skating wearing 90’s hip hop outfits and nodding their heads to the beat. This song is just pure fun! I love the 90’s sound flow here and the deep mob voice on the hook. Sounds like a good song for what its about, skateboarding. I could definitely hear this played at a skate park or on a skate video as well.

7. Give Me That Money 7/10
The beat is fast paced and funky. Even though this had a funky beat, I just wasn’t really feeling this track. Has a good subject too it but I just couldn’t get into it. Since it’s just a personal preference, objectively I think this track is still strong.

8. I Need Help 8.5/10
Rapid piano playing that turns into a bassy vibe beat that is catchy as ever. I like this song a lot. I feel like Hop is explaining his mindset a lot here and where he’s at now, add that to a solid flow and delivery. I was singing along to the chorus by the end of the first listen. The only thing I didn’t care for too much is Hop trying to sing acapella at the first part of the hook, but it doesn’t take away from the song, just a small pet peeve.

9. Hip Hop Sinister 9.0/10
Hop starts the first verse with an abrasive yelling voice which I feel is strong for this track, and this continues throughout the rest of the track. I love the darkness here. It’s not quite as dark as Kill Her but it has the energy of that song and Blood Energy Potion. I love that the beat has that trademark Hopsin sound, the west coast woosh. At the beginning it reminded me of Eminem’s style but that isn’t surprising since Hopsin is compared to him often.

10. Good Guys Get Left Behind 5/10
To be honest, I feel like this subject of Hopsin mad at hoes is kind of cliché by this point. Hop, I’d like to tell you that you have terrible taste in women and if you’re still writing songs about getting fucked over, maybe you should re-evaluate. To be fair, I can see how other people will be able to relate with this song (even females who have been used by their significant other) The chorus was.. not very interesting, the beat was boring. I also don’t like the message of “I should have fucked her while I had the chance” because I really don’t see how that justifies being fucked over, my opinion would be to move on.. Okay, I didn’t like this song.

11. Bad Manners Freestyle 7.5/10
This song has that “live” feel to it. It reminded me of IMOH4 as far as style and subject matter. I liked the beat at first but since it didn’t change up much, it started becoming annoying to hear constantly.

12. Old Friend 7.5/10
Another emotion filled song. I think this was a single to the album and ..aka Chris Dolmeth II. I can relate to this song strongly having loved someone with this issue. I don’t mind that he made a second track about this because it’s obviously something that’s bothered him for a long time and with good reason.

13. Still Got Love For You 8/10
The thing that won me over on this song, was of course, you guessed it.. the beat. The subject matter.. Hop, please. This is Baby’s Daddy part II. It worked on Raw but I’m just tired of hearing about yo Ho problems. I guess for someone who’s just getting into your music, this is a good track to see his mindset. I still loved how catchy this track is and it had me singing along to the chorus by the end as well.

14. Jungle Bash featuring SwizZZz 6.5/10

As the title includes, it has a funky jungle beat with that weird panting Hopsin does sometimes. This song has a slower tempo and slower paced verses but it still has the potential to capture attention. I did enjoy the short chopping on the third verse. However, I did find it more difficult to keep my attention on this song. I’m unsure on how much replay value this track has for me.

15. Lunch Time Cypher featuring Passionate MC & Gmo Skee 9.5
I’m so glad the two smaller artists with exceptional skill are on a track with Hopsin. I also like the theme of this cypher, it has this novice and raw appeal to it. This track serves the purpose of a cypher well. Since it’s a cypher, I focused on the strength of the wordplay and punchlines in this song and with that, I confidently say all three artists went in with entertaining flow and lyrics. Passionate MC’s verse was best but this is the type of music he excels in, so no surprise there!

16. Dream Forever 9.0/10
Hopsin starts out this track with a poem to a female. I really like when the beat picks up while he’s finishing the acapella. It’s another song directed to a relationship, but the tone of this track his a more positive tone which is a switch up for Hopsin when it comes to his viewpoint on women. Besides the chorus, the verses are primarily in spoken word form. I love the bass guitar background instrumental that keeps up the soft mood and dreamy theme of the song. I really enjoyed how slow and smooth this song was.

17. What’s My Purpose 8.5/10
Another slow tempo vibe to this song with a dramatic tone. It has a very political viewpoint to it and he discusses the things wrong with people and the world. I think a lot of people can relate to this song, which is ironic because the message clearly states “I hate humans”.. and the world. The rock guitar background and solo added a blues element to the overall tone of the song. I would have loved to hear Jokerr add some harmonic vocals to the chorus since there was room for that big harmonic sound here.

18. Caught In The Rain 8.5/10
Hopsin decides to end the album by summarizing some aspects he’d already talked about in other parts of the album: The struggles of newly acquired fame, being an entertainer, money, issues with fans and relationships. This song keeps the slow tempo and dramatic tone that the past couple of songs contained.

In conclusion, this album had the solid Hopsin delivery which is a constant for him and I am glad to hear it wasn’t lacking on any song. This album has great variety, which is something that I feel makes a strong album in general. You get hard tracks full of aggression, slow intense tracks shrouded with emotion, and some just fun and make you want to get up, vibe, and maybe even dance. The instrumentals vary and a lot are very unique which I think was an edgy step in the right direction because it peaked interest. The order of the tracks worked for this album as well. Compared to Raw and Gazing at the Moonlight, I feel like this album held its own against the two and did had very little weakness on a few tracks. I’ll for sure be bumping this for the next few weeks! 9/10.”

Thank you Kayla for letting us use your review. I’m sure the juggalos and other underground junkies of our fan base will enjoy and appreciate your review. So many mad props to you even if you are a Jokerrfag.